It’s one of those years in Orient!
One of those special, long-awaited years where Hallock’s Bay freezes over and members of the Orient Ice Yacht Club get to sail on their home ice.
“We remembered 11 years ago when we sailed, and then we remembered 2005 when we sailed, and 2026 will be forever in our memory about sailing in Orient,” says Mike Acebo, vice-commodore and admiral of the fleet of Orient Ice Yacht Club.
According to commodore Karen Sauvigne, sailors have been ice boating on Hallock’s Bay since the 1890s, starting with farmers passing time through the winter.
This year is extra special, however, because the bay hasn’t frozen over since 2015. As of Feb. 4, there were about 7 inches of ice all the way across, potentially permitting another week of ice boating, says Acero.
Acebo and Sauvigne were both introduced to the winter sport by former commodore Bob Reeves.
Acebo’s career in boat building brought him to Connecticut, where he built boats for three-time champion Dennis Conner to compete in the America’s Cup, and later to Greenport.
Reeves tapped into Acebo’s skillset, asking him to help build a fleet of J-12 ice boats with a group of men who were looking to try the winter pastime. After three years of work they had a fleet of eight, and Acebo distributed the building plans, spurring a total of 20.
“I built number 21, the last boat of the fleet, and then I raced that with the group,” says Acebo. “Bob Reeves would win one year’s championship and I’d win the next year and we kind of battled it out.”
Sauvigne, a seasoned soft water sailor, was invited to take Reeves boat out one cold day on Hallock’s Bay. She never looked back.
The Orient Ice Yacht Club’s mailing list has dozens of people who were patient with their home ice but hold true to tradition each New Year’s Day willing Hallock’s Bay to freeze.
“We throw as much ice as we can possibly get into Hallock’s Bay in the hope that we can freeze it,” says Sauvigne. “Which we haven’t ever succeeded at doing until this year.”
Now that they’re back on ice, about a dozen boats are out on cold windy mornings, taking advantage of the conditions.
Most boats used for the sport have three blades used for skating across ice and sails similar or identical to those used on soft water sailboats.
Skills are transferrable between the two sports.
“If you know how to catch the wind in a sail,” says Sauvigne, “you can sail an ice boat without ever knowing how to sail in fresh water, and you can sail in fresh water and never master ice boating. They’re not the same, but it’s definitely helpful, and most people I know that are ice boaters are sailors.”
Through the winter, ice boaters wear lots of layers — Sauvigne suggesting wool, mittens and windproof garments — but most importantly a helmet, as the boats travel nearly 40 to 50 miles per hour as the sails catch wind. It’s also advised that all sailors are equipped with ice picks for rescue if they fall into the water.
When Hallock’s Bay isn’t frozen, the club members can be found sailing in fresh water with a higher freezing point in Ronkonkoma, in Southold and in bays on the South Shore. Be sure to take advantage of this hard-to-come-by time when Hallock’s Bay is frozen to see the ice boaters in action.
“It feels like it’s a big community memory for people of the far East End,” says Sauvigne.
To learn more about ice boating on Hallock’s Bay or the Orient Ice Yacht Club, email Sauvigne at [email protected] and keep an eye out for the organization at the Greenport Maritime Festival.
