Skatesailing in Sweden

Skatesailing has a long tradition in Sweden and the first recorded regatta was held in Stockholm in 1887. The five-cornered "dragon-sail" was designed in 1905 and is basically the same today, apart from modern materials such as mylar and aluminum tubes which are used together with slalomboots and high skates to carry a bigger sail. The sailor acts as the base of the mast, a setup that "hides" the sailor from the slipstream and allows easy control of an 8 square meter sail, sheating with your forward hand and a turn of the waist.

This clip is from "West Ringlake" in the south of Sweden, in the middle of the "Skane" region. Black ice makes friction negligible, with the shy 4 m/s wind it´s all aerodynamics. Love for sail!

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Skatesailing
• Sweden
• Ice
• skating
• sailing

[WegrennerX]

That is amazing. Look at the quality of that ice!! Here in holland we also have good ice at the moment. It's been -15 for a few days in a row now.

[JorgenRiverside]

@WegrennerX Yes, the ice was of pristine quality; black, hard and smooth. As can be heard not too thick though, a little bit over 5 cm. I did reconnaissance with icepicks first of course.

[ViscountSqualo]

that is so fucking cool

[JorgenRiverside]

@ViscountSqualo It was and is, and yes it was cold too ; ) I recommend sailing on ice- the feeling is quite extrordinary. Lashing a soup ladle to the base of your windsurfing sail is one way of trying it out, but always check/test the ice with ice picks before sailing.

[bmayadog]

Check out my video by key-wording white bear lake skate sail

[JorgenRiverside]

@bmayadog Nice videos and nice laidback style, sailing on the "Sea of Love" was an excellent choice of Music. I assume you have slalom boots and speedskates?

[JorgenRiverside]

Absolutely! You don´t want that sound to become higher pitched though- that means the ice is getting thinner.....

[navysailor007]

Looks very nice Jörgen. Dont you love the sound in the ice when you aproatch.