M32 Class road show hits the road

There are examples of high-end class racing in which just enough boats were sold to provide elite pro-level competition as long as everyone shows up at the same place and time. Fitting this description in the USA is the M32 Class.

During the winter months, the hub of activity is Miami on Biscayne Bay, with up to ten catamarans competing in the 2022 M32 Miami Winter Series for three events (see photos). Their base was the Shake-A-Leg facility in Coconut Grove in which M32 class members made a 6-figure donation.

The American fleet is now relocating north for the 3-event Midtown Cup ending with the North American Championship in Newport, RI. The racing starts in June and the class will be hosted by the Midtown Racing Club, with its unique downtown Newport venue that’s within crawling distance to Midtown Oyster Bar.

The schedule is set so the USA fleet will ship out following the final event to meet up with the European boats at the 2022 M32 World Championship to be held October 3-9 in Cascais, Portugal.

Taking a page from the one design class playbook, the majority of the USA members got their feet wet in the class via the M32 demo boat, with Jakob Wilson leading the M32 Academy and demo boat program.

“We have a well-developed program which transits keelboat sailors to multihull sailors,” explained Wilson. “A four-person sportboat team, typically J/70 or Melges 24, shows up for a 2-3 days clinic. With the focus on the safety and the essentials of the M32 and multi-hull sailing, we can during a weekend get sailors, owners, and teams up to speed to compete on the M32 series.”