There is little time to celebrate the Gold Cup, as the 2026 European Championship begins today and the fleets reset without pause.
Starting positions and fleet assignments can be found here:
Starting Positions: LINK
Results: LINK
As always, the top three sailors from each fleet advance, and that movement often shapes the early narrative of the new series.
From B fleet, Maxime Bachelin (Z-119) moves into Gold carrying both momentum and notable credentials. In addition to his DN success, he has sailed with the Alinghi Red Bull Racing America’s Cup program, bringing high performance foiling experience into the iceboat environment. How that background translates within the dynamics of Gold fleet racing will be worth watching.
From C fleet, Laura Banach (P-102) advances into B fleet after a strong performance and now steps into a deeper field that includes Germany’s Anja Fiedler (G-390), widely regarded as the leading female sailor in the class.
In Gold, several immediate storylines emerge. Fresh off his World Championship victory, Rasmus Maalinn (C-20) begins in the 7 block and remains a focal point from the first beat, continuing a run of form that has defined the week. Alongside him, Swedish junior Tom Hogard (S-906) enters the top tier with a favorable draw in starting position 3, an opportunity that will test how quickly he can convert position into result against a seasoned fleet.
One final Gold Cup note. I spoke with Karol Jablonski shortly after he returned to shore, where he expressed satisfaction with his second-place finish and offered sincere praise for Maalinn’s victory. He explained that his 37th-place result stemmed from a collision with another Polish boat in Race 2, which proved costly in such a tight series, and that the wind shifts in the final race did not align in his favor. He remarked that had someone told him a few days earlier that he would finish second at the World Championship, he would have accepted that outcome without hesitation. He was already heading off to join the Estonians in their celebration, pleased for their success.
The European Championship now begins in earnest, and positions must once again be earned from the opening race.
Congratulations to the fleet winners of the 2019 North American Championship: Gold: USA Ron Sherry US44 Silver: Canada Jacek Marzenski KC5247 Bronze: USA Pete Johns US2360
Senior Trophy for Over 50 1st Gold – USA – US44 SHERRY RON
Masters Trophy for over 60 1st Gold – GER – G890 PETZKE HOLGER
Keeper for over 70 (Grand master) 1st Gold – GER – G551 SEEGERS CHRISTIAN
Elliot Sharp Trophy for Top Junior Skipper 1st Gold – EST – C20/US49 MAALIN RASMUS
Meade Gougeon Trophy for Top Woman 1st Gold – GER – G390 FIEDLER ANJA
Thank you to the Race Committee volunteers for dedicating a week of your lives to ensure that over 100 ice sailors from 10 countries had the best racing and social experience possible – Central Region Commodore and Regatta Chair Rob Holman, PRO John Atkins, PRO Bob Schumacher, Vice Commodore Dave Elsmo, Commodore Warren Nethercote (who tabulated and published race results off site – way off site – in Nova Scotia), the scoring, measuring, and weather mark team, and everyone else who helped.
Below is Jane Pegel US805’s North American regatta report:
Good evening iceboaters….
The 2019 DN North American Championship at Lake Wawasee, Indiana, has been completed.
U.S. sailors moved to the front of the fleet—
Ron Sherry won the Gold Fleet and attributes his success to taking time to tune against his son, Griffin, who
placed 18th. Ron previously won the North Americans in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009,
2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018. Ron won the DN Gold Cup in 1998, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2011. He is a past
champion of the Renegade class and also borrowed a Skeeter to win the Northwest Free-For-All. Ron’s first regatta
race win came when he was twelve years of age and sailing in the Northwest on Mendota. He nipped me out at the finish.
It’s a big end of season issue with filled with regatta reports and results and features some world class photography from Gretchen Dorian and Evgeny Ryazhev. The DN class is fortunate to be able to use their work to help promote the sport. Of special note is Gretchen’s cover photo of Anja Fiedler G390 of Germany, the first to be awarded the new IDNIYRA World Championship Trophy for the highest placing woman. Read it here on the Runner Tracks newsletter page.
You can also read Vice Commodore Warren Nethercote’s article about his recent visit to Warsaw for the European Secretaries meeting and Secretary Geoff Sobering’s submission of the minutes from the 2017 North American annual meeting.
Did you know that Runner Tracks is available in three different electronic formats and you can also order it in a print version? Flipbook magazine: Best for laptops and desktop computers PDF: Best for tablets PDF Single Page: Best for mobile devices
The DN is most popular iceboat in the world. Whether you are a racer or cruiser, your $25 membership in the IDNIYRA helps to promote the art and skill of DN ice yacht construction and the sport of ice yachting on all the hard waters of the world.
2026 REGATTA DATES
North American Championship
January 24 – 31
World & European Championships
Feb 14 – 21 idniyra.eu
