Coldest Frostbite race

jim anderson

New Member
So yesterday, Thanksgiving 2005, the Calhoun Yacht Club in Minneapolis attempted to host it's very informal Thanksgiving Day Regatta. Typical Thanksgiving Day weather in Minnesota is usually below freezing, often with ice beginning to form around the edges of the lakes. Yesterday was brutal, with temperature around fifteen degrees and winds at 15 to 20, gusting to 30+. The wind chill was about eight degrees below zero (Farenheit), and there were whitecaps just covering the leeward end of our lake, caking the beach with layers of ice. Five sailors showed up, and we all graciously declined on the opportunity to race. In conditions that cold your sheets freeze solid in about ten or fifteen minutes, and you can easily lose control of the boat. Plus I was worried about water spraying into my hull/deck joint and freezing, thus making it leaky.

But it brings me to two questions - First, what are some of the coldest conditions people have sailed Lasers in? I'm interested in the gory details (i.e. temps, windspeed, windchill factors, dates). Is there a coldest Laser Frostbite on record? Would attempting to set a record be stupid, akin to setting a record in sword-swallowing? (The Guiness book no longer accepts recod-attempts for sword swallowing because it's too dangerous)

The second question is, what will sailing in extremely cold conditions do to your boat? Is the hull/deck joint concern noted above a valid one? Does your mast step become brittle when the temperature drops? What else can happen?

I'm going to make a hot chocolate now and wait for your comments,
Jim
 
HAHA!!!

Well, as a former Canadian who grew up in Winnipeg, I can appreciate the conditions in that thread. It DOES say it all.

I am happily residing in Miami Beach and went sailing one day this summer when the water temperature was one degree cooler that the surrounding air. The air was 91 farenheit...

I can honestly say that I will NEVER sail/race in temperature conditions like that!!! It takes guts, that's for sure.....I'll leave that for the folks that have either never experienced cold weather before..or the die hards....

don't fall overboard.....
 
As a Finn living in Canada, this all makes perfect sense. I've raced at Water Rats in Toronto in January. Funny that this thread should come up because I was just going to look them up to see if they still sail all year. I just finished sailing Stars in Hamilton and I'm not ready to give it up just yet. Looking at those crazy Finns gave me a smile.:D
 
i live in florida and have never seen snow and hate cold wheather so i would basically never sail in that type of wheather. the coldest i have ever sailed in was about 45 degrees but about 35 with the wind chill. or at least it seemed like that
 
sailor327 said:
i live in florida and have never seen snow and hate cold wheather so i would basically never sail in that type of wheather. the coldest i have ever sailed in was about 45 degrees but about 35 with the wind chill. or at least it seemed like that

Makes you wonder why there are so many more sailors in Florida than in Maine...
 
No THANKS!

You are certainly and inspiration, but that is TOO COLD.

We practiced on a 30' in 45degrees yesterday and I was cold cold cold. Not use to this Northwest Chill!
 
Hi,
we have been sailing at 2 degrees celsius (~35 degrees fahrenheit) and 30 knots. The only places where I get cold was fingers and toes. The problems when the temperature goes to down is that your ropes and the deck freezes so you can't do any trim adjusting...:mad:

Henri

http://koti.welho.com/hbryk
 
Average surface (F) temperatures on Flathead Lake, Montana, are 36 mid-January, 56 in mid-June, and 68 mid-August. It's almost 400 feet deep, so it very rarely freezes over.

I would need some WAY better clothes to try that.
 
A lovely sunny day tempted me out in 6C last weekend. Used latex gloves as liners-any better suggestions? For more extreme temperatures do you find a drysuit and wool or fleece necessary or preferable to a wetsuit? thanks
 
MasterMike said:
Average surface (F) temperatures on Flathead Lake, Montana, are 36 mid-January, 56 in mid-June, and 68 mid-August. It's almost 400 feet deep, so it very rarely freezes over.

I would need some WAY better clothes to try that.

Wow i never knew that they sailed in monatana.
 
sailor327 said:
Wow i never knew that they sailed in monatana.
Montana, that is...!
Yes, come up and try it sometime. 30 miles long, surrounded by mountains, one of the cleanest big lakes in the world. 40 miles or so from Glacier National Park. Several keelboat fleets, + J24's, J22's, Thistles, Lasers (not enough!), cats, 4 Solings, and a couple of beautiful wood Q-boats from the 20's(?) that sail tourists off the East shore. Chilly water, but no worse than Puget Sound in the summer.
(My photos are apparently way too big - can't post)
 
dwebster said:
A lovely sunny day tempted me out in 6C last weekend. Used latex gloves as liners-any better suggestions? For more extreme temperatures do you find a drysuit and wool or fleece necessary or preferable to a wetsuit? thanks
I would like to know specifically what people wear in very cold conditions. Number of layers, kinds of materials, gloves, etc. I see Gill has some neoprene gloves with curved fingers - do they work? What are you wearing to stay warm and/or dry?
Thanks
 
Well there was this one time at band camp......

My coldest frostbite sailing was in Charlotte, NC- Lake Norman in Feb. I can't remember the actual temp, but it was blowing 15-20 and the spray was freezing on the deck. The only areas not covered in a sheen of ice was where you sat.
 
MasterMike said:
I would like to know specifically what people wear in very cold conditions. Number of layers, kinds of materials, gloves, etc. I see Gill has some neoprene gloves with curved fingers - do they work? What are you wearing to stay warm and/or dry?
Thanks

Once the water gets down around 40F, you want a drysuit. Definitely not a wetsuit, as the water will freeze to it. The drysuit keeps the water out, so all you have to do is dress like you were going for a walk that day. As for gloves, 3-5mm neoprene does the trick, nothing less. Oh, and a wool hat.
 
There's a great story about Cam Lewis, I believe, in which he is out sailing a laser in very cold temps in New England and while he is out, ice shifts and blocks the marina. He comes in very fast, on a planing reach, and hits the ice with his centerboard and a yard-sale ensues.

Anyone know more details than that? I read that in a book once long ago.
 
There are some great stories here. The one that impresses me the most so far is sailing in Toronto in January. It must be about 15-20 degrees Fahrenheit? The pictures of Finland are cool (oooo, ouch no pun intended, no really...) but, at least in Minneapolis, you can have spring days where the temps are in the muggy 50s and still have lots of ice on the lake. It's weird to see joggers on the path in shorts and t-shirts while people are ice-fishing on the lake. Still, I suppose there might be a market in Finland for dollies with skates instead of wheels.

We have snow on the ground but our lake, Calhoun, is still open. It will freeze a couple feet thick by Christmas. If you have had the misfortune of seeing "The Mighty Ducks" movie, that's Lake Calhoun they are skating on with the city skyline in the background. Anyway, a friend loaned me his drysuit and I seriously thought about going out this weekend but sanity won over and I called it a season last night and hung my boat in the garage for the winter. Part of my rationale was not wanting to hurt my boat by getting ice in the hull-deck joint. Other than ramming icebergs on a planing reach, does anybody know if freezing will hurt your boat?

Jim
 
We finally had some frostbite weather at Cedar Point - it warmed up enough that the snow changed to freezing rain by the time we went out sailing. When we got in, all the sails were ice covered. The water temp is still pretty warm though, so it's not that insane.
 

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So do you get ice on the hull? You are in salt water, so maybe not? How do you care for the hull once you take it from the water?

Merrily
 
We haven't had ice problems in the past 4 years at Cedar Point, however in Newport, where they sail all winter long, their decks do ice up on occasion. It's stays clear where you sit, so it's not that big of an issue. Never have seen any ice on hulls due to the salt water.

Nothing special on the care after sailing - you do need to make sure the mast step is empty of water before throwing the cover on, it doesn't hurt to plug or cover the mast step prior to putting on the deck cover. (some people will store their boats upside down to avoid the cockpit and mast step ending up with ice, which takes a while to remove when you show up the next time to go sailing)
 
Burrrr. Man. Burrrrrr... That pic w/the ice and snow makes me appreciate what we consider cold days in the south.
 
49208 said:
We finally had some frostbite weather at Cedar Point - it warmed up enough that the snow changed to freezing rain by the time we went out sailing. When we got in, all the sails were ice covered. The water temp is still pretty warm though, so it's not that insane.

I tell you, I laughed when I saw that photo!!! I really is a great shot!! It's totally insane!!! I moved to South Florida 10 years ago to leave conditions like that...It is so cool to see people actually sailing in them..I just keep laughing...with my jaw on the ground!!!

Good luck this winter!!
 

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