Hudson River Iceboating

The Incredible Winter of 2002—2003

Ice boating on the Hudson River has finished one of the most remarkable seasons in recent memory. The cold weather created a thick and beautiful ice sheet from Rhinecliff to Astor Point, near Barrytown, an expanse of about 5 miles of smooth ice perfect for ice boating. 'Hard water' sailing continued throughout February and into March.

Ice boat north of the Rhinecliff-Kingston Bridge

The setting was just perfect! Sunny days with moderate temperatures and breezes, a backdrop of the Catskill Mountains, tug boats in the river channel pushing barges, and Amtrak trains sounding their horns while passing.

Sailing under the massive Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge was exciting. You had to watch for thin ice near the bridge piers as well as the salt run off from the roadway above. While sailing on the river, a coyote was seen running out in the middle on the ice.

Ice boats were launched onto the ice at the Rhinecliff Amtrak station and Astor Point. Astor Point is on the east bank of the Hudson, about one mile north of the Rhinecliff-Kingston bridge, by the Rokeby estate in Barrytown. Ice boat owners were more than happy to take interested spectators on rides out on the ice, and many took advantage of this opportunity to experience ice boating for the first time.

Hudson River Ice Yacht Club

HRIYC historic Ice Boats at Astor Point Cove

The Hudson River Ice Yacht Club (HRIYC) was started in 1869 by Commodore John E. Roosevelt, FDR’s uncle. Commodore Roosevelt raced the ice yacht Icicle, which is 69 feet long and carries 1,070 square feet of sail.

Today, the Club is dedicated to preserving and sailing these historic gaff rigged ice yachts of the Hudson River, and many of the ice boats sailed on the river this year are over 100 years old. The antique ice yachts can weigh up to 3000 lbs., span 50 ft., and do 80 miles an hour with a good wind.

Hudson River Ice Yacht Club

Van Nostrand Cup

The Van Nostrand Challenge Cup had been raced only twice since 1889, when a wealthy Hudson Valley ice yachtsman, Gardiner Van Nostrand, donated a Tiffany silver cup to be kept by the winning team of each year's race. At that time, ice boats were the fastest vessels on earth, reaching more than 100 miles an hour in a strong wind.

But the first and only winner of the cup, the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club, had been loath to risk it after winning in 1891. After defending it successfully only once, in 1978, the club kept the cup locked away in a jeweler's safe. The commodore of the New Jersey club shocked many of his members by accepting a challenge from the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club. The Hudson boatmen had long resented the New Jersey team's refusal to risk the cup. They were eager for their chance to win it back.

The two teams had agreed to race only the old-fashioned wooden boats known as gaff rigs, some of them a century old. From a distance, the rigs resemble 19th-century schooners, with dark spruce masts and tall parchment-colored sails.

New Jersey took the first race, and then the second. The heavier Hudson boats were lovely, but they seemed unable to match their competitors. The wind picked up as the third race began, and for a moment it looked as though the lead Hudson boat might win. But the New Jersey boats overtook him, and the North Shreswbury Club maintained its hold on the cup.

From the New York Times
January 30, 2003
By ROBERT F. WORTH

Rigging Ice Boats at Astor Point

Jim Panza and Reid Bielenberg of the HRIYC after a sail