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The Windjet team have identified several locations around the globe which provide good conditions for a speed record challenge. The initial testing of the Windjet ice variant was conducted in Alberta, Canada, where the reliable, strong and warm Chinook winds prevail, however finding the combination of smooth, snow-free ice, combined with strong reliable winds is the hardest challenge the Windjet team have to face. Therefore we always welcome suggestions from other ice sailors as to other potential record locations. Click here to make a suggestion, or to browse the ideas of other people click here.
The foothills of the Canadian Rockies in south western Alberta boast a large number of lakes and reservoirs suitable for sailing both on water in the summer and ice in winter. The extremely low temperatures ensure a thick ice coverage (up to 4 feet in some places by April) which reduces the risk of pressure ridges and cracks breaking up the ice and rendering the surface unusable. With daytime highs of about 0°C (32°F) and night time lows reaching -30°C (-22°F), it might at first seem a rather hostile location for setting a World Speed Record, however the Rockies provide a rather unique feature that directly lends itself to high speed ice sailing - the "Chinook". From the Indian for "Snow Eater", the Chinook is a warm wind that sails over the Rocky Mountains and sweeps across the Alberta foothills. The Chinook begins not in the Rockies but in the Pacific Ocean where a westerly wind begins to collect warm, moist air off the west coast of British Colombia. Before this wind hits the Rockies, it first encounters the Coastal Mountains of BC. This increase in altitude causes the air to condense and lose some of it's moisture as rain or snow. As the precipitation falls, great amounts of stored heat are released causing the resulting wind that descends the eastern slopes to be drier and warmer. By the time the wind has cleared the Rockies it has undergone this process three times resulting in a very dry, very warm wind which can increase the air temperature by 8°C to 10°C (46°F to 50°F) with a typical wind strength of 25 mph to 50 mph (40 km/h to 80 km/h), although winds approaching 100 mph (160 km/h) are not uncommon.
Thunder Bay, situated on the western shore of Lake Superior, was once the largest lake port in the world. The city is an agglomeration of two towns; Port Arthur to the north and Fort William in the south. Although it is exceptionally rare for Lake Superior to freeze in its entirety, the cold winters nearly always freeze the bay itself, which usually stays frozen until the icebreakers move in at the beginning of April to allow the shipping traffic to commence once again. Due to the sheer size of the Lake (the largest of the great lakes), ice is continually forming during the winter season which gives the Windjet craft the best possible chance of finding good ice upon which to run.
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