land sailor or iceboats

Hi all,

I'm looking for any info on building and ice sailboat. the winters are long here in Buffalo, NY and would like to build a winter project for the winter months. any help would be great.

I have build a stitch and glue kayak from CLC before and something along those lines would be great.

thanks

Dave


5 replies:

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RE: land sailor or iceboats

I remember reading a book called "The American Boys Handy Book" when I was a kid that had plans for a ridiculously simple ice boat--basically just a couple of wooden planks nailed together in a cross with three ice skate blades mounted underneath. I assume you want something a little fancier than this, but it illustrates how little it actually takes to build one of these. If you want to be really adventurous you could design and build one from scratch.  I would be willing to bet you could build one from one or two sheets of plywood, plus the spars.

The hull only needs four panels (bottom, sides, and deck). The outriggers could be made by bending half a dozen or so layers of 4mm plywood over a form to create a gentle camber.

The International DN is a good example, and you can probably find plans if you poke around on the class website. These are designed for high performance racing (up to 65mph), so they might be a bit pricier to build, but just getting something to get you out on the ice should be pretty darn cheap.

RE: land sailor or iceboats

Thanks for the reply and book info. I have gone to many sites for ice boats and land sailors. I was hoping to maybe see some members that built them for ideas and problems incountered. I have a few designs in mind. thanks Dave

RE: land sailor or iceboats

Yesrs ago in MA (1950-60s) my dad and I sailed iceboats. his was about 25' long "fuselage" with wide and bowed runner plan at rear (90 degrees) . Was very fast (100mph not a problem), but had to watch for "hiking". In MA, it's difficult to get good sailing (black) ice to sail. Too much snow. great fun. Do not underestimate down pressure load under mast. Too much snow

RE: land sailor or iceboats

Many of the local DN sailors build their own boats, I think plans can be obtained online.

RE: land sailor or iceboats

DN stands for Detroit News, the daily paper that sponsored the design and published the plans in the Sunday morning paper. I am sure that they are in the public domain.

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