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Nite News 1/10/06 2006 Nite Nationals Tune-up on Winnebago The iceboating sailing season has officially begun! The weekend of January 7-8, 2006 began with a bang as several Nite sailors headed north to Oshkosh on reports of good ice conditions on Lake Winnebago. Saturday a small fleet of five Nites set up and sailed from the legendary South Side Ice Yacht Club located just south of Oshkosh. After crossing a large heave in the ice several hundred yards off shore we were greeted with miles of clear black ice nearly 10" thick. After setting the course we were able to sail 3 races in light to medium wind before breaking for lunch. Tom Sweitzer lead the way most of the morning followed by Rick, Tom and Mark Wilfert along with John Ritter rounding out the top 5. After a quick lunch and crossing the heave two more times we were able to sail two more races in a dying breeze. Sunday we decided to change location because of the large heave so we moved to the location of the DN regatta and were greeted again by great ice conditions. The location was between Fond du Lac and Oshkosh call the "Wayside" and provided much better access to the ice. We sailed 6 heavy air races on a 5 mile course consisting of four 1-1/4 mile legs. Again Tom Sweitzer lead the way with Rick Wilfert winning the second race of the day. All in all an incredible weekend of racing and fun. Mark Wilfert |