2026 WESTERN REGION REGATTA STATUS AND REGISTRATION
The DN Western Region Championship has not yet been called on.
Registration will open once a regatta location is selected and officially confirmed. Updates on ice conditions and the event call will be posted here as they become available.
Important Notes:
REGISTRATION
- Online registration is mandatory and must be completed no later than 5:00 PM CT on Friday.
- No in-person registration will be accepted
PROOF OF INSURANCE
- All DN participants must submit proof of liability insurance with a minimum coverage of $300,000. This is mandatory to compete. Please email your proof of insurance to secretary.idniyra@gmail.org as soon as possible. If you have submitted insurance for the 2026 North American Championships, you do not have to submit again.
WHAT TO KNOW
2026 DN Western Region Championship
Notice of Race
Sailing Instructions
DATES: To be determined.
LOCATION: To be determined
LAUNCH SITE
LODGING
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
- Friday: 5 PM CT online registration closes.
- Saturday: 9:00 AM CT Skippers Meeting
- Saturday: 10:00 CT First start. If fleets are split, Silver Fleet will start first.
- Sunday: 10:00 CT First start. Races can start as late as 3:00 PM CT, at the discretion of the Race Committee.
OFFICIAL NOTICE BOARD
Notice of Race
Sailing Instructions
LATEST WESTERN REGION CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS
2020 Western Region Called ON for Lake Puckaway Jan 4-5

DNs sailing the 2019 Great Western Challenge on Lake Puckaway. Photo: John Hayashi
REGISTER & PAY ONLINE
Entry List
Provisional Results
2020 Westerns Sailing Instructions
What a way to kick off a new year! Our friend, Dave Elsmo and his wife, Andrea, welcomed a baby girl into the world this morning; the Badgers are playing in the Rose Bowl at 4:00, I’m christening my new C-Skeeter tomorrow, and I’m officially calling “ON” the Western Lakes Regional DN Championship! 2020…I like the looks of you already!
Venue
Lake Puckaway, just outside of Montello, Wisconsin, which is about an hour north of Madison. This is the same venue where the Great Western Challenge was held two weeks ago. Launch at Marquette County Park—Apuckawa Boat Landing. Map Ice is 6-7 inches thick, but we will NOT be parking trailers on the ice. Unload at the landing and park in the lot. We are anticipating a good size fleet, so park as efficiently as possible.
MAP
Conditions
6-7 inches of orange peel texture…no seams detected except on the far northwest corner of the lake near Mike & Cathy’s Good Old Days Resort, which should NOT be on the course. Few ice fishermen at this time, but we expect that to change for the weekend. Ice sail checked by “DN Ranked racers” Bob Cummins and Mike Jankowski. Sheet is large enough for two courses, so we should not be space constrained.
Weather
Temperatures in the high twenties to low thirties Fri. – Sun. Winds 5-10 mph Fri. and Sat. 10 – 15 mph Sunday. Slight chance of light snow Sun. morning. Partly to mostly cloudy all three days. This is a Sat./Sun. regatta, but we anticipate a good number of sailors showing up to scrub race on Friday.
Headquarters
Mike & Cathy’s Good Old Days bar and restaurant right on the lake. W995 W. North Shore Dr Montello, WI 53949. Packet pickup and Saturday night group dinner will take place here. Group meal will take place immediately following racing on Saturday at 5:30 pm. Come as you are. Classic Wisco Supper Club with great bar. $14 plus tax and tip will get you Broasted chicken, beef tips over noodles, mashed potatoes and gravy, soup and salad bar.
MAP
Go Big or Go Home
Good Old Days famous chili will be served steaming hot on the ice Saturday. We are expecting to be sharing the lake with a fair number of ice fisherman for the weekend. To show them some love, and to apologize in advance for disturbing their peace, we will be delivering 6-packs if beer to them along with our well wishes. Hard to be mad at someone delivering free beer! PLEASE go out of your way to be friendly and courteous.
Registration
Get it done online at this link. PLEASE! If you must tax our scorers with onsite registration, you will be required to pay a “convenience fee” of $20. It could be a scary amount, so just get it done online. Our dedicated scoring team would greatly appreciate it. PLEASE upload your proof of insurance. If for some reason you can’t, be ready to shot it at HQ if you want to race in the event.
NOR/Sailing Instructions
See above. Posted Thursday January 2, 2020.
Hotels-Motels
Acorn Ridge Motel
920-295-6533
http://www.acornridgemotel.com/
(Closest to ice as Mecan Lodge is fill already)
(No pool or hot tub)
W3910 WI 23/73
Princeton, WI 54968
$69 winter rate
(Headquarters Hotel)
Borders Inn & Suites – Ripon (used to be an Americinn)
920-748-7578
1219 W. Fond du Lac St.
Ripon, WI 54971
Ask for special ice boater’s rate of $79.99 plus tax
Cobblestone (name changed today from Comfort Suites at royal Ridges)
2 Westgate Dr.
Ripon, WI 54971
920-567-4024
Ask for iceboat rate of $99 plus tax
T’ween the Lake Motel
510 Underwood Ave Hwy 23
Montello, WI 53949
608-297-8715
It Takes a Village
When you see these people, thank them for their contributions to making this happen—John Hyashi, the Nite Board of Directors and the Puckaway Ice Sailing Squadron for choosing for choosing to defer the Nite Nationals to the following weekend, opening up Lake Puckaway for the DN Westerns.
Bob Cummins and Mike Jankowski for scouting and sailing the sheet and providing detailed info.
Mike Miller and Mike Bloom for scouting our others potential venue.
Julie Jankowski for jumping into action to make all of the arrangements for hotels, food and regatta extras.
Deb Whitehorse for disseminating information and handling all registration responsibilities.
Dan Heany, Joe Norton, Fred Stritt and all members of our scoring team who will be running our races and keeping track of who does what.
All the ice scouts out there who have been feeding info throughout the week. And all others I may have forgotten (sorry) as I’m pushing to get this info out.
Daniel Hearn
Western Region Rear Commodore
US 5352
2020 Western Region Championship Update #2

Sit Tight!
DN Sailors:
We still have one venue in play about an hour north of Madison that reportedly survived last night’s weather quite well. The snow was absorbed into the moisture on the surface and has frozen on top of the 5” of original ice. It has not formed into shell ice, but the surface is reported to be somewhat pebbly. Even now, the new layer of ice is solid under the footsteps of a 200+ lb. walker. Temperatures will be in the teens this evening, which should further firm things up. The sheet will be inspected and sailed tomorrow by a highly experienced racer and ice checker. There’s potential for a small amount of rain/show (less than 1”) on Friday. Weekend wind forecast looks very good—10-20 mph both days.
Presently, there doesn’t appear to be any other sailable ice in the region. The long-range forecast does not look favorable for forming new ice on the many lakes that returned to a liquid state or have yet to freeze. This venue will not be available to the DNs the weekend of Jan. 11-12, and after that, we are bumping up against our North American Championship, the Gold Cup, and also the Northwest and ISA for sailors who also race in other fleets. If we postpone, we’re likely off until March, and at that point, we may not get it in at all. SO, if we can make it happen this weekend with acceptable conditions, we’ll likely go for it.
That’s what we know for now. Be ready!
Daniel Hearn
Western Region Rear Commodore
US 5352
2020 Western Region Championship Update

Line up for the 2018 DN Western Region championship on Lake Mendota.
DN Sailors:
At this point, we appear to have limited possibilities for a Western Lakes Championship for this weekend (January 4-5, 2020). We have not ruled it out, as we have two potential venues that are moving in the right direction, but also some rain/snow potential for late in the week. We’ll continue to monitor and keep you informed. In the meantime, if you have any other possibilities, please serve them up to me (dhearnUS5352@gail.com) and Bob Cummins (rcummins@new.rr.com).Think Ice!
Daniel Hearn
Western Region Rear Commodore
Media Coverage: “Ice boats race on Lake Pepin”

Published in the Hastings Star Gazette:
The International DN Ice Yacht Racing Association held its Western Regional Championships on Lake Pepin on Jan. 5-6 with 46 boats competing in two divisions.
“They set tentative dates, and we check on Thursday nights to see if the event will take place or not,” said Rhea Nicholas from Detroit. Continue reading.
More Western Region Regatta Photos
Western Region Video & Sunrise Photo
Here’s another video to bookmark for those times when you want to show someone what DN racing is all about featuring former Commodore of the IDNIYRA Kent Baker US5219 and current Vice Commodore Dave Elsmo US5486. Thank you to Jim McDonagh US5214 for creating this video.
One of the fine folks from Lake City, MN passed this along. Sunday sunrise over the DN forest on Lake Pepin.
Photo: Manda Hart Baldwin
Western Region Championship Final Results
The Western Region regatta was concluded on Sunday in much colder and faster conditions compared to Saturday’s Miami-beach like weather. Ron Sherry (Michigan) and John Dennis (Minnesota) each scored 13 points in the Gold fleet. The tiebreak went to Ron Sherry. Matt Schmidt (Wisconsin) won the Silver fleet. Grand Master winner was Bruce Williams(Michigan), Master was Jim Grogan (Michigan), and University of Wisconsin sailing team member Soren Hughes won the junior division. Congratulations to all who competed in this event and to Western Region Commodore Daniel Hearn for his efforts to make this regatta happen.
Final results are here.
Western Region Update

A quick update from today. If conditions were like this every day, iceboating would be the most popular sport in the world. The weather and setting could not have been more beautiful. The bright sun kept us warm as we waited for the wind to make an appearance. The predicted westerly filled in and the flag dropped for the first race at 1;16 PM.
The Silver fleet will start Sunday’s rotation. The flag drops at 10 AM for the final day of the 2019 Western Region Championship. Results here
Western Region Championship Called ON for Jan 5-6 @ Lake Pepin
DN Sailors:
It’s On!
The Western Regional Championships are confirmed for this weekend, Jan. 5-6 on Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minnesota.
Provisional Results SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
Conditions
The ice surface is smooth to pebbly, rated a 7+ from two ranked/experienced DN racers who sailed it today. (See attached photos). Ice thickness is reported to be 8”. Weather forecast is calling for above freezing temperatures—sunny and high of 46 degrees on Saturday; cloudy with high of 39 degrees Sunday. Wind forecast for Saturday is 8 mph until 1:00 p.m., then starting to diminish. Sunday winds 8-10 mph throughout the racing day.
Let’s Get Our Money’s Worth
Note that we have a 9-race format scheduled and we will be working hard to be as efficient as possible in order to make that happen. We have the option to start a race as late as 3:00 p.m., but we would prefer to avoid that in consideration of our longer distance travelers. Please be ready to help out the Race Committee if assistance is requested. If rules allow, I would like to move the start time Saturday up ½-hour to 10:00 a.m. Please plan accordingly.
Accommodations
AMERICINN: Group rate at AmericInn. Reference “Western Region” to get $79.99/night group rate for double queen with breakfast. Amenities include pool and hot tub. 651-345-5611.
Note: The special rate is ONLY available if you call the hotel in Lake City directly!!!!
AmericInn by Wyndham Lake City
Website
1615 N Lakeshore Drive Lake City, Minnesota 55041-9023
+1-651-314-5611
Map
THE WILLOWS:
Willows on the River Condominium Resort
100 Central Point Road
Lake City, MN 55041
1-651-345-9900
THE SUNSET:
Sunset Motel & Resort
1515 N Lakeshore Dr, Lake City, MN 55041•(651) 345-5331
Registration
At AmericInn Friday evening and on ice Saturday morning, if necessary. Please click here to pre-register or you can email Deb Whitehorse secretary.idniyra@gmail.com to confirm your attendance and to provide your fleet preference—Gold or Silver. (Depending on numbers, there may be one or two fleets, though prizes will be awarded for two fleets).Launch
Roschen Park. Drive on if you so choose, but be aware this is a frozen section of a river.
Many thanks to Mike Miller and Tommy Meyer for scouting this sheet today. And to all others who provided information on other potential venues.
See you there!
Daniel Hearn
Western Region Rear Commodore
US 5352
Western Status Update

Via Western Region Commodore Daniel Hearn:
DN Sailors:
Lake Pepin is being sailed today as a possible venue for the Western Region Championships to take place this weekend, Jan. 5-6. I will have a full ice report with video and pictures by late afternoon. At this point, no other good possibilities have been identified, though anything else served up will still be considered. Send any other reports ASAP. Recent snow events have taken out, for now, the lakes that were previously frozen. Many lakes in the southern portion of our region remain open, however, so more possibilities with the next cold weather/calm winds stretch. I hope to make a final call by end of day today. Stay tuned, and think ice!
Daniel Hearn
Western Region Rear Commodore
US 5352









