Iceboat

An iceboat (occasionally spelled ice boat or traditionally called an ice yacht) is a recreational or competition sailing craft supported on metal runners for traveling over ice. One of the runners is steerable. Originally, such craft were boats with a support structure, riding on the runners and steered with a rear blade, as with a conventional rudder. As iceboats evolved, the structure became a frame with a seat or cockpit for the iceboat sailor, resting on runners. Steering was shifted to the front. Because of their low resistance to forward motion over ice, iceboats are capable of speeds exceeding . Because of their speed, iceboats are used both for recreation and for racing. Racing craft typically carry one person. A related activity, land sailing, employs sailing craft similar to iceboats, but riding on wheels instead of runners. The history of iceboating began in Europe in areas where smooth ice was found in the bays of the Baltic Sea and the canals of the Netherlands. Initially boats were used for commerce, but soon evolved into pleasure craft—"ice yachts". Ice sailing came to North America, where the sailing craft evolved into recreational and racing versions. Iceboating began in the 17th century as a documented means of transport on the frozen Gulf of Riga and the canals of the Netherlands into the 18th century. Ice boats carried cargo on Dutch canals during the 17th century. The first iceboats were introduced on New York State's Hudson River in the United States in 1790, where the practice flourished as a sport. The first recorded boat, built in 1790 by Oliver Booth of Poughkeepsie, was a square box atop three runners, the two forward runners being nailed to the box and the third acted as a rudder operated by a tiller. This type of craft was accessible to sportsmen of modest means. In the mid-19th century, two "ice yachting" clubs had formed, the Poughkeepsie Ice Yacht Club (1865) and the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club (1870), where wealthy boat owners sailed large iceboats with up to seven crew members.