This article, written by Bob Dill, (designer and builder of the Iron Duck, the previous land record holder) sheds some light on the history of previous ice speed claims and the reality behind them.

"With the next iceboating season coming to life I would like to bring up an issue that has held back some aspects of our sport for far too long a time.  Iceboating has a long history of speed claims that are well beyond physical possibility.  In spite of this, they are still widely thought of as the top speeds achieved on ice.  As with most tall tales, the specifics behind these claims are largely lost to antiquity.  They appear to be primarily stories told at the yacht club bar rather than anything resembling a scientific attempt to assess yacht speed.  While these claims are a highlight of the rich folklore of the sport they have effectively inhibited serious efforts to explore the limits of iceboat top speed for 70 years.  It is time to move beyond these myths and find out how fast we can go on ice.

Over the past 15 years using radar and GPSs we have gained a realistic idea of top speeds on ice.  Skeeters, as will be no surprise, are fastest and most efficient.  In racing trim, they have top speeds in the low to mid 80 mph range.  Plausible higher speeds have been reported but the data consists of recollections of speeds read on a GPS screen while underway with no independent corroboration.  As with most iceboats, Skeeters achieve very near their fastest speeds in winds in the upper teens and do not go significantly faster in higher winds.  They are capable of sailing 8 to 10 times the wind speed in steady light wind on perfect ice.
So what about these claims of yesteryear?  They were mostly made before 1940 and involve a few large stern steerers that were the hot racing boats of their day.  Looking at three of the better-known claims will illustrate how outlandish these claims are.  I have attempted to present a compelling case without getting too deeply into the analysis of empirical data and the physics of sailing at high speeds.  As mentioned above, I believe the main issue is that we have been confusing boastful claims among friends for scientifically valid measurements of top yacht speeds.

The 1938 claim of 143 mph is the most famous.  It appeared in the 'Guinness Book of World Records' as follows: “Fastest Speed, Ice:  The fastest speed officially recorded is 143 mph, by John D. Buckstaff in a Class A Stern-Steerer on Lake Winnebago, WI in 1938.  Such a speed is possible in a wind of 72 mph.”
The second sentence appears to be a statement of the ratio of wind speed to boat speed rather than a statement of the wind speed at the time.  The ratio itself is about correct for these yachts in wind speeds in the 25-30 mph range.  I believe this sentence was an answer to the second question I usually get when asked about top speeds:  ‘How much wind did it take?’.  The answer given suggests to me that the person providing the information to Guinness did not entirely believe the first statement of the claim.

Nonetheless, the overall claim is usually interpreted to mean that the Debutant went 143 mph in 72 mph winds so lets look at that.  For a man to simply stand on the ice in 72 mph wind would be no small task.  Hoisting huge canvas sails and having them survive the severe flogging they would receive would be even less plausible.  If that was managed, there would be 600 lb of drag force trying to push the yacht backwards.  This effectively eliminates any capability of sailing to weather.  If the boat is somehow gotten into a deep downwind tack, the laws of physics that clearly apply to other iceboats will limit its top speed to about 40 mph faster than the wind speed, a long way from 143.  After the run, it is hard to see how it could round up and stop.  At every step of the way, sailing in this much wind in such an over canvassed boat is preposterous.  The only plausible outcome for any normally configured racing boat (modern or historic) trying to sail in 70 mph winds is destruction of the boat. On top of all that, in case you are wondering, in the last 10 years in Oshkosh the peak sustained winter winds were 34 mph and the peak gust was 46.  That is not to say that more severe winds don’t occur, the highest winter wind record I found was 69 mph but the statistical likelihood of 72 mph is extremely small, let alone the likelihood someone would actually be brave/dumb enough to try to sail in it.

The 'Guinness Book of World Records' has a reputation as the definitive source of information on world records.  In almost all cases this reputation is well deserved.   It was conceived out of a disagreement in a pub about what game birds flew the fastest.  The book was created to settle similar disputes in pubs and was first published in 1955.  I am sure it has made a great contribution to minimizing endless arguments in pubs and bars around the world and it has been wildly successful for the publishers. It is also clear that they depend on their sources to verify the correctness of much of the information.  In most cases the sources are accurate but in this case, a bar story has gone full circle, allowing a frivolous claim to become ‘truth’.

In defense of John Buckstaff and other claimants of that era, there were no easy ways to measure yacht speeds so neither he nor the iceboating public had a realistic idea of true top speeds.  By 1938 John had a number of previous claims to his name and the Debutant was regularly winning races.  He had beaten Wolverine, a previous 132 mph world record claimant (see below).  With this as background it is easy to imagine that, in a conversation with friends at the clubhouse bar, 143 mph would not sound so unreasonable.  Lastly, I have little doubt that 60 mph in one of these monstrous boats in 25+ mph wind, felt like every bit of 143 mph.  With the ever present prospect of getting heaved violently out of the boat, I am sure they felt they were moving VERY fast indeed.

The core claim for the yacht Wolverine reads: ‘sailing at the rate of 132 M.P.H. over a twenty-mile course’ (see http://www.gtiyc.com/historyoficeboating/).  Wolverine was a Class A stern steerer who held the Steward International Cup for a period until 1922 when Debutant took possession of the cup.  If the claim was true, an average speed over 20 miles most likely included top speeds well over Buckstaff’s 143 mph.

Not fast enough?  The 1908 claim of 140 mph for Clarel on the Shrewsbury River in New Jersey as recounted in Calhoun Smith’s book 'Ice Boating' is:  “…she made the distance of 1.2 miles in 25 seconds, which will figure out to 140 mph.”  As Calhoun points out, it actually it figures out to 172.8 mph.  Clarel had the hot set up of the day: a lateen rig and cotton sails but it was hardly up to the standards of the apparently slower Wolverine or Debutant.   If the claim had been that it took Clarel one minute, twenty five seconds to traverse 1.2 miles the resulting 51 mph would be an impressive top speed for a boat of this design and not beyond the realm of possibility.   

Where does that leave us?  If you are a true believer in the old folklore, I apologize for ruffling the feathers of current and past heroes.   Anyone who has sailed a big stern steerer hard in 25+ mph winds is a skilled and brave person and has my utmost respect.  However, for those of us trying to explore what is really possible under sail, we need to establish a realistic baseline and get on with our work.  I suggest 80 mph.  It is a nice round number and one that I expect we can agree is achievable by modern Skeeters and maybe by some other classes.  With modern logging GPSs we can now get detailed and accurate data (see GPS Speedsurfing.com for information on excellent  equipment and software).  If people want to make claims, proper ratification is needed to avoid repeating the excesses of the past.  The best ratification process is the NALSA system (see NALSA.org).  The system is more scientifically sound than many and accommodates the special considerations needed for ice particularly well.

I look forward to your comments, views, and, most of all, data.

Bob"