Ice boating returns to Erie after 2 warm years
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ERIE (AP) — Ice boating is back on Presque Isle Bay in Erie after two winters that weren’t cold enough to allow the sporting tradition. Some say this winter’s brutal cold has created the best ice boating conditions in a quarter century.
The Erie Times-News reported Saturday (http://bit.ly/1gAQfDr ) that the boats, reaching speeds as high as 70 mph, have been on the foot-thick ice since the end of December.
Ice boats are more like sleds, basically one or two seats with a sail on skates.
Enthusiasts say their hobby requires a particular set of weather conditions: cold enough for thick ice, windy enough to propel the boats and not too snowy that it slows the boats and hurts visibility.
Ice boaters survey the bay to mark areas with cracks in the ice.