Ice Boating: The HV’s Newest (Old) Winter Sport?

  |  March 4, 2014

ice boat

Could building boats to skim across the ice-packed Hudson River be part of the climate of upstate New York’s “new normal”? If we keep getting winters as cold as this one, perhaps there will be a boom in ice boating, a sport make popular in Europe during the 19th century before heading across the pond to the U.S. In fact, during our most recent visit by the insidious Polar Vortex (cue the ominous music!), the New York Times reported on a revival of ice boating in Barrytown on the Hudson River just last weekend, where an old rivalry was reignited between The Rocket, an ice boat from the New Shrewsberry Ice Boat Yacht club in Jersey, and Jack Frost from the Hudson River Yacht Club. Our friends at Watershed Post grabbed their cameras and headed out to catch some pictures of the ice boats, which include sails and runners to help them slide across the glassy surface of the Hudson River, and we have to admit, they made us want to get in on the action, too. Our question is, who’s willing to invest in our idea of rental ice boats on the Hudson River? We could be rich!

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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