Man tries to break the world ice sailing record

Wisconsin man aims for world speed record on ice  

(This story first appeared in Montana Living in 2005)

Dan Kampo is hoping to break the world iceboating record this winter on Canyon Ferry Reservoir near Helena. Kampo, from Wisconsin, is hoping to break the mark of 143 mph with the Miss Wisconsin, a long, sleek craft, with a red, white and blue mast.

The ice boat's hull is built out of aircraft tubing and covered with aircraft fabric.  He set up his boat on Canyon Ferry in early January, with the help of volunteers from Graymont Mining Co. in Townsend.

They provided a huge crane that lowered the boat into place, and helped him assemble it. The 42-foot mast, which dominates a dozen or so other, smaller ice boats at Canyon Ferry, is built out of Alaska Sitka spruce. The steel runners - two on the sides, one up front - are 54 and 40  inches long.  The boat has no brakes, only a drag parachute that dangles off the stern. It takes a crew to hold the boat back when the sail is raised. "As soon as the wind hits it, it starts to power up," Kampo said. "It doesn't have a sail. It has a wing."

The sail is not that big - only 84 square feet. Inside the cockpit of Miss Wisconsin, is a steering wheel controls the front runner. A winch between his legs controls the sail. At over 100 mph, Kampo said it's like "riding on a phonograph needle."  Kampo is from Winneconne, Wisc., and ice-sails on Lake Winnebago.  "We've got plenty of lakes in Wisconsin, but up here you've got less snow," he said. The've been trying to sail the boat for the last five years in Wisconsin, but they've gotten too much snow. "We checked it out. It looks like this is the place," Kampo said.

Kampo chose Canyon Ferry at the suggestion of Helena ice boater Keith Kallio, who teaches ice boating in the area. The lake is roughly five miles long, and is buffeted by strong winds almost every day. A wind speed of only 25 mph could net them 125 mph on ice.  That also means that Kampo doesn't have a lot of room to negotiate the craft on Canyon Ferry, if in fact he gets up over 125 mph. At 120 or 125  mph, it would take him only about two minutes to travel the distance of the lake. He figures he needs a half mile at either end to get up to speed and to turn the craft around.

Kampo has already gone 120 mph - on land - in the Miss Wisconsin boat at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, the same place were the sound barrier was first broken on land, Kampo said.  He prefers sailing the boat on ice. "It's nasty in the desert," he said. "It's dirty, hot and you stand around waiting for wind."  He's been a pilot for 35 years, and has a glider rating, both of which make him the likely candidate among his team members to pilot the boat. Kampo, 55, is driven to put an official speed record in the books - then probably retire. "I never thought it would take this long," he said. 

On the Web: www.miswislandiceyacht.com    

About the boat:  

Length 42 feet  Weight 1950 pounds  Plank length (beam) - 30 feet  

Height of mast from deck - 42 feet