Ice Sailing

Ice sailing is a winter sport running on the frozen rivers and lakes. Some time ago a sailing boat with the metallic tires was enlarged, and today the sleigh for ice-sailing is specifically constructed and the most improved sleigh is DN sleigh which won it’s popularity by it’s simple and reliable blocking method of wooden construction with and extraordinary sailing qualities.

Ice sailing has a long tradition in the Netherlands and Sweden which began in the 17th century. The first ice-sailing club available for everybody was opened in 1865 at the Hudson River. In 1953, the International DN Ice Yacht Association (IDNIYRA) was created, which is the only best up to the present time. In Europe, the only two-seats’ type of yacht exists which is the Monotyp – XV. It was designed in early 1032 by Erik fon Holst and is used only in the European championships. The speed the Monotyp - XV ice-yacht achieves is about 120-140 km / h.

If someone wants to watch the competitions he will probably choose Russia, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Estonia or Latvia to travel to. It should be noted that ice sailing is sometimes very dangerous, and the doers must be protected very well. The training sessions are, of course, not available all the year round, so there should be some extra activities like running and strengthening all groups of muscles as they all will participate in the process of driving the yacht. Those who want to do this sport should inform the tour operator about that as more and more places offer such kind of having rest. In particular, Scandinavia, Russia, Sweden, Estonia and Latvia are ideal places of exercising this winter sport.

Foto: wikipedia.de