Hey everbody,
I have this idea and am wondering if it would work.The idea is putting ski's on an ice boat so I can fly around on land during winter instead of on ice.Is this posible?Has anybody ellse tried it?Do any of you have any ideas?Thanks in advance. Ike

Ive heard of people putting skis on ice boats but Im guessing the results are somewhat marginal. When the sail loads up, it puts both a big down load and a big side load on the downwind runner and ice is very good at handling this load since there is little drag penalty for the down force and it helps keep the runner from sliding sideways and the forward drag is also small. I would think in snow, the boat would "crab" a lot due to side slip of the rear skis and just would get up much speed.

The best thing Ive seen on snow are kites and snowboards and to some extent its because of the upwards lift of the kite. You have to be willing to put up with what is looking like a high safety risk because you can become unintentionally airboarn and the ground or ice below isnt forgiving like water. But were all aparantly willing to put up with some safety risk as an ice boat screaming around on a plate of ice at really high speeds seems like a good idea to us..

My friend tried it and the ski's would sink in the snow and I guess you can figure out the rest of the problem.I figures out ski's don't work but maybe snow boards or snow mobile ski's.If none of those work the last resort would be waters ski's. Ike

Check this site, the guy did it!

http://iquebec.ifrance.com/kamotik/

I tried the skis with minimal success last year got a few good rides just after a snow fall and shortly there after freezing rain the skis kept the boat on top of the crust and once you got some speed up it dident break through but when it did it was exciting
it was a lot of effort but a ride is a ride.

Brian
Roblin Lake