He sounds like a fun guy, but I don't think articles like that would be great for modernising the perception of the sport or increasing participation these days!
IC37 by Melges, a new era of One Design racing in North America?
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European Bloke
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EastCoastHustle
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They do feel slow in light air but not awful. There’s very little rocker so it is difficult to get the ass out of the water. I was actually referring to the upper wind ranges. It feels like it should “pop” earlier than it does. I haven’t helmed one yet so I’m not sure how much of that is the driver.
EastCoastHustle
Member
This is extremely true. NYYC makes it extremely affordable for young members to join, substantially cheaper than any of the other more prominent clubs and even a lot of local clubs. There are definitely plenty of big money guys at the club but there are thousands of members and plenty do not fall into that “rich” category.
With how easy they’ve made it for youth to join, I’m pretty surprised they haven’t made a club owned boat available to a youth or young adult team. Seems like an easy win for the class and the club.
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jackolantern
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Agree. The kites are too small and keep them from popping up IMO
There was a five figure young member discount this year……so long as almost everyone else on the boat is also a NYYC young member.
sailingbeme
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There is or was one for sale on yachtworld a while back. It was out of bayview. Im to lazy to look, or care to see how it did in mac races or other regatta's.
I was excited about the IC37 when announced and was hoping critical mass would build on the Great Lakes. Having one jib and one spinnaker is really appealing to me especially since they were the same sail design for everyone. I was crewing on a J/111 and thought it was silly that you had 2-3 jibs and 2-3 spinnakers of roughly the same size. You double the sail costs for everyone to go a couple percent faster in broader conditions. Why didn't the J/111 go with the J/105 rules of 1 jib and 1 spinnaker? However, critical mass for the IC37 didn't develop on the Great Lakes and the couple boats that were on the lakes had an entirely different set of sails for offshore sailing so I went ahead and bought the J/111 as I would rather be racing one design in the Mackinac races than handicap. Maybe one day I will get some buddies together to charter a IC37 for a NYYC event, but it may not be an easy boat to step into without a lot of practice. With their big mains and runners, it does seem like a boat that requires time in the boat to get it dialed in. Chartering costs aren't cheap but if you factor in everything, chartering on a per race basis is cheaper than owning. I think it is a good model for certain people and applaud NYYC efforts in putting it on. I just think if the boat were about 3 feet shorter, costs and loads and crew requirements would be 30% less making it somewhat more accessible and certainly easier to sail for smaller sailors (i.e. females and youth) and just as much fun. Nine crew is a lot.
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Wait, what's the issue with the J/70 class? Forgive me for being naive, I've never been to any of the big J/70 regattas. I do crew on a local boat, and the only negative thing I have to say about the J/70 is that it could really do without those two winches.
Seems like they got most things right. Sails aren't too crazy expensive for them, the sails seem to last reasonably well, and the boat is physically pretty manageable. Certainly a hell of a lot easier on a person's body than any of the scow classes, and I think a lot better than the J/80 was in that regard.
I mean, a jib is like $1800 for a J/70, and they don't seem particularly short-lived compared to any other jibs.
I kind of agree on the size thing. Things under 35 feet always seem a lot more manageable in terms of cost than things over 35 feet. The crew is the big killer though. Even if you make enough that affording new sails every race isn't a problem, organizing nine people's lives is a lot of work. Hell, even maintaining a crew of five other people is a lot of work. I can definitely see the crew requirement putting a lot of people off.
Also, and this is just my opinion, the cost of sails is one of the biggest determining factors for how easy it is to get new and younger people into a class. An E-scow / J/70 is still pretty manageable, and an upper-middle-class person can afford a new jib every year and a new main every couple years without feeling like they're blowing too much of their income on sails. This is doubly true with used sails available.
When the only option to be even remotely competitive is to spend $30,000 on sails every year... that pushes a lot of people away. I know the boat is expensive (I heard something like $300k), but the higher the costs the smaller the pool of potential candidates is.
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jackolantern
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The fact that many many people will spend thousands of dollars a day on crew to race on a 21 foot boat.
It’s a 21 foot boat. 21 feet. If you need a professional to race a 21 foot boat, you’re losing the plot somewhere.
There are also plenty that don't,and it's a really fun boat to sail.
I love my J70, I like racing it, I like just going out to sail it with friends or family. I don't pay crew, and I don't have an issue with those that do.
Maybe having the pros there is not to everyone's tastes but I don't think it makes it a shitshow.
I guess I never realized that you were allowed to do that in the J/70 fleet. Mind you, any rules against doing so are pretty easy to circumvent. "I pay him to wax the boat" or whatever.
dogwatch
Super Anarchist
He'd be classed as a group 3 professional then. https://www.sailing.org/news/1018.php
(ii) managing, training, practicing, tuning, testing, maintaining or
otherwise preparing a boat, its crew, sails or equipment for
racing, and then competed on that boat, or in a team
competition, in a boat of the same team;
(ii) managing, training, practicing, tuning, testing, maintaining or
otherwise preparing a boat, its crew, sails or equipment for
racing, and then competed on that boat, or in a team
competition, in a boat of the same team;
$30k a year on a fish killer is a deal as compared to a few of the J70 budgets. $30k won’t even cover a week long regatta for some boats.
Somebody Else
a person of little consequence
For each of those $30k + J/70 campaigns there are hundredfold amateur teams, probably having more fun.
If talking about the class as a whole, your math is sort of close, but if you look at the really high end regattas, like a worlds, there’s probably 30 boats paying crew significant amounts, so it’s not a hundred fold difference.
Nothing wrong with paying people to sail, it’s just a different game.
Classes like scows are way more fun than a J70, and no one pays anyone to sail (or at least it’s not obvious).
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Back to the title of this thread, no, the IC 37 is not a new era in sailing. The North American builder retired and closed up shop. Haven’t heard of anyone acquiring those molds and building more boats. Is the builder in the UK (or was it some place in Europe) built any other boats?
sure it provides fun for those at NYYC who want to charter for a season, and the invitational is fun for those who compete, but by any other measure the IC 37 failed as a class. That said, I’d be pretty sure NYYC didn’t give a shit about building a class, why would they care? If you aren’t a member, basically you are pond scum is the way most NYYC members view the rest of the sailing community. I do rather enjoy drinks at their facility though, the Underhill’s are wonderful hosts.
The Canada’s Cup tried to hitch a ride with the IC 37, but that looks like a failed experiment. Class growth could have come from the Great Lakes as a result, but that looks dead now.
sure it provides fun for those at NYYC who want to charter for a season, and the invitational is fun for those who compete, but by any other measure the IC 37 failed as a class. That said, I’d be pretty sure NYYC didn’t give a shit about building a class, why would they care? If you aren’t a member, basically you are pond scum is the way most NYYC members view the rest of the sailing community. I do rather enjoy drinks at their facility though, the Underhill’s are wonderful hosts.
The Canada’s Cup tried to hitch a ride with the IC 37, but that looks like a failed experiment. Class growth could have come from the Great Lakes as a result, but that looks dead now.
