Ice Flyer 47453

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ICE FLYER MANUAL Copyright by ICE FLYER LLC.

version 1.0 Welcome! The ICE FLYER is an ice boat that allows you to use all of your windsurfing sails. Because the sail is behind you, there is unlimited visibility and the mid body position allows this boat to really corner. The easy use of any size windsurfing sail allows sailing in an extremely wide wind range. The boat is hard to beat for comfort, visibility and control. Ice boating is inherently dangerous; however, the ICE FLYER has many safety features. The aluminum mast brace and three stays forms a tripod ‘roll-bar’ which protects the skipper in the event of a tip over. In the tipped condition, you are only a couple of feet off the ice because of the mid body position. The sitting position allows for effective use of a seat restraint which we have found to be in general, safer. The seat restraint also keeps you in the boat if you ever hit that MONSTER gust and keeps you from falling out when tipped over (the seat restraint offers only limited protection in a high speed collision). The maneuverability and wind range capability of the ICE FLYER can encourage wild riding. However, it must be kept in mind at all times that the safety risk is high! This manual should be entirely read to understand the ICE FLYER and the associated risks. Seven items seem to be particularly important for safety: 1) don’t sail alone. If you get in trouble, you will be thankful for your friends; 2) don’t drink and sail; 3) don’t sail on unsafe ice; 4) rig the boat correctly, get instruction and make sure you have a safe area to stop; 5) stay sufficiently clear of ice fisherman for both courtesy and safety; 6) secure the skew in the steering and tip the boat on its side to park, 7) always wear a floatation life jacket and helmet and carry hand held ice claws. THINK SAFETY!!!!

WARNING! Risk of Injury, Death, Drowning! Any person using this equipment in any manner is personally responsible for learning the proper techniques involved, assumes all risks, and accepts full and complete responsibility for any and all damages or injury of any kind, including death, which may result from the use of this equipment. Ice Flyer

BOAT STORAGE Always store the ICE FLYER in a dry environment. Also, do not store where it will receive direct sunlight.

WARNING ABOUT SEAT BELTS We recommend the use of seat belts primarily because they make it safer for other people on the lake. The seat belts keep the pilot from getting thrown out of the boat. This is important because the ICE FLYER like many other ice boats, will go on its own with no pilot and then becomes a big safety risk. Also, in any sort of impact such as dropping runners through the ice, the seat belts have also proven to be significantly safer. However, if you go in the water, the seat belts become a liability as you must open them to get clear of the boat and out of the water. This is why we strongly recommend that you practice getting out of the seat belts with gloves on. If you do go in the water, it will be easier to get out of the seat belts if you first remove your gloves.

WEAR A HELMET AND A LIFE JACKET. CARRY HAND CLAWS. Never sail without a helmet approved for street legal motorcycle use. Also, wearing a coast guard approved floatation life jacket may save your life if you go in the water. Hand claws aid in crawling up on the ice and should always be carried. Hand claws are available at most stores which sell fishing goods.

RISKS TO YOUR WINDSURFING MAST Warning: mast over 50% carbon are not recommended and can break in a tip over. We recommend using a mast designed for wave sailing. While any mast works well for normal sailing, a high wind tip over particularly when there is deep snow can damage a weak mast. One good choice is the Powerex 3300 or 40 % carbon wave mast. It seems to be brutally strong and also provides great performance. Also, it would appear that the “mast stiffening” described in the appendix of this manual can make the mast significantly stronger. This involves taking the top portion of a separate mast and inserting it into the bottom portion of the mast that the sail is rigged on. This mast stiffening would also appear to make the boat faster.

DON’T LET THE SHEET ROPE LOOP GET TOO LOOSE Some settling / loosening of the sheet rope can be expected during sailing and is normal. However, if the sheet adjuster rope is tied incorrectly around the boom end, it can become very loose and a safety risk at least worth mentioning. Periodically inspect the sheet rope loop during sailing and if it becomes loose, re- tie and align the sheet rope system.

High wind sailing The ICE FLYER is unusually controllable in high winds which may lead pilots to use the boat in high winds. However, this is done entirely at the pilots risk and damage to the boat from sailing in high winds is not covered by the warrantee. Risk of injury, death or drowning may be higher sailing in high winds. Because of this, ICE FLYER recommends you do not sail in winds exceeding 25 mph.

Risks and Safety in Ice Boating Ice Conditions Ice conditions dramatically affect how safe ice boating is. A few things to watch for are: * thickness - make sure the ice thickness is at least 6 inches. Ice fisherman on the lake indicate that the local area is probably safe (but be careful, there are some ice fisherman who live on the edge). Be very cautious in areas where there are no ice fisherman. * Open areas - if there is one open area on a lake, there are almost for sure others. It is recommended that you do not sail on a lake which has any open areas even though the ice may be sufficiently thick in one area. * Rifts in the ice or compression cracks. Avoid these - there may be an open area between the ice plates on which an ice boat runner can catch. * Hidden dangers! It is not uncommon for there to a stream or current under ice even in a large body of water. The ice above the current is usually thinner.

Speed risks The ICE FLYER is capable of speeds in excess of 60 MPH. At these speeds, any type of collision can be very dangerous and reaction times are short.

The ICE FLYER has no brakes Stopping the ICE FLYER involves heading directly into the wind and unsheeting (letting the sheet rope out) the sail. Depending on the wind, ice conditions and speed you are traveling, it can take a long distance to stop. Make sure there is a safe area to stop before you go out! The forces which ultimately stop you are the headwind, resistance of the ice on the rails and once speed is under 10 mph, placing your feet over the edge of the boat. Gripping devices worn over the shoes make walking on ice safer and also can aid in coming to stop.

The ICE FLYER will go by itself The ICE FLYER is highly balanced and will sail by itself with nobody in the boat. The ICE FLYER has two mechanism to keep this situation from occurring. First, one of the main functions of the seat restraint is to keep the skipper from being bounced out of the ice boat when conditions get wild. Second, a very important process must ALWAYS be followed when parking the boat. This process is: 1. Do NOT rely on the front ice runner ‘parking brake’ to park the boat. It should be used ALONG WITH the items 2 through 4 below.

2. Skew the steering completely to one side or the other as if to put the boat into a hard turn. 3. Run the steering skew strap around both pedal push rods and secure the strap with the camlock buckle. The intention here is to keep the steering skewed. Make sure the skew strap is removed for sailing! 4. Tip the boat over on its side so that the sail is touching the ice. If the steering is strapped skewed and the boat is tipped on its side, it is very unlikely that the boat will upright itself. However, in very gusty, direction changing wind, the boat may upright but the steering skew will keep the boat from going very far before tipping over again to a stable condition.

Stay away from ice fisherman At the speeds the ICE FLYER is capable of, things happen very fast and reaction times may be inadequate. For both safety and courtesy, maintain a minimum distance of 50 yards from ice fisherman. If you must go closer than 50 yards from an ice fisherman, the sail should be completely detached from the ICE FLYER and the ice boat walked until sufficient distance has been achieved.

Using the seat belts Using the seat belts are partially for the benefit of others rather than the pilot of the ice boat. The primary purpose of the seat belt is to keep the pilot from being thrown from the boat when the conditions get wild. A loose ice boat with no pilot can be dangerous to other people on the lake since it can hit high speeds (and no one is driving). While in most cases, using the seat belts is safer to both the pilot and others, the seat belt can actually add to the risk if the boat goes into the water. We recommend using the seat belts because others safety should be the pilots primary concern. However, the pilot should be aware of the dangers of using seat belts and practice getting the belts off with gloved hands BEFORE this has to be done in an emergency situation.

Going into the water When an ice boat goes into open water, it will immediately stop. Because the sail is highly sheeted, the wind immediately tips the boat on its side. This means that you are going to get wet from head to toe and the water is dangerously cold! The ICE FLYER is designed to be very easy to get out of in this situation. However, the seat restraint must be opened. Open the seat restraint by pushing the ‘press’ button. It is a very good idea to practice releasing the seat restraint in a dry warm environment before you sail.

Release seat belt by pushing on the button. This may be easier without gloves on the hand.

The most important thing to do if you go into the water is obviously to get out of the water. Get help and the proper safety equipment to get the boat out of the water. Always carry hand claws to aid in getting out of the water and onto the ice. If the boat is completely in the water and it is windy, the sail may have to be detached at the mast bracket or it will impede getting the boat up-righted. The quick release camlock buckle on the mast brace strap makes this easy. Pulling the boat out of the water may require standing at the ice edge. Therefore, a dry suit with a life jacket and rope is essential. Once the boat is out of the water, the excess water in the body can be drained by tipping the rear of the boat up. It is simply best to be cautious and avoid going into the water!

Rigging the ICE FLYER The ICE FLYER sets up very quickly and requires only the runner nuts to be tightened with a wrench. If you leave the runners on the rear beam and steering assembly, no tools are required. It is important to set everything up correctly. The rigging steps are: 1. Set up the main fuselage pointed directly into the wind. This will make setting up the sail easier. 2. Attach rear cross beam to the main fuselage making sure that the fuselage body is between the two block guides on the rear cross beam. The decal arrow on the rear beam should be facing towards the front of the boat. The rear beam is held on with “sacrificial ropes” (the rear rope will break in an impact). Installing the beam is very easy but the following steps should be followed:

Step 1. Thread the rear 3/16 rope under the rear beam and up through the eye strap. Step 2. Loop the front 5/32 rope over the load bearing post, and through the rear rope twice (making a loop around the load bearing post. Step 3. Tighten (very tight) the front rope making sure that the rear beam is pulled snug to the fuselage.

Step 4. Once the front rope is tight, loop it back around the load bearing post one more time Step 5. Loop the front 5/32 rope through the stretch cord and then back around the load bearing post so that it comes back over the top. Step 6. Pull on the front 5/32 rope so that the stretch cord is pulled up into the load bearing post. Then cleat the front 5/32 rope. The rear beam should be held in place very snug at this point with no gaps between the beam and the fuselage. 3. Attach the front steering assembly. The front chock should have a washer at the bottom of the chock shaft as shown in the figure to the left. Once the shaft of the front chock shaft is through the sleeve in the front spring board, insert the 3/16 locking pin in the hole at the top of the shaft.

The pedal assembly can be moved to different locations on the steering track by pulling out the two lock pins and pulling the steering assembly out of the present guides and into the new set of guides. The figure below shows the steering assembly with the pins UNLOCKED in the right side of the figure and LOCKED in the left side of the figure.. This UNLOCKED position should only be used if the pedal assembly is to be removed or moved. Make sure the pins are LOCKED for sailing and also inspect all components associated with steering regularly.

4. Place the nylon end of the tripod brace into the hole on the top of the body seat area as shown in figure to the left. Attach the three wire stays.

Make sure that the pin in the shroud adjuster goes completely through the other side of the shroud and is in the indentation slot. It is generally easier to attach the two rear stays first. Then attach the front stay while applying downward pressure to the boat near where the front stay attaches. 5 Attach the stay spring to the front stay as shown below. Use the loop to pull the spring into place. Do not leave the spring attached to the stay for long periods of time when the boat is not being sailed.

6. Attach the three runners. This requires two 9/16 wrenches. The bolts should be just snug enough to keep the blade from rotating when the beam is lifted (but still allow rotation if forced). The reason for this is that if the blade can rotate, it is more likely to drop into larger holes in the ice.

7. Sheet rope Installation: There are two rope assemblies. The main and secondary sheet lines are the two attached long ropes. The sheet adjuster is the assembly which has pulleys attached to either end. The main sheet rope is the smaller diameter of the two ropes which are attached together. The larger diameter rope is the secondary sheet rope. One end of the secondary sheet rope attaches to the center of the main sheet rope.

Start the sheet set up process by running the free end of the secondary sheet rope through the two large pulleys at the boat rear (as shown to the left). Run the secondary sheet through the tube in the main fiberglass body to the front cockpit section and continue threading though the front guide pulley and then to the front ratchet pulley. Make sure the ratchet clicks when the sheet rope is pulled on by the skipper and locks when pulled on by the sail.

Continue threading the sheet rope as shown below.

Run the two ends of the main sheet rope to the ends of the rear beam. Make sure the ropes go THROUGH the two guide loops on the rear of the fiberglass body as shown in the figure below.

Thread each side of the main sheet though the pulley at the end of the rear plank, through the pulley at the end of the sheet adjuster rope and finally through the hole at the back of the rear beam. Be careful to thread this as shown below.

Finally, tie a knot at the end of the sheet rope. The sheet rope should be able to rotate in the hole. The knot should be tied in the exact same spot on both ends of the beam as this will aid sail alignment in a later step.

Attaching the Winsurfing Rig

8. You are now ready to attach the sail. Completely rig the windsurfing sail including sliding the mast in the sail mast sleeve, assembling the mast base and applying a generous amount of downhaul and assembling the boom. Rig a sail about the same size as if you were going windsurfing (see appendix 1). Place the Ice Flyer so that it is facing directly into the wind. Once the sail is completely rigged, install it on the Ice Flyer. The mast interface “goal post” can be permanently installed on the windsurfing mast base as shown below:

Begin by placing the sail mast base in the mast cradle on the ice flyer. Tip the sail forward to interface the mast brace. The boom should be adjusted high in the sail sleeve opening so that it is above the nylon portion of the mast helper brace.

Attach the mast to the mast brace. Use of a boom / mast protector is recommended when sailing in severe conditions. On the Ice Flyer, use the mast protector under the nylon mast brace (rather than the boom) as this is where the stress is.

Tie the mast to the boat using a portion of the downhaul rope so that the mast/base cannot lift out of the “cradle” as shown in the next figure.

Another trick for attaching the sail: If it is windy, the following trick may make it easier to get the sail on the boat: the boat should be facing directly into the wind. Tip the boat on its side and then connect the sail mast base to the Ice Flyer mast attachment. Either attach the mast brace strap as shown above and upright the boat or simply upright both the boat and sail at the same time and attach the mast with the boat in the upright position.

Aligning the sail 9. Aligning the Sail: The sheet adjuster rope (with the pulleys on each end) has a small strap sewn at its mid point. This is used to correctly align the sail. .

Run the sheet adjuster rope around the windsurfing boom end as shown above. The sheet adjuster should be tied to the boom end and not the sail. Pull on the sheet adjuster rope so that it puts several pounds of downward force on the boom end while keeping the “center strap” exactly at the end of the loop as shown in the above figure to the left. Then wrap the sheet adjuster rope around the boom end (on both sides of the sail outhaul rope) as shown in the figure to the upper right.

Make sure the sheet adjuster rope is centered on the boom by insuring that the strap (shown in the figure above) is exactly at the end of the loop. Pull down with 3 or 4 pounds of force and loop the sheet adjuster rope around the end of the boom several times to insure that it both stays at the center of the boom end and also wont come loose.

Rigging the Windsurfing sail Please check out the Ice Flyer web site for the most current information on sail rigging (under “reading room). The URL for the Ice Flyer web site is http://iceflyer.com Picking a sail size Use this only as a quick guide and understand that the year and model of sails can have a significant effect on the best sail size to use. Wind +/- 20% 3 – 20 mph 12 – 30 mph 20 – 35 mph

Approximate Sail Size +/- 20% 7.5 m**2 5.7 m**2 4.7 m**2

Sail Rigging Rig the sail according to the manufactures recommendations. Also, look for a “generic” rigging guide on Ice Flyer web site under “reading room”. The Ice Flyer web site is at http://iceflyer.com

Sailing the ICE FLYER Are you a pilot? The pedal steering on the ICE FLYER follows the ice boat and land yacht convention – if you push on the right pedal, the boat will go to the left. This is intuitive for most people and also is overall best for the application. However, it is different than the way an airplane works. Please keep this in mind when “flying” the ICE FLYER.

Getting going Don’t sail in high or gusty wind your first time out. Use an experienced ICE FLYER pilot to guide you through the experience. The first thing which should be done is to check that everything is rigged correctly. A checklist is: • • • • • • • •

Is everything mechanically sound - particularly the mast brace tripod-roll bar and the steering assembly? Is the rear beam correctly seated and the two attachment straps tightly secured? Are both locking pins of the pedal assembly completely ‘in’ and locked into the aluminum bar track? Are the steering push rod adjustment pins fully popped out securely fixing the rod lengths? Is the sheet loop line sufficiently tight (snug) at the boom end of the sail? Are you carrying hand held ice hooks? Have you practiced getting out of the seat restraint with gloves on? Insure that the sheet lines are rigged correctly and that the secondary sheet line doesn’t catch on anything during sail transitions.

Have a friend hold the boat while you get in and secure the seat restraint and check the sheeting mechanism. Start out on a broad reach.

In General... The ICE FLYER is very easy to sail. Turn by pushing on the foot pedals. It turns similar to if you had your feet on the handle bars of a bicycle. Pull on the sheet rope to go faster, let off on the sheet rope to go slower. In general, sail in a direction perpendicular to the direction the wind is blowing (although the boat is capable of sailing significantly up or down wind).

Your First Time Out.... In addition to the normal precautions which should be taken when ice boating, the first time ICE FLYER skipper should observe the following: • • • • •

Go out with an experienced ICE FLYER skipper who can the boat set up and give tips on stopping and where to sail. Give yourself a lot of room to turn. Start the turn when you think its still too early. A tack is easier than a jib. Don’t sail in high or gusty winds. Use a sail about 1 meter smaller than you would windsurfing (when you get used to the boat, you will want to use larger sails for a given wind condition).

Stopping Stopping is accomplished by unsheeting the sail, heading into the wind so that the sail provides no power and when the boat speed is under 10 mph, using your feet over the sides of the boat to finally stop. Traction devices worn over the shoes make stopping easier and also make walking on the ice safer. The distance to stop varies widely depending on wind, ice and speed so anticipate stopping and give yourself plenty of room.

Tacks vs. Jibs When new to the sport, it is ‘less hairy’ doing a tack (turning into the wind) because you slow down in the turn. Also in high wind, you may appreciate the slower turn afforded by tacking. A down wind jib is a lot

more exciting because of the speed involved and the ‘G’ force during the turn. Hand holds are molded into the bottom of the boat on both sides. Use these during a turn. Either a tack or jib is easy to do and mostly involves simply steering the boat. In any case, the sail should be unsheeted during the turn to accommodate for the loss of speed when coming out of the turn. If the sail is not unsheeted, there is a risk of a windward rail lifting because of too much sheet in the lower apparent wind. If the rail does lift, simply let out on the sheet. Also, having less sheet when going slower actually improves on the acceleration of the ice boat.

Pushing the speed limit Also see the appendix on sail fine tuning. Some good advice for going fast is to turn the main block ratchet OFF. This is the large ratchet block and will be directly “overhead” when sitting in the boat and is easily reached while sailing for turning the ratchet on and off. Turning the ratchet off allows the pilot to “feel” the power in the sail and really optimize for speed. It is easier and more comfortable to sail with the ratchet on however. In general, you may wish to sail with the ratchet off in lighter winds and turn it on in higher winds. Just as in windsurfing, a speed oriented/tuned race sail is going to be fastest however any sail will provide exciting performance. The trick in maximizing speed and acceleration seems to be tuning the sail correctly for the conditions and getting the right sail sheet for the apparent wind. If you are going fast and your apparent wind is close to from the front, the sail should be highly sheeted. If you are going slower, the sail needs to be sheeted out to give better acceleration. In fact, a boat with less sheet may a boat with more sheet if both are moving slowly. Increase the sheet as boat speed increases. The biggest mistake beginners usually make is oversheeting which stalls the sail and keeps you from accelerating. In light winds, you may need to push the boat in order to generate some “apparent wind” and get going. In general, the boat must be going at least 1/3 of the wind speed in order for the sail to operate efficiently. You go fast by always ‘feeling’ for and maximizing acceleration. One trick to finding the best acceleration is a slight ‘pumping’ on the sail with the sheet and feeling acceleration during the pumping. If the boat accelerates when the sheet is let out, you are probably oversheeted and should let out slightly on the sheet. However, if the boat accelerates when the sheet is pulled, you probably should increase the sheet.

Tuning the windsurfing sail A flat sail has a great top end but less power for acceleration. A fuller sail has more ‘pulling’ power but has less top end. A good windsurfing sail rigged normally must have enough power to get you over the planning ‘hump’ but still have a very respectable top end on the water. On ice, you don’t have to get on a plane - you start out low drag - so in general, the sails should be rigged flatter – but not much flatter. If ice conditions are good resulting in very little drag, a sail rigged on the flat side will be faster. On the other hand, if conditions produce a little more drag on the rails (such as spring slush), a sail rigged fuller for more power may be faster. Also, if the wind is light for a given sail size, making the sail fuller will be faster The fullness of the sail is controlled by downhaul of the sail and the outhaul of the sail (downhaul pulls on the bottom of the sail - outhaul pulls on the sail from the rear of the boom). In general, the more downhaul the flatter the sail. And to get the sort of downhaul required, a 4:1 pulley on the downhaul line and a hefty pull is required. A real flat sail will have a loose leach - the top portion of the sail will look loose and floppy. In general: •

Make sure the sail has enough downhaul. If a sail has insufficient downhaul, it will have poor acceleration and top end

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In light conditions, use less outhaul, in windier conditions, use more outhaul. The best option is to implement an adjustable outhaul – see the ICE FLYER web site under “The Reading Room”.

Runner blade discussion and maintenance In most conditions sharp blades will be faster. In the slushy ice common in late winter, dull blades sometimes are faster and still track fine. In general, you will need to sharpen quite often early winter when the ice is hard and less often or not at all as the season progresses and the ice softens. Many ice boaters use a jig and a belt sander (3 inch for example) for sharpening rails. An example of a simple to build jig is shown below (designed by John Karle): Note: if you don’t use a jig for sharpening the runners, they will tend to get “rounded” since only the edge gets sharpened. You can sharpen the runners while they are in the chocks in a pinch but in general, a jig should be used. Use a fine grit sandpaper with the belt sander until you are comfortable with heavier grit’s. Iteratively sand one side of the blades and then swap blades to sand the other side. When sharpening runners, be careful to sand both sides evenly and also take care to preserve the approximately 8 thousands crown on the runner. Keep the pressure light and count the es. Sand only parallel with the blade. Smooth is fast. Never sand ‘cross’ to the blade edge as this puts minute ridges in the blade which can be You may want to use a sharpening stone to give a smooth finish after using the belt sander. Also, round the two ends of the runner when your done sharpening. Going forward, it helps in going over minor bumps in the ice. Going backwards, it helps to keep the runners from grabbing when you are simply pushing the boat around. Within minutes of completing sharpening, make sure to wipe and oil the blades or they may rust. Some people will apply a graphite ‘paint’ to the runners so that snow and ice will not stick. Other people simply spray ‘PAM’ or equivalent to the runners each time they sail. Finally, if you don’t have access to a belt sander, a large sharpening stone and oil can be used. This can require a fair amount of elbow grease but this method is less prone to making damaging mistakes. All the tips associated with belt sanding still apply.

Maintenance • • • • • •

Sharpen blades when rear end begins to ‘spin out’ or front doesn’t turn as sharp Check all components of steering for wear or fatigue Re-paint the steel components of the steering assembly when needed. Lubricate the moving components of the steering assembly. Use bicycle grease or equivalent for the pedals and pins. Use WD-40 for the steering push rods. Check all components of the mast brace tripod, wire stays and quick connects for wear or fatigue. Replace any component, which shows signs of wear. Check sheeting ropes and system to insure that the sheet ropes are not frayed or damaged.

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Caution - if the sheet ropes are ever replaced, use rope with equivalent construction and the following dimensions: * secondary sheet 12 foot 10 inches length of 8mm (5/16) (this is the sheet rope the skipper holds on to) * main sheet rope 18 foot of 4 - 5 mm (3/16) VLS Pelican boat rope * Sleeve in 11/16 climbers ‘tape” 4 inch in length * adjuster sheet rope - 14 foot of 4 or 5 mm (3/16) Scratches in the fiberglass can normally be removed by sanding with 600 grit wet or dry sandpaper and then using rubbing compound with a soft cotton rag You may want to apply a high quality marine varnish such as Z Spar Captains Varnish to the fiberglass covered wood beams (do not apply this to the fiberglass main body). Check EVERYTHING if the boat has tipped over in high wind!