THE DANISH SKATE-SAIL. 
When the ice closes the Baltic ports, the 
pilots and sailors of the island of Amager, 
opposite Copenhagen, devote a part of their 
enforced leisure to ice-boating and skate-sail- 
ing. Little attention has been paid to the lat- 
ter sport in this country, but in Canada a 
skate-sail has been in use, — to manage which, 
however, two skaters are necessary. It is a 
bungling contrivance, and lacks that yacht 
FIG. I. — DIAGRAM OF THE SAIL. 
and clipper-like trimness which is always the 
pride of a sailor whether on the ice or on the 
water. This objection cannot be urged against 
the Danish rig, which, under sail, has a decid- 
edly rakish aspect. Moreover, in handling it 
there is no need of consulting with another 
man, as with the Canadian sail, when you wish 
to "luff" or "square away" before the wind. 
With the Danish rig you are boat, sail, cap- 
tain, and crew, all in one. It will lay within 
five points of the wind, and any evolution 
which an ice-boat or yacht can perform, the 
skate-sailor can also execute, in less time, in less 
space, and with equal grace. Although this 
sail can be managed by any boy large enough 
to skate, there is sport enough in using it 
to afford excitement for a strong man, whose 
skill will be taxed in keeping the sail " ship- 
shape" and in acquiring the greatest speed 
possible under given conditions. Some falls 
will naturally occur, but I have never heard 
of a serious accident to a skate-sailor. When 
he does fall, it is generally backward, which 
means against the wind, the sail thus helping 
to let him down easily. If he loses his balance 
while under great headway, owing to the high 
velocity, he will strike the ice at a more or less 
obtuse angle, sliding down easily instead of fall- 
ing with star-making directness. The sensation 
when going at full speed is peculiar. At first, 
you feel that you have lost your hold on the 
earth, and your whole attention is drawn down- 
ward toward your skates ; you wish they were 
heavier, so as to afford more ballast. But 
soon you gain confidence, a feeling of secur- 
ity takes possession of you, and if the ice is 
favorable and the road clear, you will attain 
what must be very similar to the sensation 
of flying. You seem scarcely to touch the 
ice, which appears streaked. Now you must 
keep your ankles stiff, but the rest of the 
body must be held easily poised and under 
ready control. 
Simplicity of mechanism is the most no- 
ticeable feature of the Danish skate-sail, whose 
parts and dimensions are indicated by the 
diagram ^Figure i). For the material of the 
sail, use hght cotton duck or heavy drilling. 
Fancy patterns of the cloth commonly used 
for awnings may be used ^vith picturesque 
effect, such as may be seen in the sails of 
the small craft of Mediterranean ports. The 
sail is cut like a " square rigger's " lower 
sail and top-sail, the two being in one piece. 
The diagram gives the 
dimensions of a sail for 
a man who carries one 
hundred and forty pounds 
of ballast under his jack- 
et. But the sail can be 
made smaller or larger in 
proportion to the weight 
and strength of the wear- 
er. The sail here indi- 
cated is seven feet wide 
at the bottom ; it tapers 
slightly to a width of six 
feet two inches at the 
main or shoulder yard, 
and to a width of five 
feet ten inches at the top- 
sail-yard. The height of 
the sail above the shoul- 
der-yard is two feet, and 
the depth below the 
shoulder-yard is three feet 
eight inches. The sail 
should have a hem an 
inch wide at the edges, 
and square laps at the 
lower comers, to which 
are fastened the ends of 
FIG. 2. — BEFORE THE WIND, 
UNDER FULL SAIL. 
