US Team Will Train on Lake Sunapee for WISSA Championships

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Sunapee News

Sailing Lake Sunapee at a speed of 50 mph.

Photo and Post by William Tuthill

The rain on Monday has resurfaced the big NH lakes, and fast ice will be the rule of the day this weekend on Sunapee. As we train for the Ice and Snow Sailing World Championships this year- the 30th-we will have our minds on what it will be like in Saguenay, Quebec, site of this year’s event. The conditions on the lake this weekend will be similar to those encountered at last year’s WC in Riga, Latvia. Fast, and unforgiving for those who do not wax carefully. I may use blades from the Nordic Skater, a great local resource in nearby Norwich, VT, just across the bridge from Dartmouth. With blades [assuming that they are high enough to escape the drag on new snow] wax is not a factor. Thursday’s predicted snow will tell the tale. In any case, as the WC draws closer the U.S. Team will assemble on Sunapee and continue training.

Wing posse sailing at Veranger, Norway last week

by William Tuthill



The whole place is like a terrain park. Low sun angles & kilometers of sailing.

WISSA 2002: pictures

By Alexei Nozdrin

01 - Ancient Interlock near Coliseum



02 - Coliseum



03 - Pigeons



04 - Bridge across Tiber



05 - St. Peter's Basilica



06 - Main Alttar of St. Peter's Basilica



07 - Saint Peter's Square



08 - Village on the Resia Lake



09 - Resia Lake Ice



10 - Drowned Bell Tower



11 - USSR Team



12 - Uhan Gross Sailing



13 - Monoski: about 30km/h



14 - Andrei Maslov is boosting to the finish



15 - Finish



16 - Juha Mannermaa



17 - Skimbats



18 - Hotel "At Deceased Windsurfer"



19 - Kite



20 - Sunset



21 - Ice Hummocks



22 - Winner



23 - Winner



24 - Rajev on the third mark



25 - Kite



26 - Kites Racing



27 - Kites Starting

2nd Swedish Cup class 3 (Kitewing)

by Magnus Nordström



The 18th of January we had a magnificent race at a small place called Kvicksund, 200 km west of Stockholm. Very good hard ice and really nice wind 5-7 m/s (10-15 knots). During these conditions we sail as fast as up to approx. 70 km/h.



The first race in the Swedish Cup was held on a lake called Roxen also very good ice and weather conditions. Every season we try to race 3 Swedish Cup races, local district race, club race and of course the Swedish Championship.



It's always the same procedure: announcement on Thursday evening if the predictions look good and shippers meeting at 10 a.m. on the ice. "Only" 2 races for every class but they are quite long, 10 km each. It's always race on pure ice and never on snow! Now we are 2 active classes, the old Kitesail class 1 that looked the same since 1906 and the Kitewing class 3. Since 2006 the Kitewing class is larger than the Kitesail class. Kitewing is in fact the slowest class! and the fastest the Wingsail class with no active sailor today can speed over 100 km/ h.
It's always very exciting to race because it's often different persons that find a huge speed. We are about 5-8 persons that are able to win depending on the conditions. Alex Larsson the Swedish champion and the favorite took the 3rd place at Kvicksund.



We use special made up to 8 inches (200 mm) high skates because than we can raise the sail higher and also can lean a lot without the ski boot touch the surface, especially important when it's snow on ice.



The Kitewing class is growing a lot here in Sweden and we hope to have at least 50 sailors on the starting line in the Swedish Championship soon after the WISSA event in Riga.

Cheers Magnus

photographs by Ulf Lindner © used with permission

Cams Leap

Famous sailor Cameron Lewis of Maine USA is out enjoying "the ultimate form of sailing" on a lake near his home in Maine, U.S.A. Cam has sailed across the Atlantic several times and around the world two times - breaking records each time.

www.teamadventure.org



This is Cam's nephew Davis flying with the Kitewing

Annie

By William Tuthill

Here comes the new generation!

59.9 miles!

by William Tuthill

Wing sailing on Lake Sunapee this past week end was world class!

SO much wind that only a 4.8 meter wing was needed

The scenery was so nice that I went 59.9 miles ( 96.4 kilometers) in robust winds on a crusty snow surface between 1:30 pm and dark. I would have walked the extra 1/10th of a mile if I knew that I was that close to 60! It was too dark to read the GPS. The legs will get a break because we all drive to Val Brilliant, Quebec for the World Championships http://www.wissa2008.org NEXT weekend! Have a great week.