Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post - The Official 2010 Ice-in Thread

NoBozo · 01-04-2010, 04:03 PM

My experience over 40 years of iceboating has been that if the air temperature stays below 20 degrees, an Inch of ice can be made every 24 hours if there is an inch or so to start with, which will prevent the wind from tearing up the surface ice. The chart above pretty much confirms this rule of thumb.

I have sailed on 2 1/2 inches of NEW black ice. I have also gone swimming when I hit slightly thinner ice....in the rain.

I could actually see the ice around me bending, forming a depression under the combined weight of myself and the boat as I sailed over it.

A 12 foot long DN iceboat (~150#) with an 8 foot wide runner plank spreads the weight of boat plus driver over a triangular area of perhaps 40 square feet. A snowmobile spreads its weight over a triangle formed by the crosswise distance between the skis, and the rear of the track, with most of the weight on the area of the track in contact with the ice. Combine the weight of a snowmobile and rider and you have a LOT of weight on a small area. NB

NEVER SAIL or SNOWMOBILE ALONE on the ice. ALWAYS have a companion nearby on ANOTHER Iceboat/Snowmobile.

01-04-2010, 04:03 PM	#72
NoBozo Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Portsmouth. RI Posts: 2,231 Thanks: 400 Thanked 460 Times in 308 Posts	Ice Thickness/24 hours My experience over 40 years of iceboating has been that if the air temperature stays below 20 degrees, an Inch of ice can be made every 24 hours if there is an inch or so to start with, which will prevent the wind from tearing up the surface ice. The chart above pretty much confirms this rule of thumb. I have sailed on 2 1/2 inches of NEW black ice. I have also gone swimming when I hit slightly thinner ice....in the rain. I could actually see the ice around me bending, forming a depression under the combined weight of myself and the boat as I sailed over it. A 12 foot long DN iceboat (~150#) with an 8 foot wide runner plank spreads the weight of boat plus driver over a triangular area of perhaps 40 square feet. A snowmobile spreads its weight over a triangle formed by the crosswise distance between the skis, and the rear of the track, with most of the weight on the area of the track in contact with the ice. Combine the weight of a snowmobile and rider and you have a LOT of weight on a small area. NB NEVER SAIL or SNOWMOBILE ALONE on the ice. ALWAYS have a companion nearby on ANOTHER Iceboat/Snowmobile.