Iceboat designs!

[Vinny&Shawn]

We have been thinking of building a small ice/snow, sail boat. can anyone direct us to a simple small design the can be taken down easy and used for sailing on snow laden lakes as well as ice?

[paladin]

a couple sets of skates, a sunfish sail and mast, a 2 x 6 about 12 feet long...another 2 x 6 about 6 feet long, assorted nuts/screws/glue and Bob's your uncle.....now if'n ya happen to be on the midwest flatlands, remove the skates and replace them with small motor scooter wheels and go blasting across the Texas/Oklahoma panhandle at 40-50 miles an hour.....did that in the mid fifties....

[B0bber]

V&S,

There are lots of plans available on the web... just run a google search on "Ice Boat plans".

As a quick reference:
www.freewoodplans.net/index.php?cat=boats (http://www.freewoodplans.net/index.php?cat=boats) or
http://www.e-junkie.com/shop/product/42059.php

I'm sure you can find out a bunch more at: http://www.iceboating.net/

Good Luck!

[Daniel Noyes]

Dn Goodchild has several designs, the South Bay scooters are an interesting type that were originally developed for softer saltwater ice... the sailing on snow is a tall order, snow is an enemy of traditional style ice boats, a few inches of light fluffy is no problem but thick or wind packed snow will stop an ice boat cold, there are some snow runners, skis with blades but the boats are much slower with these.
Dan
http://dansdories.googlepages.com
here is scoot from GoodChild pages http://dngoodchild.com/divide_for_sail_boats.htm

http://dngoodchild.com/5252.jpg

[Daniel Noyes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDLj96t-Kl8
excelent video about ice boats.
Dan
http://dansdories.googlepages.com

[Todd Bradshaw]

Yep, and here is the second half of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM5AUZ3582U&feature=related

Those big old stern-steerers are really beautiful. They do, however, have one weakness to watch out for. Check this video out about five minutes from the beginning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGtqfCtZPww&feature=related

[ahp]

Don't forget the DN iceboat. It was designed for home construction, can be car topped, has 40 square ft of sail and may hit 70 mph. An oldie but goodie.

[Pernicious Atavist]

Funny...I had been thinking about sailing a plastic canoe in the snow....

[ben2go]

Yep, and here is the second half of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM5AUZ3582U&feature=related

Those big old stern-steerers are really beautiful. They do, however, have one weakness to watch out for. Check this video out about five minutes from the beginning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGtqfCtZPww&feature=related


That was a wicked spin out.That guy was shot out like a rock out of a sling shot.Hope he had enough padding to absorb that bounce.

[gregleeber]

PLASTIC Canoe ?

this is a wooden boat forum...

[jimmy lee]

I'd just like to say,"Iceboating is fun!" I have two Iceboats, a single seater and a two-seater. It has become a Winter Passion for Me! If You have a chance,go for a ride! What a Thrill!!!! Sailing year around is just a BLAST!!!

[rbgarr]

PLASTIC Canoe ?

this is a wooden boat forum...

True, but those Royalex canoes are some slippery on a downhill ski run late at night after the lifts close. Much faster than I was planning on. It could have used more rocker for the moguls. :D Here's some folks who tried it also: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/canoe-sledding-wipe-out/1715828492/?icid=VIDURVSPR01

Vinny-
Have you considered a skate sail? Or have you already gone beyond it: thttp://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/winter/activities/skate_sails

Here's a design for a very simple ice 'boat': http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/winter/gear/sleds/ice_boat.htm

[Todd Bradshaw]

That little one in the plan isn't all that different in size from my first iceboat, which was a Lockley "Skimmer 45". It was made of welded steel tubing with a sling seat and foot-push-rod steering. Compared to many, it was pretty crude and with no suspension the ride was pretty rough on lumpy ice, but even so, it was a blast to sail. At about 40 mph the foot steering starts to get pretty twitchy, but the little bugger would do a 180 in about a 25' circle. One thing that was really nice was being able to put the whole boat together and be sailing in about ten minutes, which is about a third of what it takes to assemble and rig our Arrow. It wouldn't be difficult to duplicate the same sort of thing with a wooden frame pretty cheaply and little bitty, minimalistic iceboats have a fun value all their own. Here's a Skimmer:
http://www.sail4joy.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://nancyjoncheris.ehost.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/newskimmer.jpg&target=tlx_new

[JimConlin]

The Royalex canoes are a whole lot quieter than Grummans.

Seems to me that the passing of the stern-steerers was a good thing.
Here's another. http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/08/deuce/

This is interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFVYWHOZhy0

[Todd Bradshaw]

They're still pretty actively sailed around here. It seems like sailing a stern-steerer has more of a ship or boat-like feel to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBfylewH0Co&feature=related


And here is a good Skeeter ride. More like owning your own X-wing fighter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM7Aq9HMWyk&feature=related