NEENAH, WI (WTAQ) – With the season typically lasting just days each year, fans of one winter sport weren’t about to miss their chance to partake.
A group of ice boaters took to the frozen waters of Lake Winnebago, off the Neenah shoreline, this past Saturday.
Neenah Ice Yacht Club’s Matthrew Thenell says the recent warm-up helped make for the right conditions, having melted most of the snow.
“It’s sunny. We’ve got ice that wasn’t here a week ago, and we got an opportunity as unlike we’ve has in 20 years. It’s a beautiful sheet of ice. It’s a wide open space to be able to ride wherever you go. So, point of sail, you can sail especially today with so few people out. It’s really a big sheet of ice.”
Thenell notes he’s been ice boating for 30 years, having been turned onto the sport by family members.
“Great sense of freedom, wide open spaces, only dictated by the condition of the ice and the amount of wind.”
Thenell says his group can hard water sail for about five minutes, with winds pushing the boat along at roughly 40 miles per hour.
