Ice Yachting: Describing the Ride of a Lifetime With its intoxicating combination of danger, beauty and unpredictability, ice yachting on the Hudson held a powerful public fascination particularly in the days before ice clearing for year-round shipping made much of the Hudson largely unsuited for the sport. At its peak in the 1880s and 1890s, ice yachting seemed proof that human daring could triumph over industrial technology as depicted in popular newspaper and magazine illustrations of impromptu races between ice boats and the steam locomotives that ran along both banks of the Hudson. The mystique of ice yachting was partially due to its unpredictable occurrence. Sailing conditions were so dependent on a complex set of variables (ice thickness and consistency, air temperature and precipitation, wind speed and direction) that some years offered only one or two suitable racing days in an entire season. The sport's fickle nature required lavish patience but also added to its intriguing appeal. When the much anticipated sailing conditions were finally right, the community seemed to sense it. As many as 2,000 spectators would appear along the banks of the Hudson in New Hamburg, Hyde Park or Poughkeepsie to watch the ice yacht races. Few could help but wonder what it would be like to hang over the ice face down clinging to plank rails while sailing at speeds faster than the wind itself. Those who actually experienced it tried hard to satisfy the curiosity of others with first person accounts of their adventures. Wealthy ice yachtsmen like John A. Roosevelt and Archibald Rogers of Hyde Park and Norman "Cap" Wright of Poughkeepsie were interviewed about their experiences or wrote their own descriptions for sportsmen's magazines. Reporters —whether getting the ride of a lifetime or merely observing the colorful scenery—tried to capture for their readers as best they could the magic of this thrilling winter pastime along the Hudson. The following first person account published in Outing Magazine in February of 1899 was written by Poughkeepsie ice yachtsman and sculler, Norman Wright (1847-1935). Wright became interested in rowing while
40
