DN 60 Iceboat

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.

By the 1930s, iceboating had become a sport for the wealthy, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Detroit auto magnates, who sailed large iceboats that were out of reach financially for most folks. The arrival of the affordable DN put a new face on iceboating.

Over 70 years after it was introduced, the swift and diminutive DN 60 remains the world’s most popular iceboat class, sailing under the auspices of the International DN Ice Yacht Racing Association, with more than 2,000 members split about evenly between North America and Europe. The present DN 60 retains the basic design of the original model, though sails and gear continue to be refined. The 12′, open-cockpit hull, which is a snug fit for its skipper (to the point of his virtually wearing it), rides on three runners: one under the bow, which steers the boat, and two under either end of an 8′-long plank fitted across the opposite end to provide stability. DNs, fully fitted out, typically weigh 100–150 lbs.

From its earliest beginnings in the sawdust-strewn Detroit News hobby shop, the focus of DN builders and owners has been to make the boat faster and more competitive on “hard-water.” The DN slides along on its honed 1⁄4″-wide steel runners—much like ice skate blades—at up to five times the speed of the wind, their speeds exceeding 60 mph. Catching a breeze, the skipper hauls in the mainsheet to trim the sail, and the light-weight boat begins to accelerate. As the windward blade lightens, the runner plank lifts gently off the ice, forcing the skipper to hike out (shift his weight) to balance the craft. Only the wind and the clanging of runners on the ice break the silence.

Sailing 130 degrees off the true wind, the DN hits its top speed. “It’s an incredible happening,” says Meade Gougeon, who, along with his brother Jan, has been sailing and racing DNs since the early ’60s. “As the [apparent wind speed] goes up over 50 mph, you have trouble staying connected with the ice.” DNs also perform remarkably well in light air, unlike the big iceboats.

Rider pilots a DN 60 iceboat across frozen lake.

For 30 years following the launch of the first fleet on Lake St. Clair, the DN—with the exception of minor modifications—was virtually the same wooden boat, which was susceptible to damage from moisture and extreme cold. By the late 1960s, the Gougeon Brothers, working in their Bay City, Michigan, shop on the Saginaw River, produced a stronger and lighter DN by using a new epoxy bonding and sealing system (known today as the WEST System), which they had developed. This eliminated the problems associated with bare wood being exposed to the elements. It was a significant breakthrough, offering a new-generation iceboat.

The DN proved to be an excellent test subject, because of the high stress loads to which its components were exposed. The vast expanse of ice on Saginaw Bay offered ideal laboratory conditions. Five years and 200 DNs later, the Gougeons sold the building segment of their business to concentrate on further development and production of their WEST System, but they had left their mark on the boat and sport.

Rear view of a DN 60 iceboat with rider,

On any given winter weekend in the United States, Canada, and Europe, hundreds of hard-water sailors flock to the best ice on which to race or simply take another electrifying ride. On Wednesdays during winter months, designated Internet sites list ice conditions for the coming weekend and forecast wind velocities. Along with other regattas, the North American Racing Championship race is held each winter where ice conditions are conducive to competitive racing. It’s not unusual for DN sailors to travel 200–500 miles to find smooth ice.

As many as 50 percent of the sailors you’ll find competing in any of these regattas have built their own boats. Meade Gougeon calls the DN “a tinkerer’s dream,” because it can be built in a home workshop, with minimal space and without the need for expensive, heavy-duty tools. Best of all, materials are relatively inexpensive, which appeals to would-be 21st century iceboaters, just as it did to Detroiters during the Depression years.

The most challenging aspect of building a DN is the hull (also called the fuselage), which may weigh between 42 and 50 lbs. First-time builders often purchase an assembled but unfinished hull, without hardware, from a supplier. Others choose to work from scratch, following readily available plans. Either way, the hull is constructed from 1⁄8″ marine-grade plywood (Sitka spruce and Douglas-fir are favored) on a jig, using low-tech traditional boatbuilding methods in combination with the modern high-tech processes pioneered by the Gougeons.

The components—side panels, stem, bulkheads, floor, seat, and stringers—are bonded together and then sealed in epoxy, creating an extremely strong, lightweight structure. The runner plank—8′ long, 6 1⁄2″ to 7 1⁄2″ wide, and 1″ to 15⁄8″ thick—is the only remaining solid wooden component, often made from white birch, Douglas-fir, or ash, and weighs 15 to 20 lbs. These wooden components can be finished bright or painted.

DN 60 iceboat cockpit with gloves and assorted tools.

DN masts (which can be no longer than 16′ or less than 15′ 6″) and booms (which must be no more than 9′ long) are made of aluminum, wood, carbon fiber, or fiberglass. Masts without stays, but complete with hardware and a halyard, can weigh no less than 15 lbs. That heavily loaded spar is the most likely component to require replacing over time. Booms can be hollow and have no weight restriction.

The remaining pieces, like runners and hardware, are generally purchased and attached to the hull according to specific instructions that ensure the greatest sailing efficiency. Runners weigh 7 to 15 lbs each. Hardware is bonded to the fuselage with epoxy. Sails are usually purchased from sailmakers.

Conveying a DN to a regatta is usually a simple matter of cartopping the fuselage and long components, although Meade Gougeon carries up to three DNs inside his van. Once at the site, it takes approximately 15 minutes to set up and rig a DN thanks to push-pull pins. After that, the joy of sailing across a mirror-smooth hard-water lake awaits the skipper. “It grows on you,” says Meade. “It’s sailing in its most basic form.”