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Show JBL JBhm jir oat. JB jH I ' ; By TOIVMY CLARK. In an min: recent cold blasts gave- thi 5 1 lco yachting enthusiasts am- I plo opportunity to enjoy theli JL favorlto sport. Throughout many sections of tho country where ' ' tho winters aro long ana tho lco lingers lin-gers on tho rivers and lakes for a long I period lco yachting Is rapidly growing , ' J in faor with tho followers of outdoor , f pastime, each year adding hundreds to e tho Hat of devotees. 1 Thero aro numerous reasons for th'i K tf Increasing popularity. Dashing along 1 I with tremendous speed, rising from 5 tho ground and skimming through tho air like a bird on wing, the Ice jacht satisfied tho craving of even tho most fastidious for excessive speed. Conceding tho automobile the distinction dis-tinction of being tho fastest thing 6n wheels, the Ice ncht must bo conceded tho palm as the fastest thing off wheels, In. fact, tho combination of sails, sleds and skates puBhcs tho auto for the honor of lending everything In night over ground There Is no limit ;d9!K to tho speod obtainable In these little ?H crafts ? J Wonderful Fast Time made. JH Several authorities there are who B claim that the famous Iceboat Scud, a 1 prize winner on the Shrewsbury, in New Jersey, and on the Hudson, covered cov-ered a mile In thirty-one seconds on the first named speod stretch. Others Bfl'' maintain that the Scud took twenty- H I nine seconds to cover the mile. Be jH that as It may, record tabulators gen- jfl ernllv concede that tho mile under dls- H cuasion was the fastest over mado bj B an American Iceboat. H 'Mile a mlnuto express trains that B skirt tho shores of tho Hudson are jU frequently outsped by Iceboats. As a 9 1 mattor of fact, a mile a minute is not jH looked upon as worthy of spocial note jH ( bv expert lco yachtsmon. t Ice jachtlng la enjoyed In overy ' Sf state In tho Union where tho lco forms 9 regularly each w Inter, but It Is cs- 9u pocially popular In Michigan. Wiscon- jrc? sin. Illinois. Now York and New Jer- 9tE: sey In tho three states named flr3t H ijv races arc held almost ontlrelv on the H lakes, while in New Jersey and New York rivers afford tho most favorabio 19 speedway strotchos 'Jfl Th1 Shrewsbury river, whlrh rises B I not far from Long Branch and ftowB H Into New York bay at Sandy Hook is jH' probably the greatest lco achting ccn- h ler 'n 1 ountry Upon the broad S V shallow reaches of the river near Rod J " Bank, Branchport and Pleasure Bay. B N J scores of the fleet craft are soon fll dallv Bird swift racers shoot by fast-flj fast-flj cr than tho fastest train that ever roll-flu roll-flu ed on wheels flj The mlddlo west as well as the entt fl Is passlonatelj fond of lco yacht rnc- flj ng Wisconsin probably has more lco iVv - ? "-''Il 1$7 J1S- I Wml iM ' A " l i' - ' M fV It&.&k&w - - " m I N$ ' t P IK A , : & J&flm" 4 '' fix- I'hoius by American Press Association. vi vT No. 1. Slowing up. Z Going nt full speed. 3. Balancing the fjj craft. 4. Rouno'ing tho stake at top speed. craft than any other stato In tho Union On her acoro of lakes hundreds hun-dreds of tho sensational fliers maj be seen at any time during midwinter. Lake Winnebago is one of the greatest great-est of Wisconsin racing centers Tho Lake Winneb.vgo lco Yacht association Is a hlghl p-osperous 6rgan!zatIon with a tremendous fleet. Winnebago Is Ihlrtv-flvt. miles long and sixteen miles wide in places Its surfaco usuallj remains hard for throo full months in each cnr. bo there is prac-tlcallv prac-tlcallv unlimited opportunity for lco vacht sailing Another famous ice yachting center Is Lake Mlnnetonka, Minnesota, west of Minneapolis Manv record runs have been made on Mlnnetonka. On tho Shrewsbury in the past the lateen stylo of sail equipment has been favored but of lato 3 cars the sloop rig popular in New York and in the middle west, has received more attention from the New Jersey experts. The consensus of opinion now la that the sloop rig, jib and muinsnll, produces pro-duces tho bast all around results Some builders. In fact, will not allow the lateen sail to bo put on thoir models The lateen sail Is triangular, with ono point projecting bejond the line of tho mast, thus taking tho place of a Jib. Dangers of Ice Yaohting. Much or tho popularity of iceboatlng Is duo to tho danger that necessarily attends the enreer of every ono of Its followers. Tho American temperament tempera-ment craves the splco of danger. It likes to take chances in everything. And no one should underestimate the dangers of Ice jachtlng. To be upsot . JLJ . t and thrown into an air hole or a strofch of open water is an cxpcrlonco that one craves but onco In a lifetime Sometimes Some-times In such a caso tho unfortunate victim is swept under tho Ice by the current, and than rencue Is Impossible. Collisions arc a frequent source of injurj. When iceboats going fifty or sixty miles an hour meet something or somebody Is suro to suffer. If a runner run-ner breaks or a rudder loosens or tho mast snaps off or a stako or stu-np Ij hit while ono Is going at top speed the gp result may be Imagined Freedom from accident can bo assured only by ha lng a thoroughly compotent man to steer and manage the craft. Unfortunatelv tho expert Ice jacht handler is extremely scarce. The tlller-man tlller-man must have tho keenest of eyes, the coolest of heads, the strongest of nerves and the steadiest of hands. Tho Ice jacht is liko no other craft, 30 it requires a specialist to get good results. One of the peculiarities of Ice yacht- H ing lo that these craft arc never soiled : H directly beforo tho wind. When going H straight beforo tho wind thev nu H away from It and lone their speod. So IH to go from ono point to another with HH the wind they sail off at an angle to ll tho straight course, getting the wind ' IH aslant, and thon -veer around and sail H to tho desired point, again getting tho IH wind a&lant. IH Origin of lea Yaohting. H The general opinion prevails that tho Iceboat Is puroly an American Invcn- H tlon. but Europo was Its blrthplac. jH Tho ancient homo of tho Iceboat was H ! Holland, Its particular habitat being H tho river Mouse. The old species wide- ll ly differed In every respect from lt3 H modern descendants It resembled n.i H ordinary rowboat. and It rested on two H transverso timbers, to which on cither jH side skatelike runners were bolted. Tho IH boat was steered by a rudder of the or- ll dlnary kind, tho lower edge of which , IH wns sharpened in order to get sufficient H hold on tho Ice to enablo the boat to , " H turn at the helmsman's wllL OrdI- H narlly, I believe, tho rig was that of a H sloop. Sails carried were a jib and a H mainsail, tho maat being supported by , jH shrouds set up to tho transverse tim- IH ber. Tho thrifty Dutchmen used to il enrry freight and passengers in tbeso jH craft, but In America the modern typo H of lco yacht Is for pleasure and racing ll only. IH When an American Iceboat was first H taken to Russia and placed one windy jH day on the Neva tho Inhabitants of St. ! Petersburg went wild with delight over it. Now thero Is quite a fleet at tho ' Russian capital, all built from Amerl- ; M can models, with no notablo improvo- H ments. H |
