Fast Piece of Furniture: sailing America's first 15-meter ice boat

A shakedown romp on Bill Buchholz's new 15 meter class iceboat. This design, raced for years in isolation behind the Iron Curtain, finally comes to America in Bill's exquisite craftsmanship. Sail and plans (and video music) came from Estonia, on the Baltic Sea. Ice and wind, courtesy of Chickawaukie Lake, Rockport, Maine, January 21, 2013.

[@fonsvandenhove]

I'm about ten year late with my comment...but how awesome your iceboat is! And ehhh, greetings from Estonia!

[@mattikallio9018]

Hi, Eedwart and Gal Bar-or. For the record. German born composer Fredrik Pacius wrote the music 1848 and it is both Finlands and Estonias national anthem.

[@drawingboard82]

Many thanks for pointing that out. I was thinking at first "Thats the Finnish anthem, not the Estonian one" and then I also realised they use the same melody!

[@alexanderpalyvoda804]

Extremly beautiful ice boat (buer), every detail. Thanks .

[@pontuswendt2486]

AMAZINGNES!!!

[@andrewphillips8790]

The 15-metre ice yacht was originally designed and intended to be an Olympic class for 1932! The conditions never came together for the regatta to happen! It was attempted to be held multiple Olympic cycles, eventually with the use of the DN ice yacht! The winter Olympics regatta has never happened, but these days the DN gold cup regatta is attempted every year, alternating between Europe and North America annually!

[@pops9190]

Faaaaantastic... The Music Really added to your video. Blue water sailor here......

[@vikingwhite]

beautiful "piece of furniture"...must admit that the music made it hard to watch...the simple sound of moving over the ice was so pleasing and didn't distract...

[@christopheschwartz7374]

Hymne national finlandais " Maamme " et estonien " Vart land "!!!

[@jeremiahfink5440]

This is epic

[@managainstwar]

Thanks Bill! I had to edit out a lot of footage of me grinning from ear to ear.

[@sailingbvi1]

Is it possible to get the plans for this ice boat

[@Whitewings2003]

Hmmmm needs a GPS to figure speed over the ground. As a bluewater sailor I would love to do this. However the water around here seldom freezes hard.

[@OlDoinyo]

Is that a stern-steerer?

[@pstephano]

That is fantastic, Billy. What was the wind speed that day?

[@galbar-or7851]

sorry, don't agree. that music sounds like some soviet-era national anthem...

[@ALEMEH1]

+Gal Bar-or Its the modern anthem.

[@ImMora1]

That is the estonian national anthem, which has the exactly same tune as Finnish national anthem but lyrics are obviously different.

[@toomaskrivonogov2055]

Our hymn was banned in the soviet time. Its a nice sail and a nice video.