Ariel sails to victory for Ice Yacht Challenge Cup of America!

 

   Luke Lawrence skippers Hudson River Ice Yacht Club's Ariel to two first place finishes in only the 4th race for Van Nostrand Cup in 135 years. Race on the Shrewsbury River at Red Bank NJ February 9, 2026.

fuller post later...

Boats on (finally) at Athens-on-Hudson - ICE NOT READY sadly

 Vixen & Aurora on the ice Thursday  

Two boats from the HRIYC are set up & rigged at Athens - the State Boat Launch  - where we have sailed these past few years.  Vixen took a short sail today and discovered that the ice is still not quite ready. Exploring further across the ice and drilling more found that there are still multiple, random spots with a slush layer under the snow covering. About 50 yards East off the set up area there is a large patch of slush/water under the surface that no boat will go through.  We need several more very cold nights to hopefully (and finally) set up the ice surface. The cold is coming. I don't recommend setting up more boats at this point.  Or walking far off the launch area. Will check and see if it is safe to sail on Sunday. 

3+ inches of slush/water that will stop a boat, a skater and even our Golden Retriever...  Not safe to walk through.

 

(my post I almost sent before heading up to Athens this afternoon...)

 When we are displaying boats or doing talks on ice yachts we are regularly asked "When do you  start sailing?"

An impossible question to answer, but the best I've come up with over the years is - 'We are often sailing on Super Bowl Sunday, so start to look at weather and blog posts around that week of February'. While we have had a deep freeze for a very long time it is now this week that the ice has shaped up to sail. Thickness is good and the snow pack has diminished enough for the boats to sail. ( Note - see above)

So here it is Super Bowl weekend and a few boats have begun setting up on the River at Athens. There is a nice plate of ice all along the shore from the Village to the northern end of Middle Ground Flats. 

We had different weather conditions this weekend in 2022 at Athens.  

Some of the boats in our Club are on their way to Red Bank NJ for races there this weekend. 

Ariel, Ice Queen, & Whirlwind will take part in A boat races.  Comet will also hit Jersey ice, perhaps joining D boat races. Race reports to be  posted later this  weekend. 

And just spent the morning extracting Spider out of the Rokeby barns. She'll get dusted off and set up at Athens soon - it's been over 12 years since she's sailed.  

    Spider extraction team.  Of course parts were  under other boats, including Rip Van Winkle. 

            Rip, Pathfinder, Reindeer, amongst dozens of spars, runners, tillers and boats....

           Spider ready to be loaded up. Built by Victor Livingston of Kingston; circa 1920. 

 Ice is always unpredictable, especially when getting on. Where the shore and ice plate meet can have thin spots and open water. Use caution or simply watch from shore. Again, there are multiple slush spots today 2/5, with minimal ice thickness beneath. Use caution always. 

Still waiting.... last day of January

 

        Ice Sheet off Rhinecliff. Half way to the channel. Ship traffic moving north.     

  Latest ice checks promising, but thickness and surface conditions not     quite there yet;       See Ice Conditions  

!Access to the river at Rhinecliff is tricky and dangerous. Not recommended unless you have an experienced group and safety tools!

Coast Guard breaker Sturgeon Bay working the channel north towards Esopus Meadows Lighthouse.  Photo courtesy Glen Burger.

River looking promising!

 River is locking up, many smooth stretches of ice in several locations. Several more nights with below zero should build good thickness. Still need to measure thoroughly. Expeditions happening next few days. Soon!   Ice conditions tab upper right of this site.

Athens ice, looking NW from village park.

Gildersleeve Prize

 Ever since Ice Yachts have sailed the Hudson River, there has been racing between yachts & yacht clubs. Even today some ice boaters live just to race against fellow boaters. Whether for bragging rights or a silk pennant, racing brings out exciting moments of speed & drama.  

What are some of the prizes that ice boaters raced for?  Stumbling on an old email thread got me looking back at the races and rewards. 

I've previously posted about one of the most exquisite trophies in ice yachting, The Van Nostrand Cup

I've also covered much of the history of the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant of America, the 30 foot silk pennant established by Irving Grinnell in 1875.

What spurred this post was an email John Sperr (keeper of the HRIYC.org website)  received from a woman 5 years ago. She had acquired a silver oil lamp trophy at an auction in western NY. 

In lieu of silk pennants and silver Tiffany cups, there is always a race to be had for an oil lamp! 

But what a beauty!  

                    This is the Gildersleeve Prize, awarded to winner of the HRIYC race for third class yachts. 

                                      Third class boats had sail area between 350 -450 sq ft.

       Winner of the race on March 16,1887 was Lewis Edwards' yacht Arrow.  Arrow was 31 feet long with sail area of 369 feet.  

I found a  news clipping of the race in John Roosevelt's scrapbook (from the FDR museum & library archives).  

Edwards, outsailed Edmund Pendelton Rogers ( typo in clipping), sailing Snowflake,  38 ft in length and 444 sq ft sail.  EP Rogers was Archibald Rogers father and secretary of the HRIYC at the time.  

Who was Gildersleeve?  

Judge Henry Alger Gildersleeve was born in Dutchess County and schooled in Poughkeepsie. He was a teacher before entering the Civl War in 1862. He  engaged in campaigns in Gettysburg, the Carolinas and Georgia. He mustered out in 1865 and was noticed for his service by President Lincoln. He became a judge in NYC and was a founding member of the NRA. (yes that NRA).  On the ice, he was a member of the Poughkeepsie Ice Yacht Club, and later, the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club. 

 

                              Ice Yacht Virginia, with owner Judge H.A. Gildersleeve; circa 1880. 

Lewis Edwards kept his yacht Arrow at John Roosevelt's Ice Boat Barn at Roosevelt Point. Roosevelt housed his many boats along with several big boats of Club members.

Judge Gildersleeve had a long, successful, and at times controversial, career. He had the wherewithal to sponsor trophies for races in the 1880s.  

Many thanks to Heather Mulloy for graciously sharing her pictures and for saving a piece of ice yachting history.

And, what other items have been offered up in races?  a very short list of things that I will hopefully add to over time: ( in random order)

Glass cigar holder  for 6th class races at Hyde Park  Feb 1909   won by Comet

Silver Salver 1869 Haze Aaron Innis

silver pitcher 1871 Ella   T.V. Johnston

Club plate  1872  Haze

Silver Plate  1872  Artic Jacob Buckhout

Silver Tiller 1881  Icicle  JAR  

And, my favorite:

circa 1888  4th class race of NHIYC boats;  won by Puff;  quoting the Pok Eagle: "This was a flour race. Only 4 boats sailed in the 4th class, giving every non-active member of the club a barrel of flour." 

And loving cups of all shapes and sizes and designs:

Medals awarded to skippers winning the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant of America"

Phantom 1881

Icicle 1899

Jack Frost 1893

 

Waiting out the Snow....

 

18 inches of fluffy snow has put any sailing on hold here in Hudson Valley.  We've got extended cold on tap so prospects are good (?) for river ice someday soon. 

Greyhound gets in a short sail the day before the snow storm hits us...    She was trailered home after this. 

    Greyhound, Tivoli South Bay 1/24/26. Catskill mountains in the distance. photo courtesy Brett Kolfrat

Cold Wave during a cold wave....

 After a prolonged January thaw, we are looking at a very deep freeze over the next ten days. Will be watching for the possibility of the Hudson River making good ice. Meanwhile all local ice - several lake and Bay locations were just getting boats set up - is buried under 7-8 inches of powder that fell over the past weekend. That's enough to make it near impossible to sail through. Unless you have 450 sq foot of sail area!  

                        Ice Yacht Cold Wave sailing through 7" of new snow in 15 mph winds.  

Cold Wave, circa 1906(?) sailed out of Long Island for many years, after being restored by Ruben Snodgrass, who sailed her in the 1978 Van Nostrand Cup race in Red Bank.  Cold Wave finished ahead of the other boats in that race.  This is the first time she's been back on the ice since 2014 on the Hudson River in Barrytown.  The Lawrence family now sails her.     (videos courtesy of Dan & Kevin Lawrence 1/19/26)