Ice and snow don’t stop these pleasure cruisers around Sodus Bay
By Tom and Jerry Caraccioli
The vision of a warm, leisurely afternoon summer’s day on Sodus Bay sailing boats and yachts is probably what most people think of when the topic of discussion is sailing. For members of the Sodus Bay Ice Boat Club, that conversation also revolves around a different form of allegiance.
Though many club members love their summertime sailing, they also enjoy sailing when the weather turns cold and the water icy. Because of those factors, the sport of ice yachting requires serious commitment. And the members of the Sodus Bay Ice Boat Club are equally passionate.
When annual dues of $20 are collected, the members of the Sodus Bay Ice Boat Club know they are part of something special.
“I’m a lifelong resident of Sodus Point,” recording secretary for Sodus Bay Ice Boat Club Jay DeWispelaere said. “It translates a passion and skill into a winter sport that we all enjoy. Many of the men and women that helped charter the club are no longer with us, so this perpetuates their passion for the sport and their memories.”
It’s a sport and hobby that is steeped in history in the northeast first out of necessity and then eventually as fun. Learning to move on ice has been a way of life since European settlers first inhabited the land north of the Fingers Lakes on the shores of Lake Ontario in 1789. Through the years, while some fashioned metal blades to footwear to create a pair of ice skates, others, even to this day, find different new ways to sail across the frozen water during the winter months.
In the 1860s, ice boats, yachts, began to develop and become more refined than just strapping on metal runners to a wooden platform with a sail attached to catch wind. Wealthy landowners in New England and in New York state’s Hudson Valley, such as the Roosevelts in Hyde Park, began to build bigger and faster ice yachts. As a result, a new winter hobby began to migrate westward.
“The Sodus Bay Ice Boat Club has been incorporated since the early 1960s and there has been ice boating on the bay probably since the late 1800s,” DeWispelaere explained. “Today, we use the organization of the club to host regattas when we have conditions that allow us to. It also has allowed us the opportunity to perpetuate the history of ice boating on Sodus Bay.”
As the sport developed, the frozen waters including Sodus Bay began to see different types of yachts and boats zipping across the frigid landscape. Boats with stern steer, controlled from the back, are used in bigger sized crafts. The stern steer, with a tiller in the back, allows the sailor to lie in a cockpit. The bow steer is a front-controlled yacht with a tiller and is a little less ‘tippy,’ allowing sailors to go faster with better balance than some of the older stern steers.
With optimal conditions, these boats have been known to move at speeds of a vehicle traveling the speed limit on any major roadway in New York state. Typically, ice boats do not go that fast though.
“A good boat, with good sharp skates and a good sail on clean ice with a good breeze can easily do 50-60 miles per hour,” DeWispelaere said. “The danger is that you are laying in a plywood or fiberglass hull that is not very far off the ice and you’re moving at a pretty good speed. At the very least, Sodus Bay Ice Boat Club requires helmets. Mouth guards are not unusual and other safety gear padding for elbows or body parts placed between the hull are also used when sailing.”
And though ice boating is not known primarily as the first sport to come to mind during the winter season in Central New York, DeWispelaere and his fellow club members are not remiss about their passion for this wintertime hobby and sport. As the ice freezes, it allows for more possibilities for fun.
“We look for at least one foot of ice that has been stable for at least one week with a clean, consistent shelf of ice,” DeWispelaere said. “The other issue is that you need ice that is relatively free from snow because more than a trace to an inch of snow will keep the boats from being able to sail well. Also, any development of drifts prohibits and slows you down from using the full area of available ice. And, then of course, these are sail-powered vessels, so you need wind.
“Unfortunately, the ice does not come onto Sodus Bay as regularly and predictably as it once did, so our season tends to be less of a winterlong sport and more of a ‘waiting for the ice to firm and become safe’ season. We often have two or three periods during the winter when there is usable ice in this area. You often have to be able to travel on very short notice, have your boat ready, your trailer inspected and be ready to throw your gear in the back seat and go.”
Residents, visitors and winter revelers of the area may enjoy more traditional winter activities like ice fishing, cross-country skiing, hiking and snow-shoeing. But once Sodus Bay freezes, they have no doubt seen members of the Sodus Bay Ice Boat Club catching the right wind direction and whistling by on their winter sailing vessels enjoying the ride of their lives.
Tom and Jerry Caraccioli are freelance writers originally from Oswego, who have co-authored three books: “Striking Silver: The Untold Story of America’s Forgotten Hockey Team,” BOYCOTT: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” and “Ice Breakers: A Kid’s Guide to Hockey and the Greatest Players Who Changed the Game.”