ON THE WINGS OF THE WIND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2664, 5 April 1905, Page 77

ON THE WINGS OF THE WIND.

ICE-BOAT RACING IN CANADA.

Bx W. Victor Cook.

(For the Witness.)

The keen wind race sacross the bay. In the crisp air the sunshine sparkles upon the fine dust of the driven snow.

"It's a great day for a sail !"' says my friend, the skipper of the Ice Queen. Sometimes the Ice Queen breaks records, sometimes she breaks herself; it all depends how the snowdrifts lie on Toronto Bay. We pull our fur caps well down ever our ears, and march forth upon the ice. When the frost has settled itself comfoitably below zero, the fancy of young Toionto lightly turns to thoughts- of iceboat racing. A couple of miles oui^Ttrom the waterfront of the city the long, -low bank of the Island runs almost parallel with the shore for three or four miles, erclosing the bay, which in summer forms a natural harbour, and in winter, protected as it is from the gales that sweep the vast surface of Lake Ontario, freezes to a depth of several feet, and gives ideal facilities for that rarest of, wild and strenuous sports, ice-boat racing. -_,A "quarter of a mile out from the land the Ice Queen lies, a diamond-shaped craft, on three steel runners, among a small fleet of similar vessels. Even in the two or three big cities on the lakes, •wr-ere natural- conditions favour the sport, ice-boat Tunning is confined to a small band of enthusiasts. Probably nine out of ten Torontonians have never been in an ice-boat in their lives, even as passengers, and a very large number have never so much as seen one, owing to the fact that from almost all parts of the city the huge disfiguring railway sheds shut out the view of the bay front. "Hoist away!" says the skipper, after a look round "to see that the sheets are not frozen too stiff to run freely over the blocks. Up goes ,the big sail. For reasons which those accustomed to sailing •will readily appreciate, the rig of an iceboat is confined to a big lateen sail, wnich is not hoisted on a single mast, but is hung between the two legs of a kind of "double mast, that practically consists of two wooden stays meeting in the middle overhead. Ice-boat sailing, and especailly ice-boat racing, is such a strenuous form of sport and requires such rapidity of movement on the part of the crew, that the handling of a number of separate sails iwould be out of the question. "Ileady?'' says the skipper. "All aboard !"

The crew, which is myself, hauls in the 6heet, and the big sail bellies out as it catches the breeze. We give the Ice Queen just one shove, and spring aboard. 3?he next moment she is swiftly gliding over the ice. Faster, faster every instant. In a quarter of a minute we are running at 30 miles an hour. In half a minute the Ice Queen, is flying along at a pace that might make an automobile blush svith envy. We seem hardly to have started when we are close to the island shore, tearing towards it with a velocity •which, it would seem, must inevitably smash us to pieces within the next halfjninute. "Ready to go aboufT!" sings the skipper. "Aye, aye, sir \" says the crew. "Lee-oh I" says the skipper. He puts the tiller down a little way — the man who puts an ice-yacht about too quickly is apt to have considerable trouble in collecting himself and it afterwards — an'J the Ice Queen sweeps round to wind,ward. The sail shivers a moment as she comes into the wind's eye, then tellies out again, and we fly off on the opposite tack. This time we are closer hauled on the wind, and the pace is 'dizzying. "Sit tight!" sings the skipper, suddenly. There is a succession of bumping shocks., or shocking bumps, that nearly tear the tiller from the steersman's hand, and that ..make the crew grab the side. At the same moment a blinding cloud of snow diast /smothers boat and men. Then we are flying on again with an almost imperceptible gliding, though the rush of the freezing air makes one shut the eyes. The Jlce Queen had struck a series of small snow ridges, and for the moment, throwIng up her weather runner, had threatened to lie flat down to leeward.

Five minutes takes us up the bayj' another five brings us back. In half an tour of sailing we have covered more miles than most men would care to walk in a clay. Finally, the Ice Queen, sweeping back towards the little fleet, is brought tig m the $yje of the wincU with, just^

as much distance to run her to "moorings as her momentum will let her cover in the teeth of the wind. Then down comes her sail, and her crew run back to land and warmth. Such are the pleasures of ice-boating — pleasures which, to those who know them, 1 are like nothing else, which the ingenuity of sportsmen has devised. The risks arise mainly from carelessness, cracks in the ice, and snowdrifts. Fortunately, the bare, exposed surface of the bay does not lend itself easily to the formation of snow ridges of any But- even as they are, they are often troublesome affairs for the ice-boat flyers. For it is obvious that, with a yacht rushing along at anything from 30 to 60 miles an hour, — there ars even tall stories of speeds of 70 and 80 miles an hour being attained, — a steersman cannot prevent his boat from taking the drifts. If the drift be soft, the boat either rushes into it and sticks there, or cut: her way through amid a cloud of snow "spray." If she sticks, the chances are that everything will go by the board, owing to the tremendous momentum she has acquired, and that her crew will be sent skidding over the bay, to pick themselves up when the law of friction shall

have exerted a tardy authority.

But perhaps the worst thing — next to a collision or a subsidence through the iee — • that can happen to an ice-boat is what is plajriully known as "merry-go-round." To adopt the small boy's style of definition, a "merry-go-round" is when you put the tiller down too hard, or when the third runner, which is the rudder catches in a

crack. Owing to the lack of friction on the ice an ice-yacht must be pnt about more gradually than a sailing yacht. If the rudder is put too far round the result will be, especially in a high wind, that tne boat will go over on the other tack with such a swing that she will complete the circle, arid keep going round like a whirligig till something oi somebody gets hurt. One remembers a certain novice who went sailing with a particularly dare-devil ice sailor on a boat that had already been through so many tribulations that she was only held together

by ingenious splicing. The conversation turned on "merry-go-rounds," and the novice, inquired 1 , "What is a merry-go-round?" Just then the after runner got caught fast in a cleft of the ice, and the yacht, which was running at break-neck speed, snapped in half, scattering the party far and wide over the surface of the bay. When they found each other again, * the skipper, who still held a piece of the tiller in one hand, explained that that was a merry-go-round !

Nevertheless, ice-boating is by no means s- dangerous a sport as it might seem. It is true that to steer an ice-yacht requires

considerable practice

The boat is not

only going at a pace that renders the utmost alertness absolutely essential, but

it must be borne in mind

mechanical forces, of which the motion of the ice-yacht is the resultant, differ in

important respects from those which are exerted on a boat sailing in the water. For example, an ice-yacht always sails at her worst" when running before the wind. The absence of friction on the ice enables her almost immediately to gain a speed which is practically that of the wind itself. Then her sail hangs loose, and if the steersman is nofvery careful she will "jibe over" again and again. On the other hand, when sailing close hauled an iceyacht will often be going faster than the wind itselfr Then again, an ice-boat must have plenty of room to manoeuvre. It would be impossible to work one to windward up a narrow channel or to negotiate a narrow channel at all, because, owing to the non-resistance of the ice, an ice-yacht makes a great deal of lee-way every time a puff catches her. A BiSat might be sailing with apparently plenty of room, when a moderate puff would be sufficient to swerve her to the edge of the channel, and even off the ice.

The greatest danger, perhaps, is that which the more daring or reckless iceyachtsmen run when the winter is breaking up and the ice is growing thin. The first thaws give a glorious slippery surface over which to skim when the frost has gripped the bay again ; but there comes a time when even the dizzy velocity of an ice-yacht cannot carry her quickly enough over a spot where the frozen covering is (too slight. Then there will be a crash, and a splash, and a freezing bath, if nothing worse.

Small as their number is, it is not wonderful that ice-yachtsmen are enthusiasts in their sport. The bewildering speed, the easy gliding movement of the yacht, the clear, sparkling cold that makes the face tingle and the blood run iastj the exhilarating knowledge that a moment's mishandling may spell disaster, combine to make ice-boat racing a sport that must always appeal to the young Canadian whose circulation is good and who£SL.B£cyfis_are spjuui^''"*"' ~ ~ ' " ■""""