Wild finale for IC37 Class season

Most continental sailing championships are a marathon, with numerous races spread out across three or more days, often with varying conditions. The 2024 IC37 North American Championship, however, was a sprint.

Held September 20-22, gale-force winds prevented any races from being completed on the first two days, with the fourth edition of the championship coming down to four windy races for the 21-boat fleet in Newport, RI.

“It was really windy out there, and it was super variable,” says Peter McClennen, skipper of Gamecock, which won the regatta by 7 points. “We were up [between Prudence and Hope islands] which is a very interesting place to race, where you have all the geography.

“For us, it was just be fast off the line. We tried to minimize maneuvers, and then when we get the kite up, go as fast as we can, hitting speeds of 16, 17 knots. It was absolutely fantastic.”

Steve Liebel’s New Wave finished second and Hannah Swett and Ben Kinney’s MO took third. Chris Lewis skippered Qubit to fourth while first-time IC37 skipper Patrick Shanahan finish fifth in a fleet of 21 boats.

The final day breeze on Narragansett Bay varied between 15 and 25 knots and moved around quite a bit, forcing the race committee to regularly adjust the course during races.

“Many times we rounded out of the top five,” says McClennen, “and then it was just a matter of staying connected with the puffs and going fast downwind. We had a number of new people on the boat this weekend, and so we had to quickly get them up to speed. So sometimes our rounding and sets were a little different, but it’s just great, great competition and great fun.”

The Gamecock program has a reputation among IC37 sailors for going out to practice in all conditions, even when the wind exceeds the class-mandated maximums for racing.

“Yeah, it’s comfort in the conditions, having seen them all, and then it’s also just always being fast,” says McClennen of the benefits of high-wind practice. “When it’s windy, you can’t get slow, ever. And this boat rewards teamwork. Our team just did an awesome job keeping the boat fast at all times.”

The IC37 North American Championship was the final event of the 2024 summer schedule. Winning the season title was Daniel Thielman’s Kuai team, which won the National Championship in July and took second in class in the Annual Regatta in June.

Forced into a comeback mode in multiple races at the North Americans, Kuai still managed a seventh overall to clinch the season title.

“We had a little more consistency with our crew this year,” says says Jen Canestra, who does bow for the team. “Last year, we had a different main trimmer every event, a different tactician every event. [This year] our main trimmer was with us all season, and we had a little more stability with our tacticians. The crew work matters. When you bring somebody new onto the boat, you’re always spending a day or two getting to know each other.

“It’s so competitive, and the racing is really top notch. The boats are so close together. And everyone is really friendly, and people are really interested in helping each other out and bringing the whole class up together. So it’s a really good class.”

The IC37 class was created by the New York Yacht Club to promote one-design competition for amateur sailors. The high-performance 37-foot keelboat was designed by Mark Mills, and strict class rules ensure the most-level playing field in big-boat sailing.

Details: https://nyyc.org/2024-ic37-north-american-championship

Peter McClennen’s Gamecock team

Daniel Thielman’s Kuai team

Source: NYYC