In the U.P., we’ve come up with a lot of ways to entertain ourselves in the winter, from saunas, ice fishing and skiing to snowmobiling or ice climbing. But ice sailing? That's a new one for most of us.
Still, that’s what a group of daring racers are bringing to St. Ignace in February. The
World Ice and Snow Sailing Association typically holds an annual championship, alternating between Europe and North America every other year. It hasn't been held in the U.S. since 1995, but the perfect conditions on Lake Huron were the reason for the event's location this year.
"I was on my way to the Keweenaw and stopped to eat at the Mackinac Grille. That's where I saw the pictures of (St. Ignace's) Pond Hockey event. It was exactly the same as what we needed for our event – snow and an area of cleared ice," says Dan Hill, the event coordinator for the 2012 championship races, and a Michigan resident.
Maybe the events will capture the hearts of a new audience in the U.P., since we do have in abundance the things required for snow and ice sailing: snow, ice and wind. Hill says the average wind speed on the Mackinac Straits is about 27 miles per hour in February.
"That wind speed has a lot of people pumped up," he says.
The championship races are made up of several events; between 80 and 100 racers will compete with kites, hand-held wing sails, or traditional windsurfing sail boards. Among the races are a slalom, race course, and a marathon, which will take racers to Mackinac Island and back over sixteen acres of maintained, cleared ice, which
St. Ignace uses for the annual Labatt Blue U.P. Pond Hockey Championship, which brings about 5,000 people down to the ice of the Straits prior to the WISSA races.
The ice and snow sailing races hope to draw an equivalent number, especially with the addition of ice bowling, ice golf, sailing demonstrations, and live entertainment for spectators.
And it looks like this won't be a one-time event for St. Ignace, as it also is hosting the North American WISSA championship next year, with the help of major sponsors including Kewadin Casinos. Organizers say that will become an annual event.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: St. Ignace Visitors Bureau
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