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For sale: Building Plans and instructions for wing skate sails. A skate sailing article. 

Copyright © 1997-2009 Anders Ansar. You are welcome to use pictures and words as long as you include a link to my pages.

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Ice-Wing Competition skate sail

Ice-Wing competition
The world's fastest skate sail. Top speed over 120 km/h, 75 mph. 

Ice-Wing Cabriolet skate sail

Ice-Wing Cabriolet
It has good performance for its sail area because the sailor makes very little air resistance. Rolls into a compact tubular pack for storage and for transport on the ice when there is no wind.. 

Skate sailing article: 

A survival race in wings, 120 km/h, 75 mph, in very strong winds, on the frozen Baltic Sea

Ten pictures and drawings, 3700 words. Equivalent to some 6 pages in a magazine.

It describes a Swedish Championship race.

  Also: Falling and crashing wings. How the wing develops driving force. Typical wing construction. Photos of Amazing Sailing Skates. How to sail. And more.


Reprint from Yachting Magazine USA

Ansar stupefied ice sailors in the New York-New Jersey area when he raced a fleet of DN-class boats at Peach Lake, N.Y., in moderate winds and easily beat them.   This was quite a feat, since Ice-Wing has less than half the sail area of a DN. Says George Blair, of Red Bank, N.J., who is the first buyer in the U.S.:

 "I am absolutely enthralled at the beauty and simplicity of this thing. We should ask our self why we didn't think of this before Ansar did. It's very forward, basic and simple."

On this occasion, after I beat the DN-class ice boat, it was suggested I should race the present Skeeter ice boats. I did, and beat them too. The sailor of the fastest Skeeter sailor then wanted a two lap race 

because he felt he did need some time to get his heavy boat going. We sailed a two lap race and I won again.

  The Skeeter is a large ice boat: length 9 m, (30 ft), width 6 m (20 ft) and height 7 m (23 ft). 

The wing skate sail is a dwarf in comparison.

  The sail I used on this occasion is much slower than today's best wing sails, which are made with a larger stiff forward part.

Wing skate sailing is an easy to learn sport. The only requirement is that you can skate. A wing is easy to build. Cost of material can be kept low, from some US$ 150 only for the Cabriolet. Build a wing now and experience the true thrills of ice sailing.

 

So that everyone should be able to build a wing sail, or have one built for him, I have developed true amateur home building methods that requires no workshop   (you can build it in the drawing room as there is no welding, smelly or smeary chemicals involved), special tools or expensive materials. Tools needed are very basic: drill, vice, 

screwdriver, wrench, metal saw and a household sewing machine.

  If you don't want to make the sewing yourself you can of course leave it to a sail maker, but it is quite simple.

 When you build your skate sail you can:

If you have any questions while building please let me know.

If you have suggestions about modifications of the wing described in the building instructions I will be happy to comment.
 

 

 

Ice Wing competition - the world's fastest skate sail, 120 km/h, 75 mph. And probably much faster if make a special small area speed sail.
Ice-Wing Competition is a high performance racing sail. It is easily folded together for transport and storage. Approximate figures: Folded size 2.3 m x 0.5 m x 0.6 m (6 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft). Weight 12 kg (25 LB). Sail area 5 sq. m (55 sq. ft).

Rigging or folding together takes five minutes and is done without tools and can be done with gloves on. Building time 30 hours.

42 pages (when I go to print preview in my page editor). 9 drawings.
Ice-Wing Competition skate sail
  It sails some six times faster than the wind in light wind. That is 12 m/s, (24 knots) in 2 m/s (4 knots) of wind. Top speed is around 120 km/h (75 mph) with the gusty winds we have in Sweden. In more even wind you can sail faster.    If you build a wing with much smaller sail area you get a higher top speed, 160 km/h (100 mph)?
  All figures are very approximate and depends very much how you build your sail. You can chose everything from simple and inexpensive to fast and sophisticated. 

 Variations are explained in the building instructions.
  The great performance is due to the streamline shape and that the sailor makes no air resistance as he is inside the wing.

  Cost of material (in Sweden) is around US Dollars 400-600.

The detailed building and sailing instructions, over 6000 words, revised 2007, and based on my experience of building some 20 wings, includes:

  • Five pages of  text and two pages with drawings on how to build a wing.
  • Streamline shapes for the forward part of the wing.
  • Two pages of sailing instructions, how to: get in, start, turn, reduce force in tough conditions, find the top speed, keep going in light wind, brake - and more.
  • Basic safety: rules, equipment and procedures.
  • A brief building instruction for sailing skates.
  • Instruction on how to sharpen your sailing skates yourself.
Sailing skates are longer and has less rocker than hockey skates. You can sail on hockey skates but I do recommend sailing skates.

If you have any questions while building please let me know.

If you have suggestions about modifications of the wing described in the building instructions I will be happy to comment.

Building plans and instructions for Ice-Wing competition wing sail. Buy now: US$ 29


 

 

Ice Wing Cabriolet
Ice Wing Cabriolet, picture right, is a wing skate sail with emphasis on lightness, portability and quick rigging.
  In Sweden day long group skating excursions on lakes and in archipelagos is a very popular sport. On such excursions you can carry a Cabriolet sail and sail when the wind is suitable. Sailing on ice not checked beforehand is dangerous but being with the group and keeping behind it and in its tracks you will sail on quite safe ice.

28 pages (when I go to print preview in the Page editor). 7 drawings. 
Ice-Wing Cabriolet skate sail

Owing to its special construction it folds into a small cylindrical size: length 1.2 m (4 feet) and diameter 15 cm (6 inches). Weight 2.5 kg (6 LB). Sail area 2 sq. m (22 sq. ft). Rigging or folding together takes a couple of minutes and is done without tools and can be done with gloves on. Building time 15 hours.

It sails about two times faster than the wind. In a moderate wind of 5 m/s (10 knots) you sail some 10 m/s, 40 km/h, (20 knots). Top speed around 50 km/h (30 mph).

All figures are very approximate and depends very much how you build your sail. Easy to build.

Cost of material (in Sweden) is around US Dollars 150-400.

If the Cabriolet is built higher, above the head, it will be considerably faster but still very compact when folded together.

The building and sailing instruction includes:

  •  text and drawings on how to build a Cabriolet skate sail.
  • sailing instructions, how to: get in, start, turn, reduce force in tough conditions, find the top speed, keep going in light wind, brake - and more.
  • Basic safety: rules, equipment and procedures.
  • A brief building instruction for sailing skates. Instruction on how to sharpen your sailing skates yourself.

If you have any questions while building please let me know.

If you have suggestions about modifications of the wing described in the building instructions I will be happy to comment.

 

 

    Building plans and instructions for Ice-Wing Cabriolet wing sail. Buy now: US$ 19



Note

The author assumes no responsibility for accidents, injury or death incurred as a result of the use or misuse of information contained in these building plans and instructions for skate sails. Skate sailing contains inherent risks which no amount of care, caution or expertise can eliminate. The information is no substitute for ice sailing experience and good judgement. Acts of god, thin ice, cracks in ice, double ice, frost bite, wind chill factors equivalent to - 50 deg C, -58 F, other crafts, persons or creatures, are all part of the skate sailing experience. Every participant must assume responsibility for his or her own safety and survival, for the rest ......... there is a lot of other things to do.

Note. You are welcome to build a wing skate sail without my plans. But the risk is great it will not work well if you are not an experienced designer and builder. You probably will get dimensions and materials wrong. Resulting in a wing possibly too strong, heavy, in some places and too weak, leading to breakages, in other places. Also you will not have the sailing instructions. If you build without my plans I would be happy to hear from you and I will supply you with a sail number.

 

Skate sailing article

 

A survival race in wings, 120 km/h, 75 mph, in very strong winds, on the frozen Baltic Sea

Ten pictures and drawings, 3700 words. Equivalent to some 6 pages in a magazine

Excerpts 
The sailors look like hockey players as they are well padded and wear helmets. This is good protection should you fall, but it doesn't help much if you loose control and collide with another wing or some of the rocky islands that surrounds the course.

The wind is howling at gale force outside the wing and the pitch is changing with the speed of the wind. You can hear yourself groan under the strain, says the current wing sail National Champion Bo Trysen.

- Approaching the flag you enter a fast and accelerating ride on a tightrope. As you make the gradual turn downwind the wing can give you many times more power than you can handle.

If you open the throttle to much or if a nasty gust hits you will be blown to leeward and......... if you get it right you will get a massive acceleration raising your speed to over 120 km/h, 75 mph, in these conditions.

Falling and crashing wings: The "nose dive" is least fun as it tends to break the wing.

Headings:

Falling and crashing wings Skate sailing development history How the wing develops a force, drawing
The Swedish skate sail racing course Optimizing wing sails Typical wing construction
How to sail Sailing skates photos- (I guess you haven't seen anything like it.)

"You travel in a state between flying and falling, sailing on one skate, leaning into a wind which every little change is transmitted directly to your body. The only sound is the faint whistle of the wind outside your wing." That is light wind skate sailing according to one of the addicts.

Skate sailing article: A survival race in wings, 120 km/h, 75 mph, in very strong winds, on the frozen Baltic Sea. Buy now US$ 3.90


  


 

Buying several plans or articles for instance for a sailing club magazine, internet or print or.... 

Maybe you know many people who may be interested in this very special sport, for example members in your sailing club or in the company where you work or...  Then this may be for you, or your sailing club. You distribute the material to these people, for example via club magazine, internet or print, or just sending an internet address (URL). Material is as in article - no higher resolution pictures included. 
(When you buy one set of plans they are for building only one sail. When you buy the Skate Sailing article it is for you, your family and nearest friends only.)

For a quotation state how you are going to use the material. E g: Make available to the members in my sailing club which  has 2000 members.

The table below gives an indication of these prices

  2-10 persons 11- 100 persons 101- 1000 persons 1001- 10000 persons 10001-
100000 persons		 100001-
1000000 persons		 Per additional 1000000
Building plans for Ice Wing Competition and Cabriolet. Skate sailing article. US$    70 100 200 400 800 2000 1000
Skate Sailing article only. US$    50 50 100 200   500  1000 500

Prices, specifications and conditions subject to change without notice.

Back to Skate sailing index. To Anders Ansar's home page.

Email, Postal address & Telephone number.  

Modified June 2009. Counter: 24691.