Hi Martin,
maybe some do and do not mention it!!
Best option is the one Ian adopts - when the ice forms, retire the boats for a few months!!
Ian is dead right on my logic behind the cold weather set up, and also there is some Methanol burning history and experience behind it too.
Think of it like this, if you are driving your car, and you see the engine temperature has not moved as your car has only gone half a mile or so down the road, you are hopefully not going to floor the throttle and thrash the engine, if you did do this, I imagine that you would anticipate trouble in the not too distant future.
Same with the model engines. More so on the Methanol as the nitro does not burn unless the engine is hot enough.
Comes down to mechanical sympathy.
Glenn