Iceboating is said to have originated in the Netherlands in the 17th century, but it’s right at home in several areas of New Jersey. One favorite site is the Navesink River in Red Bank, where members of the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club await the seven or eight days each winter when temperature, ice and wind conditions permit sailing on the surface of the frozen river. “It’s very hit or miss, you don’t always get the same number of days every season,” says Jeff Smith, the club’s commodore.
Founded in 1880, the 160-member group is one of the oldest iceboat clubs in the nation. The club holds races on the weekends, and its members travel as far as Wisconsin and New Hampshire to brave the ice and brisk wind. (All photos by Chuck Solomon)
AHOY: Iceboats vary in shape, size and class and can reach speeds up to five times the velocity of the wind. Here, Michael Soldati of Red Bank rides along the frozen Navesink River in Icicle, his vintage 1935 stern steerer. Below: A view of Icicle, looking toward the stern.
HOME: The North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club maintains a clubhouse on the banks of the Navesink River in Red Bank. It’s no surprise that the official seal of Red Bank features an image of an iceboat. Below, after the holidays, club members repurpose discarded Christmas trees as course markers to warn racers of thin ice.
THE RACE IS ON: Club members in position for the start of a race.
DN’S DNA: Fair Haven resident Jake Clapp, son of the world-class iceboater Dan Clapp, works on his wooden DN iceboat, a model that can reach speeds of 60 miles per hour. The DN is the most popular iceboat class, named after the winner of an iceboat design contest sponsored by the Detroit News in 1937.
ON THIN ICE: Pressure ridges are sometimes formed in the ice, above, and these cracks are healed with frozen water. The ice must be at least 4 to 6 inches thick for most boat classes, and cannot be covered in snow to be suitable for racing.
IN THE COCKPIT: Rick Disbrow pilots his arrow-class front-steerer on the frozen river. Below, a modern Yankee skeeter class iceboat, constructed of carbon fiber, speeds along the ice.
HISTORIC VIEW: Member Nelson Macan of Ocean Port watches racers from inside the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club’s clubhouse. The two-story building contains memorabilia testifying to more than a century of club activity and accomplishments.
NEXT GEN: Sisters Samantha, 12, and Alex Bought, 8, of Rumson work together on their boat. The girls follow in the footsteps of their father, Dan, and grandfather, Tom, both former club commodores.
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