Ice Yachts

Lac Des Arc is a mountain lake that is really part of the Bow River system is very shallow, incredibly windy and the most popular place for summer windsurfing in the Alberta Rockies. In the winter the winds keep the lake snow free most of the time and if you are lucky as you drive by, you will see this guy zooming around on his “Ice Boat”. Ice yachting is the sport of “Sailing” and racing iceboats, also called “Ice Yachts”.

If you have the need for speed, you got it here, as this is what attracts people to the sport to go five times the speed of wind.

A modern ice yacht is made of a single-piece backbone the entire length of the boat, and a runner-plank upon which it rests at right angles, the two forming a “Kite (geometry)”

Today, it’s a recreational league of its own and many active ice sailing clubs are thriving in the northern States and Canadian Provinces, also a very popular sport on the Hudson River in New York. In addition to Lac Des Arc, there have been ice-sailing sightings in Alberta on Ghost Lake, Chip Lake and Cooking Lake.

Ice Yachting on the Hudson River, New York

Check out this “Ice Yacht Manual