KYC Regatta Reports

2026-02 DN North American and DN US National Regatta

2026 DN NORTH AMERICAN AND DN US NATIONALS

Last Wednesday, January 21, 2026 the DN North American Championship (DN NAs) and US National Regatta (US Ns) were called on for Syracuse, Indiana.  The first regatta being DN NAs and 7 races scheduled and upon completion, go straight into the US Ns Regatta.  Registration was to be held on Saturday and the first race was to start Sunday.   So John Curtis and Peter Van Rossem chose to leave Kingston Thursday and drive the 10hrs to Syracuse to have Friday and Saturday to practice before racing started.  We did get two days of sailing in but due to really cold temperatures in the low -20c the training was quick and we needed lots of time to warm up again between runs.

Sunday morning we woke to find. 5” of snow on the ice.   The regatta was postponed and alternative locations were needed to hold the regatta.  Green Lake , WI had the best ice but organizers were hesitant to call it on for Green Lake because of a week long, frigid temperature forecast of below  -20c and strong winds of over 20 knots forecasted the whole week.  There was no other lake found in time so organizers chose Green Lake, WI for our race site.  So after packing up all our boats and gear, we drove the 6-7 hours to Green Lake.

Monday was registration which gave us a chance to sail the lake and racing was to be Tuesday At 10:00 am.   Forecasted temps of -24c and wind strengths plus 20kts and gusts to 35, the organizers decided to cancel racing for the day.   One of the locals,  Joe Norton who is famous in the DN and Iceboat World offered a tour of his shop.  His business is restoring antique power boats and we got to see the process a boat goes through before it goes into the varnish state. After our tour, we dressed up with all our race gear and again headed out to the lake to test runners (ice blades) and sail combinations.

Wednesday morning again was extremely cold so we were told the start was pushed back to 12:30 waiting for warmer temperatures.   There were three fleets, Gold, Silver and Bronze.  Bronze started first and the top ten finishers were moved up into the Silver Fleet.   Once the Silver fleet finished, again the top 10 in that fleet moved up into the Gold fleet.   Once sorted out one stayed in their designated Fleet for the regatta. Fortunately for John and Peter, our Previous years finishing was high enough so we didn't need to qualify.   A nice feeling knowing you didn't have to worry about making a big mistake in the qualifying race.

The ice on the course was almost perfect.  No snow and no cracks in the ice surface to worry about.   Racing on Wednesday was great!   Some great speed and good tactics were the key to a good race and both John and Peter managed a top ten finish for the day.   Thursday winds were a bit lighter and again both John and Peter sailed consistently climbing the ladder to better positions with John even winning a race by a whopping two minutes over the next boat.  Friday was the last day of racing as we knew the race management would get in the 7 race series.  Both John and Peter knew sailing with consistent finishes would keep them the top 10 and both sailed well.   John finished 9th and Peter 8th against over 56 competitors.  Skippers from Poland, Sweden,  Germany,  US and a total of 5 Canadians took part.

Friday the organizers managed to get one race off to start the US National Regatta.   Saturday 3 more races were held and both John and Peter sailed well again.    John had a phenomenal regatta placing 4th overall and Peter too,  finishing 6th.