Due to the cold weather, the starts for today will be postponed one hour.

Skippers Meeting @11:00

First Start @12:00

Oooppss!

My earlier post was wrong! This is the right list. Sorry!!!

Information is provisional and subject to modification

WC2018-DN-SILVER-after4racesWC2018-DN-BRONZE-after4races

Herewith you can find the Starting Lists for the first/prequalification races of WC 2018.

Think Ice,

Your Commodore

Attila Pataky

M-100

The decision is made to leave the site in Gizycko and move to the Lake  Wielimie near the city of Szczecinek.

The Headquarter is in Hotel “Pojezierze” ul. Wyszynskiego 69a, 78-400 Szczecinek.

The launching area: Gwda Wielka, 53.750607N, 16.789918E.

Tomorrow is the transfer day. The races will start on Monday.

At 9:00 Skippers Meeting on the ice at Launching Site. The first Mini-qualification race starts at 10:00.

Your Commodore,

Attila Pataky
M-100

Hello Sailors,

for those who have not read it at the race office.

Opening Ceremony is at 16.30 h at the yacht harbour Ekomarina

See you there

The Opening Ceremony will take place today (24/02) at 16:30 in the Harbor EKOMARINA. We’ll have a small party after the ceremony. All are welcome.

Unfortunately we have to move to another site. There are a few possibilities in Poland.  The Offical Announcement about the new site will be after the Opening Ceremony.

Stay tuned

and

Think Ice (with less snow),

Your Commodore,

Attila Pataky
M-100

As promised yesterday morning we checked the conditions in Orjaku Bay. It is a very nice place with a lot of new facilities and a great area to sail. Unfortunately, the ice is covered by 6-8 cm old and heavy snow.

I would have loved to hold the WC/EC 2018 there, but looking at the weather forecasts it would either be a pushing competition with low winds or in higher winds some competitors could come back with frostbites. Extremely cold weather and more snow are predicted for the area.

There were reports of some other promising areas in Poland, but as of today, the ice thickness is not sufficient to accommodate 150 competitors.

Herewith I would like to say THANK YOU for all, who helped me in icescouting or contributed any information for making the proper decision.

Thus the DECISION is:

The 2018 WC/EC will be held on Lake Niegocin, Poland.

Launching site is

Przystań Jachtowa Ekomarina in the city of Gyzicko.

The Head Quarters will be in Hotel St. Bruno.

You can make a reservation by e-mail: recepcja@hotelstbruno.pl, or by telephone: +48 87 732 65 00 quoting “iceboat” or “bojer”. Double room with breakfast will cost 209 PLZ/night (cca. 50 EUR).

Drive safely & See you all there!

Think Ice,
Your Commodore,

Attila Pataky
M-100

Last two days we checked Lake Rekyva near Siaulai (Lithuania) and the bay near Üüdibe on Island of Saaremaa (Estonia).

Rekyva has good, stable black ice without any cracks. The only problem is the snow cover of 7-8 cm. As now it is light snow, but easily can turn to heavy, which hard to sail.  For photos check the link.

Üüdibe bay could be promising for a smaller regatta. The ice is growing there day-by-day and the snow cover is light, only 1-2 cm. Unfortunately the space is limited, not more than 1,5 km from the shore to the new thin ice. There is no chance to sail the WC/EC here.  Some pictures here.

Today evening we move towards Hiiumaa and will check the ice in Orjaku Bay.

Keep tuned, the decision comes on Thursday.

Think Ice,

Your Commodore

Attila Pataky

M-100

Today we checked two sites in Poland.

Siemianowka has full ice cover, no cracks on the lake.  The ice thickness is 15-17 cm. There is light snow cover on the surface. 3 cm of old snow and 1 cm new snow. Some photos you can find here.

On Lake Niegocin near Gizycko the Polish Championship has taken place this weekend. The ice is very good, no snow on the surface. There is a very big area behind the crack to place the WC. Could be a good alternative site.

Tomorrow we continue heading further North to Litvania and Estonia.

Think Ice,

Your Commodore

Attila Pataky

M-100

Dear Fellow Iceboaters,

The official start of WC/EC is almost in a one-week reach. I hope that all of you are prepared both in your body and in your soul for a great event.  Please check your gears again, update your knowledge about the rules and Think Ice!

Tomorrow we will depart for the traditional ice outing tour to find the best place to sail the 2018 WC/EC. Of course Estonia is our primary destination, but we should have reserve places as well.

Though last year we had great ice in Hungary,  this year the weather hadn’t pampered us. We had plus temperatures all times and hence the lakes hadn’t frozen at all. The neighbouring countries have almost the same situation.

We have some ice on Lipno, but quality of the ice is not the best and the place available is too small for more than 20 boats.

Germany though has some ice, but too thin to sail on it.

In Poland the Nationals will be sailed this week-end on Lake Dargin. We’ll check those lakes in the neighbourhood whether they fit the criteria for alternative/reserve site for the upcoming event.

In Lithuania the Rekyvos Lake hosted the Juniors. At the end of the event there were some issues with snow, which can be melted by now. We will check this place as well.

Latvia has hard snow on ice . It is impossible to sail on it.

Finland also has plenty of snow (8-10 cm).

In Sweden there are a few places with ice, but the real condition still not reported. The monotypes moved from Sweden to Estonia two weeks ago having better conditions there. The situation may have changed since then.

In Estonia they have very good old ice (15-20 cm) between the mainland and the island, as well as in the Parnu Bay and some new ice further out to the sea.

Thus we will travel through Poland visiting Siemianówka and the Mazurian Lakes, then move forward to check Rekyvos Lake in Lithuania and finally land in Estonia for a very thorough ice check of all possible sites.

If needed we can move forward to either Sweden or to Finland.

Please keep me informed about the situation near you. I always count on the opinion of experience sailors.

Post your icereport online on the IDNIYRA website or Contact me ether via e-mail: commodore@idniyra.eu, or by phone: +36 (30) 447 3688.

Facebook Messenger, Viber and WatsApp is also an option.

Think Ice,

Your Commodore

Attila Pataky

M-100