“We have seen the best ice on the Hudson in ten years.”
~ Glen Burger of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club
With the flourish of ice yachting we have noticed in the past few months, Shoreline caught up with Glen Burger of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club to find out about his activities on his gaff-rigged ice yacht the HOUND.
HRIYC is dedicated to preserving and sailing the historic gaff rigged ice yachts of New York’s Hudson River valley.
Glen writes:
“My father got involved with the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club in the late 1960’s. He and a friend acquired the ice yacht HOUND in 1969 from the Hull Estate in Staatsburg, New York. They began to fix her up, but responsibilities of life and family put the project on hold until 1990 when I graduated from college. After graduation I worked on the boat, and we started actively sailing while we continued to restore her. Today, HOUND is fully restored, and we sail her as much a we can.”
Glen with his dad Emerson on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.
HOUND likely sailed the Hudson in the early 1900s. She is a good example of the later design period (post 1883) in which the mast is stepped forward of the runner plank and wire rigging is used. This created a lighter, more balanced boat that didn’t spin out as easily as the earlier designs. ~Brian Reid’s web page White Wings and Black Ice
“This year was a better season locally here in the Hudson Valley than we have had in the past 10 years. We put out boats on the Hudson River – which does not happen every year. Snow can be an issue and it has been this season. We got a couple of days of sailing on the river and then the ice got buried in a lot of snow which stopped the sailing for a couple of weeks. Every season is different and you never know when all the variables will come together and allow you to sail. You have to be ready to take advantage of it when it happens. I enjoy the looking and the scouting of the ice. It gets me outside and keeps me active during the coldest time of the year. I have other modern boats which I enjoy but I like the feel of the larger gaff rigged Hudson river ice yachts the best.”
Video from Glen’s YouTube channel “Sailing a very large sheet of ice on the Hudson River February 26, 2014”
Hound is joined by the fleet of gaff-rigged ice yachts Puff, Cyclone, Flicker, North Wind, Boreas, Vixen, Orion, Floater. Find pictures and information at:
HRIYC member Brian Reid’s blog http://hudsonrivericeyachting.blogspot.com/
HRIYC member John Sperr’s club page http://hriyc.org/
Glen Burger’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/TheBioTrain
Glen with HOUND on the Hudson
Hound Capsize
All photo credits – Glen Burger
