Ice boat

An Ice boat is a boat or purpose built framework similar in appearance to a sail boat but fitted with skis or runners and designed to run over ice instead of water.

Ice boating also called ice sailing is the activity of running such a vessel over a frozen lake or river.

Ice boats have their history in wide, stubby, multi-runner vessles used in the 1800s. These early vessels were capable of operation on both water and ice and were used primarily for winter transportation and ice fishing.

Contemporary recreational ice boats were originated around 1937, when the Detroit News sponsored a competition for the best ice boat design. The winner of that competition saw their plans realized by a team of boatbuilders who transformed some excess warehouse and workshop space into a production facility where 50 of the boats were built. This design, featuring a narrow, single person cockpit, three steel blades in tricycle style arrangement and a steeply raked mast, remains to this day the most popular ice boat design in use.

Iceboats are not produced commercially on a wide scale (if at all), but remain the province of hobbyists and enthusiasts. Iceboating popularity is limited in the continental US, as few places have ice thick enough to safely use the vessels for an extended duration. Despite this, the DN class iceboat, which features 60 feet of sail area and can achieve speeds up to 60 MPH, has a devout following. Enthusiasts have formed the International Detroit News Ice Yacht Racing Association (IDNIYRA), which publishes standards for boat design and allows enthusiasts to assemble for races and to share good ice locations.

A standard DN ice boat is 12 feet long, 21 inch wide cockpit, has an 8' wide runner plank, a 16 foot mast, weighs approximately 100 lbs and is piloted by a single helmeted sailor. The front runner is typically rigged with foot activated, pulley operated mechanism similar to a kayak rudder, which allows the pilot to steer while using both hands to control the mainsail.