Ice Yachting travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

Hudson River is a place, where the sport of ice yachting is very famous, nearly from 100 years ago. Nowadays as the river freezes less frequently, a small but dedicated group of enthusiasts sail to keep history alive.

On the older boats, sailors travel head-first, only a foot and a half off the ice, at highway speeds.

Reassembling an old boat, which can be left in storage for years, can take two or more hours. Enthusiasts raise the boat’s mast. An ice yacht about 40 ft (12 m). in length will carry 6 or 7 passengers or crew, who are distributed in such a manner as to preserve the balance of the boat. In a good breeze the crew lie out on the windward side of the runner-plank to balance the boat, and reduce the pressure on the leeward runner.

One of the boat’s three machete-size skates.

Ice sailing on the Hudson River is a family affair.