Frederik Lonegreen S8, Karol Jablonski P36, and Chris Berger US5166 push off the line. Photo: Rachel Bartel for @harken_inc
North American Championship awards were presented at Friday’s night Green Lake Ice Yacht Club social event at regatta headquarters. These photos capture the sailors who earned fleet trophies during a demanding week on the ice.
One especially meaningful presentation was the JR Francis Memorial Trophy, awarded to the winner of the first race of the North American Championship. The Francis family recently deeded the trophy to the DN class in JR’s honor. The bowl was made by JR himself while he was still in high school, making it a deeply personal piece of DN history.
Steve Orlebeke, winner of the first North American Championship race and the JR Francis
Karol Jablonski P36, winner of the 2026 DN North American Championship
Bronze Fleet: From left, Sebastian Sorensen 5th, Robert Haag 19th, Peter Shorett 4th, Peter Nordquist 8th, Tim Ballerd 2nd, Mike Rian 1st, in front Csilla Gal 7th, and Martha Croasdale 3rd. Martha was also the top placing female.
Silver Fleet: From left, Cooper Frost 10th, Ryan Kyle 9th, Jim Grogan 1st, 8th Keith Schwark, 6th Jake Skala, 7th Edward Demerest, 4th David Frost, 3rd Paul Chamberland, Rob Holman 2nd
Gold Fleet: From left Jeff Roseberry 10th, John Curtis 9th, Peter Van Rossem 8th, Nicholas Mabboux 7th, Chris Berger 6th, James T Thieler 5th, Steve Orlebeke 4th, Karol Jablonski 1st, Ron Sherry 3rd, front Matt Struble 2nd
North American Junior Champion Sebastian Sorensen.
North American Silver Champion and Master winner Jim Grogan
North American highest placing Novice Ryan Kyle
North American Grand Master Champion Stefan Bokfors
Director of Harken engineering, Steve Orlebeke US4926, shares his obsession with ice sailing in the Harken magazine “At The Front”:
Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Whisper it with me…black ice. One more time…black ice. I have a confession to make: I dream about black ice — even sometimes in July. Occasionally, even when I’m in a bunk on a boat sailing in soft water. Continue reading.
The 2018 DN Western Regionals are in the books. Even though temperatures were above 10 F today, the overcast skies made it seem even colder than Saturday. Winds were up from yesterday at 8-15 mph. The ice remained hard and fast.
Congratulations to Steve Orlebeke for his win in the Gold Fleet and Mike Barnett in the Silver Fleet. Many thanks to the Western Region Commodore Daniel Hearn, PRO Dan Heany, Race Committee helpers Fred Stritt, Julie Jankowski, and Jori Lenon, and scorer Mercedes Auger. Thanks to Loretta Rehe for tabulating back at the Home Office in Michigan.
PROVISIONAL
2018 WESTERN REGION REGATTA - JANUARY 13 - 14, 2018
LAKE MENDOTA
MADISON, WISCONSIN
Gold fleet
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Pos Sail# Name Race> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Points
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1 US 4926 ORLEBEKE, STEVE 1 1 4 ( 4) 1 1 1 3 12.00
2 US 4691 DENNIS, JOHN (S) ( 6) 4 1 3 3 3 3 1 18.00
3 US 5166 BERGER, CHRIS (S) 4 ( 9) 8 1 2 5 2 4 26.00
4 US 4824 CHRISTENSEN, MARK (S) 2 ( 11) 3 6 4 2 4 5 26.00
5 US 4975 EVANS, ROBBIE (S) ( 8) 7 2 2 5 4 5 2 27.00
6 US 5432 BLOOM, MIKE (S) 3 2 6 ( 11) 7 6 6 6 36.00
7 US 5352 HEARN, DANIEL (S) 10 ( 10) 7 8 6 7 8 7 53.00
8 US 5508 SUGAR, TIM 5 6 11 9 ( 13) 8 9 8 56.00
9 US 4923 JEFF, SOLUM ( 12) 8 10 5 8 9 10 9 59.00
10 US 5486 ELSMO, DAVID 11 3 5 12 9 (DNS) 7 12 59.00
11 US 5501 ORLEBEKE, PETER 7 5 9 7 ( 11) 10 11 10 59.00
12 US 5536 SCHMITT, MATT 9 12 12 10 ( 12) 11 12 11 77.00
13 US 4249 GLICK, DAVE (M) 13 13 13 13 ( 14) 13 14 13 92.00
14 US 602 MEYER, TOM (M) 14 14 DNS (DNS) 10 12 13 14 92.00
Scoring system: IDNIYRA Worlds
Silver fleet
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Pos Sail# Name Race> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Points
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1 US 5507 BARNETT, MIKE 1 ( 2) 1 1 2 1 2 1 9.00
2 US 5522 METZLOFF, KYLE 3 4 2 ( 4) 3 2 1 2 17.00
3 US 5479 HEARN, BRIAN 2 1 3 ( 5) 4 3 3 3 19.00
4 US 4203 FITZGERALD, PATRICK (GM) 8 3 ( 10) 9 6 4 4 4 38.00
5 US 548 HOVLAND, NICK 6 7 4 2 ( 12) 5 9 6 39.00
6 US 5517 THOMPSON, JASON (S) 4 9 ( 9) 8 5 6 6 5 43.00
7 US 5602 KICKHAFER, MATTHEW (JR) 10 5 8 7 8 7 5 (DNS) 50.00
8 US 3433 CUMMINS, ROBERT (GM) 9 ( 12) 7 6 9 8 7 8 54.00
9 US 2360 JOHNS, PETE (GM) 7 8 6 10 7 9 12 (DNS) 59.00
10 US 1277 BOWMAN, HAL (GM) 5 6 DNS (DNS) 10 10 8 7 64.00
11 US 5397 FOSSATI, DANNY (N) 12 10 12 12 1 (DNF) 11 10 68.00
12 US 4137 SMITH JR, KEN (M) 13 11 5 3 11 12 (DNS) DNS 73.00
13 US 4602 KICKHAFER, DAVID (S) ( 14) 13 11 11 13 11 10 9 78.00
14 US 1313 RAST, ROBERT (M) 11 14 13 DNS (DNS) DNS DNS DNS 110.00
15 US 888 ROSTEN, THOR (JR) 15 DNS DNS (DNS) DNS DNS DNS DNS 123.00
16 US 294 LOENNEKE, LOUIS (GM) DNS DNS (DNS) DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 126.00
Scoring system: IDNIYRA Worlds
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2026 REGATTA DATES
North American Championship
January 24 – 31
World & European Championships
Feb 14 – 21 idniyra.eu
