AILSA CHANG, HOST:
OK, niche winter sports fans, what do you know about ice sailing?
DEB WHITEHORSE: You really know you're alive when you're on an iceboat at speed.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
That is Deb Whitehorse, an ice sailing organizer at the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club in Madison, Wisconsin.
CHANG: The boats look just like regular sailboats, but they're propped up on a cross plank that's equipped with boat-sized skates that glide across the ice.
WHITEHORSE: Iceboats attain very quick speeds and sail much faster than soft water boats.
CHANG: They can travel up to 80 miles per hour, according to Whitehorse. Within the ice sailing world, there's a fully developed insider lingo, like in many sports.
DETROW: Ice sailing is called hard water sailing, whereas every other type, that's called soft water sailing.
CHANG: They also have a name for all different types of ice conditions.
WHITEHORSE: Hollywood ice, black ice, snow ice, old ice, green ice. Once you're in the sport, you'll pick it up very quickly.
CHANG: Now, the best for smooth sailing is Hollywood ice.
DETROW: The sport started in the Netherlands and the Baltics. It made its way to North America in the late 1700s or early 1800s.
CHANG: Some of the first ice yacht clubs and races in the U.S. were on the Hudson River. But thanks to lakes that freeze over, good wind and a long winter season, Minnesota and Wisconsin have ideal ice sailing conditions.
DETROW: One of the North American championships is coming up this weekend, and Whitehorse says it's a real community event.
WHITEHORSE: It's a lot of fun. I mean, it's like a family reunion. You see your friends who are just as passionate about ice sailing as you are, so you can talk it 24/7 and no one will get bored.
CHANG: Despite its long history, ice sailing has never been an Olympic sport, although there have been attempts to elevate it to that tier in the past.
DETROW: So even though you won't see the sport in Italy next month, the winter games do return to the U.S. in 2034, so maybe.
CHANG: Maybe.
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