America’s Great Depression was in full swing in the mid-1930s when The Detroit News held a design competition for a simple, inexpensive racing iceboat that could be built in a garage or basement workshop, and be easily transported on top of a car. The result was a 12' craft that appealed to Detroiters looking for an affordable diversion from their economic woes. Initially called the Bluestreak 60, the sleek boat was first seen skimming across nearby Lake St. Clair during the winter of 1936–37. The name was later changed to DN 60 (for Detroit News and the boat’s sail area).Iceboating, or ice yachting, began more than 400 years ago in Scandinavia and other northern European countries. Wooden boxes rigged with sails and mounted on skates carried goods and passengers along the frozen canals of Holland through the mid-1700s. As early as the American Revolution, iceboats were sailed on the Hudson River and, in the late 1800s, lumbermen in Michigan logging camps sailed the scores of local lakes for recreation. Simple to build, exhilarating to operate, the DN 60 is an excellent “hard-water” boat. Developed in the Detroit area, it offers plenty of excitement to thrill-seekers in northern climes.
Gretchen Dorian
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Wonderful article. Because of the simplicity of design, it seems like this would make a good course at the WoodenBoat School. I’m just saying!!