Broom Game (Canada)

At the beginning of the last century, Canada gave the world an unusual winter team game - broomball. In some ways it resembles hockey: there are also two teams, goalkeepers, an ice field... But instead of a puck there is a ball, and there are no skates either - they are replaced by shoes with tenacious rubber soles.

What attracts most attention is the stick that is used instead of a hockey stick - it looks very much like a broom! This was reflected in the name, which was formed from two English words - “broom” and “ball”.

Interestingly, broomball was brought to Russia by diplomats. Apparently, longing for their homeland or wanting to have fun, they not only organized competitions, but even formed their own Moscow broomball league. In Moscow broomball they actually use a real broom to play. They buy a broom, wrap it with cords and tape, and it lives up to expectations - the stick turns out to be light and stiff at the same time.

However, Canada, where this sport originated, remained the trendsetter in world broomball. The World Championships are held here every two years, and the winners are mainly Canadians and athletes from the USA.

Ice climbing (Russia)

Not everyone dares to take the necessary equipment and go to conquer the mountains. But there are brave souls who go even further and storm the icy peaks. And it is worth noting that such extreme sports enthusiasts need considerable concentration of attention: the ice, which looks quite strong, can sometimes easily crack.

In Russia, fans of ice-climbing (that’s what this hobby is called) are heading to the Caucasus. And, by the way, some climbers choose frozen waterfalls instead of regular ice walls. There is probably some romance in this...

On a sleigh under sail (Poland)

Drive on ice at a speed of 70 km/h... Impressive? This is exactly what lovers of unusual winter windsurfing, also called windsurfing, do. Enthusiasts use sailing equipment, but instead of the board itself they prefer different designs. This includes sleighs, skis, and skates - selected depending on the conditions.

The speed can be quite high, but depends on the strength of the wind and, of course, the ice surface. The recorded record is 135 km/h on ice and 187 km/h on a non-slip surface.

Who invented the iceboat is still debated. Some are sure that these were fishermen of the northern seas. Others believe that they were Dutch and refer to the origin of the word. Official competitions on ice boats began in the 19th century - first in the USA, then in Russia. By the way, sailing sleds were even used for military purposes! In 1939–1940, the USSR chose an iceboat detachment for reconnaissance. It was interesting because it was almost invisible from the air and relatively silent. Ice boats were also used during the siege of Leningrad.

Today, such a vehicle is most popular in Poland, where there are a huge number of lakes and rivers. They are also keen on it in Russia; it is especially common in the northern regions.

Miniature Ice Racing (Lapland)

Ice carting is a fairly common sport in Lapland. It is similar to its summer counterpart, but uses an icy surface. Fans of these miniature races assure that the sport is quite safe, like cycling, and even teenagers can compete. There is only one restriction - participants must be taller than 140 cm. The route is organized on any frozen body of water. Durable enough, of course.

Ski bike

This sport appeared after World War II. To continue doing what they loved, Americans injured in battle came up with a non-standard design. A Canadian company picked up the idea and offered a modern version of cycling skis: at the back there is a main rim, as well as several auxiliary tension rollers. In place of the front wheel is a ski. Thanks to the created design, you can ride in the snow, and even climb hills if you use a mountain bike as a base.

wind power >>>

Iceboat Guide: Everything you need to know about sailboats gliding on ice

In the minds of most people who hear the word “buer” for the first time, absolutely no associations arise. And the description that this is a boat put on skates also does not particularly clarify the already confusing picture. The paradoxical thing in this situation is that ice buoy is not a new-fangled entertainment and not the pampering of amateur designers, but a real sport with all the accompanying attributes: international competitions, division into classes, clearly discussed regulations and, most importantly, with its own long history. In the USSR, literally thirty to forty years ago, regular championships were held, and the number of corps was in the hundreds. In today's Russia, things are not so good with ice boats, although in recent years the positive dynamics cannot be ignored. Sailing sport continues to live and develop successfully around the world, attracting lovers of high speeds and sailing races.

History of iceboating

It is believed that the first prototypes of the buer were built in Holland at least four hundred years ago. Local fishermen had to go tens of kilometers from the coast to set nets under the ice. At first they adapted to transporting their gear on sleighs, and later they converted the boats by placing them on runners. Competitions are still held among local residents on similar flat-bottomed vessels, which sail equally well both on water and on ice.

Similar iceboats have existed in Russia since the 18th century. They were used by Pomors and fishermen of Lake Onega for fishing purposes. Ice boats turned into entertainment only at the end of the 19th century, when the first competitions among ice boats began to be held. The first races in Russia took place only in 1890. The race took place at the St. Petersburg river yacht club - several boats took part, showing speeds of up to 60 km/h.

“At first it was just an attempt to put the boat under sail on runners, in which the lower part of the rudder blade had a cutter and slid along the ice. Later the boat was replaced by a triangular lattice platform. Of course, these iceboats were not built for sport: the Northern Pomors and fishermen of Lake Onega used them for fishing purposes,” Koravelsky in the book “History of Iceboat Sports.”

Buera sites

The formation of iceboating began in the nineteenth century in America, where the first clubs, competitions and regulated racing rules appeared. It was at this time that the first ice buoy platforms appeared, the design of which was modified over the course of 150 years. In general terms, they are wide wooden platforms on skates, with sails up to 60 square meters. m. and can carry 5-10 people. At the end of the 19th century, similar iceboats were built en masse at the St. Petersburg shipyard and in Kronstadt. Even then they managed to reach speeds of about 100 km/h. It was on them that during the blockade the “Road of Life” was patrolled and cargo was transported.

In the post-war period, their popularity began to wane - they were replaced by sports boats for one or more people. But interest in the sites has not completely died down. The ability to design iceboats with a large windage attracted mainly those who were chasing extreme speeds. An example is the American class A boat "Mary B", on which in the early 30s they managed to accelerate to 264 km/h in hurricane winds.

Many craftsmen tried to create record-breaking boats, invented new streamlined shapes and modified the design. Instead of conventional boat sails, they began to use wings (which have a streamlined shape similar to an airplane wing) and tried to minimize weight. The highest speeds in the twentieth century were achieved in America, where iceboats were placed on wheels and raced among salt deserts. Now it is difficult to establish what maximum speed the experimenters achieved, since many of them crashed before reaching the finish line. The most interesting against this background is the American legend about the platform iceboat, which managed to reach a maximum speed of 400 km/h during acceleration. Unfortunately, under such extreme loads, the structure rose into the air, overturned and hit the ground with the mast, and the pilots died. Whether this is true or not has not been established. Due to their size and complexity of manufacturing, platform iceboats went into the shadows, and they were replaced by light and maneuverable DN and Monotype XV class iceboats.

Harm Brik, a Dutch iceboat driver, about a car designed according to his own drawings: “I prefer to make a iceboat for myself. I try to create a boat that is ideal for my body length for a comfortable ride, but also make it as safe and light as possible. It is easy to operate, and when moving, almost no water gets inside the body. There has been no ice in the winter in Holland for the last 4 years, but that doesn't stop me. I enjoy building a boat, and the rare days when I get out on the ice are worth the effort.

Monotype XV

This class owes its appearance to Eric Holst, who designed the first monotype in 1931. These iceboats are designed for two people, have a length of exactly 7 meters and a windage of 15 squares. Due to their size and heavy weight, monotypes are capable of reaching speeds above 100 km/h.

Already in the 1930s, international competitions began to be held in this class, and in the USSR it quickly became the most popular. In the post-war period, with the disappearance of the European Iceboat Union, international competitions ceased, but annual championships of the Soviet Union, the armed forces and the navy were held, where the best boaters of the USSR competed. The great popularity of Monotypes led to the emergence of new classes: S-12, S-20, S-8 and wing boats (S-8). Unlike Monotypes, which are built according to specific drawings, free classes have less stringent design requirements and can be modified while remaining within the confines of their class.

Marta Bjorling, European Championship competitor in the Monotype XV class: “I like ice boats because they allow you to sail when the water is frozen. I also like the speed and friendly atmosphere in the boating community. I love the Monotype XV class for the feeling: when there are two of us in a boat, we are a team, and we must completely trust each other to ride quickly and safely.”

Buoy class DN

The DN class owes its appearance to the newspaper “Daily News” (the name comes from the first letters of the publication), which in 1916 announced a competition for the simplest and most affordable ice buoy design, so that anyone would have the opportunity to implement it almost at home. According to the results of the competition, the design of a single-seat ice buoy with a front steering ridge and a sail area of ​​slightly less than 6 square meters won. m.

Initially a rare class in our country, it quickly gained popularity in the seventies. This was due to the emergence of the first international competitions in iceboating, held specifically among DNs. The Soviet Union, striving to defeat the West in everything, did not miss the opportunity here either. As soon as the competition was announced, people were immediately found ready to build the DN and take part in the race. Estonian athletes responded to the offer and took part in the first World Championship, immediately creating strong competition for European teams. This is how the Estonian iceboating school was born, which still continues to exist today, and their athletes occupy leading positions in the class.

Anyone can take part in the competition on any boat that meets the class rules, whether it is made of plywood or molded from special composite materials. Before competing with the leaders, it is necessary to go through several selection stages, in each of which the participant must enter the top three in order to rise one step higher. In such conditions, both professionals and beginners can compete equally comfortably.

Alexander Martemyanov, participant in international iceboat competitions in the DN-60 class: “I learned about ice yachts as a child. The Monotype XV class boat, in which my father successfully raced, already generously gifted me with portions of adrenaline, and this left me with an unforgettable impression. At the same time, as a child, I first found myself in a lane (a hole in the middle of the ice surface), and grabbed a good dose of extreme sports in a long spin in a corkscrew. I will never forget the first racing backstay as a clew in a fresh wind - the load created wildly accelerated this projectile, and I had to catch my breath during a gybe, when the load subsided for a moment. The waters of the Amur Bay, washing the city of Vladivostok, created and continue to create excellent conditions for sailing in winter. On ice expanses with prevailing fresh winds, I had the opportunity to master the control of ice boats. The DN class, in which I first tried myself about 30 years ago, is now more accessible to me and very interesting due to its great popularity in the world.”

Wing buer

In pursuit of the dream of building the fastest boat, enthusiasts came up with the idea of ​​using a wing instead of a sail. This modification made it possible to use the emerging apparent wind much more efficiently and thus develop higher speeds. At least 15 wing buoyers were built on the basis of the S-8 class, while various types of the wing itself were used (variable profile, truncated tip, etc.). Unfortunately, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of the experimental ice boats disappeared, and the pursuit of record speeds ceased. In a similar way, in Europe and America, record-breaking iceboats were built, equipping them with rigid sails, while reducing weight and increasing stability by spreading the skates over a greater distance.

While DN brings together athletes from all over the world, other classes are distributed locally and are not so widely popular. Thus, in Europe, regular competitions are held between Monotype-XV boats, which attract about 30 teams from different countries. This class is less developed for several reasons: firstly, it is much more complex in its design, and secondly, due to its dimensions, it is more difficult to operate. For similar reasons, most American classes do not expand beyond the continent, holding their own championships.

In Russia, iceboating continues to exist in many cities: St. Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok. Depending on the region and the legacy left by the Soviet Union, different classes develop. In winter, a dozen championships of various sizes are held throughout the country: from regional to international levels.

Where to get acquainted with ice boats and learn how to sail on them:

• Technical yachting section - student community from St. Petersburg, conducts theoretical lectures on ice boats and weekly training sessions

And the desire to tickle your nerves does not disappear even in winter, then this hobby is for you.

Sailing – three centuries on ice

A buer, simply put, is an ice yacht. Instead of a keel there is a frame on skates. All you need is wind, ice and the desire to learn how to control this sail.

The prototype of the buer appeared back in the 17th century in the countries of Northern Europe. The Netherlands is considered its homeland. At that time, iceboats were used primarily for economic and trade purposes in the winter. But already in the 20th century they became widespread throughout the world as a racing tool.

This is interesting! The first official location for iceboat lessons is in the United States. This is the Hudson River. The first rules regarding iceboating were developed in 1853.

In 1937, a “revolution” occurred in the field of rig engineering. Thanks to a project carried out by the Detroit News, a prototype of a cheap and manageable ice yacht, the DN, was created. At that time, a lightweight dismountable buoy cost only $25; today its price has increased almost 1000 times.

Driving an ice boat has its own characteristics. In particular, the so-called “buoy effect” usually means the interdependence of sail thrust and speed. On ice, the speed of a yacht can exceed the wind speed by 3-4 times. To learn how to operate a boat, you need considerable experience and months, if not years, of hard training. Interesting statistics say: young athletes often lose to their more experienced colleagues in competitions.

The history of the ice buer in Russia: the tsarist beginning

Kings can be extreme people too! It is known for certain that Tsar Peter I regularly sailed on a boat in winter in front of the Winter Palace. This interesting hobby was passed on to her daughter, Elizaveta Petrovna, who also showed aerobatic maneuvers on a winter boat.

A real racing iceboat was built in 1876 at the Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg, and the first iceboat competitions were held on the Neva in 1882. Then, the Gulf of Finland became the venue for annual regattas. The Peterhof Sports Society initiated the race.

This is interesting! During World War II, iceboats literally saved the lives of residents of besieged Leningrad. Ice boats were used to deliver provisions to the city and evacuate people.

Russia is one of the top ten leading countries in ice boating. The existing Russian Association of Iceboat Sports Fans has recently become part of the international one. The first competition, in which 16 racing DN boats took part, took place in Tallinn Bay in 1967. And the Soviet iceboat S-12, which had a rigid aerodynamic wing instead of a sail, was the fastest iceboat in the world.

Ice racing

One of the largest ice yachts (Icicle) was built for John Roosevelt in the USA in 1869. 21 m long, it had a sail area of ​​99 square meters. Its competitor was only one iceboat - “Yolka” (1880 year of participation in competitions on the Gulf of Finland). Its length is 15 m and its area is 190 square meters! By the way, at that time in the USA the most popular entertainment was competitions between a boat and a steam locomotive. So, Uncle Franklin Roosevelt's boat overtook the Chicago Express.

This is interesting! The absolute speed record on a riverboat has not been broken for almost 100 years!

In 1938, American John Buckstaff used hurricane-force winds to accelerate to 264 km/h on the classic A-class iceboat Mary B! Today the maximum speed is about 160 km/h. This is explained by the fact that modern ice boats are lighter, and the Mary B is no longer produced.

Experienced iceboat sailors say: no other sport provides such sensations, because you need to be able to cope not only with the control of the iceboat, but also with the surge of adrenaline in the blood. True, such things on ice today are not available to a very wide circle of people. The high cost of the boat becomes the main obstacle for those interested, but not for real thrill-seekers.

A professional racing boat can be purchased for 25 thousand dollars, an amateur one will cost several times less. You can make a custom-made boat to suit the individual height and weight of the rider. And to try yourself in this sport, you don’t need to spend a lot of money. The boat can be rented. About 500-1000 rubles per hour - and you are the temporary owner of an ice yacht. Buer is a good form of healthy winter recreation.

Baikal is an ideal place for ice boating. Three regattas will be held here in early April: the Baikal Cup, the Asian Cup, and the Open Russian Championship in the DN class. The sailing season in Russia usually opens on the ice of Lake Senezh. The World Iceboat Championships are held every two years.

So, when you see a smoothly gliding white sail against the background of shiny winter ice, don’t be surprised, it’s not a mirage. This boat is rushing towards the wind!

He also said that every representative of this extremely extreme sport, independent of the Olympic bustle, should race on the ice of the Sacred Lake at least once in his life. Probably, in order to fulfill the behest of his predecessor, the commander of the European fleet DN Jörg Bonn came here five years ago. It was at his instigation that the Baikal Iceboat Cup was established, and he also proposed holding the main start of the iceboat season in our area - the World Championship.

At first, the idea was met with a bang, but the already difficult economically (for European residents) project finally fell apart two years ago, when sanctions were imposed against Russia. Many famous ice boaters simply did not want to go to distant Siberia. As a result, the battle for the world crown was held in Sweden. However, Jörg Bonn did not forget about his Baikal godson - about 30 European racers, together with their Russian colleagues, opened a boat week on the ice of the Kurminsky Bay last weekend - the Russian Championship, the Open National Championship, the Asian Cup, and, of course, the Baikal Cup.. .

If a person has visited these places at least once, he will want to come back here again and again,” admitted the German commander. - And we will still hold the World Championship on Baikal ice. For now, logistics complicate everything. Bringing 200 athletes to this remote place from civilization is very burdensome and expensive. Even if the boaters are guys accustomed to Spartan conditions and accustomed to paying for everything out of their own pockets.

According to the most conservative estimates, a trip to Baikal Week cost guests from Europe 4-5 thousand euros. And this despite the fact that athletes are used to transporting ice race cars to the competition site, as they say, by pooling - they order a container and load several dozen ice boats into it.

Many participants are very famous people in the world of ice boating,” says Felix Balandin, one of the organizers of the Baikal Week. - Some of them are part of the so-called Golden Fleet - among them there are prize-winners of European and world championships. In total, more than 60 athletes from 12 countries will take part in our tournaments this year. The geography is impressive - from Great Britain to Vladivostok.

Meanwhile, after the first races, Jörg Bonn rated the quality of the ice as “B”, noting that the participants were about a week late for the ideal surface.

Indeed, from a sporting point of view, the conditions are not the best,” agrees St. Petersburg resident Oleg Vasiliev. - The buer is designed for hard, dark ice. Only along it you can drive quickly. The spring sun very quickly destroys the coating - so the speeds are no longer the same...

Oleg Vasiliev is one of the strongest ice boaters in Russia. He has been racing for over 30 years - he started as a sixth grader. He became the champion of Russia about 10 times, won medals at the World and European Championships. This Baikal week he became the winner of the starting race.

Iceboating is a kind of disease, he admits, and an incurable one. We don’t compete for titles and regalia, and no one pays us big prize money. We pay for all our trips ourselves. Bueras also cost more than one thousand euros. The charter of the international association even has a clause that the athlete must be a wealthy person. And yet, I have not heard of anyone in sober mind and good health leaving our sport. In St. Petersburg there is a legendary racer Boris Sanych Khabarov - he is 82 years old, and he participates in competitions along with young people. Moreover, it drives absolutely adequately, at decent speeds...

All about a winter car that can outrun the wind

Buer: skates
under sail

All about the winter car,
capable of outrunning the wind

We continue to talk about unusual winter activities and ways to achieve incredible speeds and the accompanying sensations without using an engine. Today we have a buer - a light sailing boat with skates for gliding on ice. This car may be of interest for several reasons. Firstly, as it turned out, the iceboat is the oldest type of winter transport in the world. Secondly, this ice yacht is capable of overtaking not only its aquatic counterparts, but also the wind itself. How? You will learn about this below.

At some point, northern fishermen adapted their ships to the ice fields by equipping them with skates

It is impossible to establish the date of birth of the first ice buoy, but at some point the northern fishermen became convinced that winter was a permanent phenomenon, and adapted their vessels to the ice fields, equipping them with skates. Previously, the word buer (Dutch “boeier”) denoted ships with oblique sails for cargo (less often passenger) coastal transportation.

Hendrik Averkamp. Winter landscape with ice skating, 1609. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Royal races

The boat came to Russia from the countries of Northern Europe, in particular the Netherlands. The first domestic ice ships began to be built under Peter I. According to one very plausible legend, the tsar himself sailed on an ice yacht right in front of the Winter Palace, and even his daughter Elizaveta Petrovna had her own iceboat. By the nineteenth century, in the Northern capital, local yacht clubs held regattas of up to a hundred boats.

Design

Modern racing boats are a cross-shaped structure with one mast and three skates: two on the sides and one steering

Some of the first iceboats were nothing more than ordinary sailboats mounted on special runners. Later, the design was significantly simplified, making it lower and lighter, which made it possible to increase the aerodynamic qualities and increase the speed of the car. Modern racing boats are a cross-shaped structure with one mast and three skates: two on the sides and one steering one - in front or behind. The car body is made of wood, plastic or carbon. The design of the sails can be either soft or hard, while the shape and area of ​​the sail also changes.

Control

Whatever one may say, a boat is a sailboat, and regardless of the surface on which it rushes, be it water, ice or land, the control principle and design of the sail and steering are similar. The pilot controls by turning the front skate and tightening or loosening the sail. The most interesting thing is that the iceboat does not have brakes as such, and slowing down and stopping completely is also carried out using a sail.

Faster than the wind

The ice yacht received the title of the fastest sailing ship not by chance. Unlike wheeled and water yachts, the iceboat is capable of reaching speeds five times higher than the speed of the wind! The fact is that when moving, the sail of the iceboat is affected not only by the true wind (the one that we feel in a stationary position), but by the sum of the true and heading wind (which is formed when the ship moves). To this double force, called apparent wind, all that remains is to add the tiny resistance of steel skates on the ice, which sailboats moving on water cannot boast of.

Ice racing

Reaching speeds exceeding 100 km/h, it would be strange not to turn ice sailing into a competition. Most often, yacht clubs located on large enclosed bodies of water or ice-covered sea bays, such as off the coast of St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, become centers for the preparation and conduct of circuit races. Ice fields off the Baltic coast are becoming traditional venues for world championships. There is a possibility that the ice of mighty Baikal will serve as a springboard for world competitions in 2016.

Participation in hostilities

During the war, iceboats were used for reconnaissance operations

During the Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars, fast and inconspicuous ice boats with a crew of several people were used to conduct reconnaissance operations in the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga. Ice yachts also provided invaluable assistance in servicing the Road of Life leading to besieged Leningrad.

Speed ​​records

With a hurricane wind of 116 km/h, the pilot accelerated his Debutante iceboat to a speed of 230 km/h

Like the history of the first iceboat, the ice yacht speed record remains shrouded in a dense veil of secrecy, rumors and controversy. According to one version, the fastest person to sail on ice is American John Buxtaff, who set his record in 1938 on Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin. With a hurricane wind of 116 km/h, the pilot accelerated his Debutante boat to a speed of 230 km/h. Modern proven records on ice have not yet exceeded 140 km/h, but none of the pilots doubt that this bar will be raised.

Well, for everyone who is seriously interested in the idea of ​​chasing the wind across the ice, let us remind you that almost all ice boaters are warmly dressed yachtsmen who did not want to leave the reservoir. Therefore, regardless of the season, look for the nearest yacht club and learn the basics of sail control.