Ice Yachting On The Navesink Is Here

RED BANK, NJ - You cannot make this stuff up: is it a coincidence that ice yachting season matched up perfectly this year with the coldest temperatures in years? Some would say it is good fortune required for the icy sport. Or maybe a healthy helping of fate. Climate going a little crazy?

Or maybe it is just January. Ice yachting on the Navesink River has been popular since the 1840s and is deeply ingrained in the town’s history: the borough’s official seal depicts an iceboat, according to a release about the sport. Sailing the Navesink is a tradition often spanning multiple generations of families.

Viewers can watch as the boats zip down the river at speeds exceeding 50 miles an hour, many of which are launched by the Monmouth Boat Club. Sometimes observers an get a glance at Rocket, the Navesink’s famed ice boat.

After a recent 10-year-long restoration, the 50-foot-long boat whch was first launched in the 1880s, remains a staple of the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club.

Ice boating or yachting on the Navesink River is a seasonal favorite. Photograph by Boglarka Bodnar/Associated Press.