Season ends with IC37 North American

Savvy tourists have known for years that early fall is the best time to visit Newport. The summer crowds and humidity are significantly diminished. And those who time the visit just right are rewarded with the combination of sparkling, warm, sunny days, and crisp evenings.

The nearly 200 competitors flooding into town for the inaugural IC37 North Americans, however, are more focused on a different type of serendipity, the sort that happens when practiced boatspeed, solid tactics, and the benevolence of the wind gods combine to produce a winning scoreline in a major championship.

“We are looking forward to this event,” said John Brim, who will lead his Rima37 team into the regatta, “Our crew comes from many places, and everyone looks forward to getting together for a long weekend in Newport and one final event of the season.”

The IC37 North American Championship will be hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court on October 1-3 in Newport, RI. The regatta is the final event of the summer 2021 IC37 regatta calendar and will feature 17 Corinthian teams battling for top honors through eight scheduled races on Rhode Island Sound and Narragansett Bay.

Due to the weather-related cancellation of the New York Yacht Club One-Design Regatta in late August, the IC37 fleet hasn’t gathered on a starting line in more than two months. Every team will need to shake off the rust inherent in any long layoff plus a number of teams will also need to incorporate new crew members.

Brim’s Rima37 crew is one of the luckier ones, with all but one crew member from the team’s runner-up finish in the National Championship in July returning for this regatta. The skipper is hoping they can carry forward the lessons learned earlier in the season.

“We felt that our team really came together in the Nationals, especially the coordination between main trim, runners, and driver,” said Brim. “It seems to me that the leading boats in the IC37 class have become more refined in their trim and are sailing a little higher upwind without losing pace, and are also able to make small soaks downwind while still maintaining speed. It’s a game of very small adjustments at this point.”

Other teams to watch out for include Bill Ruh’s Pacific Yankee, the two-time national champions; Members Only, which finished third in July’s National Championship; and Commodore Christopher J. Culver’s Blazer II, which recently took fifth in the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup.

Event information – Race details – Entry list

Source: NYYC