Happy first day of Spring! Time to start planning your IC37 Season.
Now it’s time to look forward to an epic season of IC37 sailing. In 2022, over the course of five Newport and three Fort Lauderdale events, we saw 32 teams and over 425 sailors racing. In the summer season, we had a different team on top of the podium at every event along with new National and North American Champions. With stats like that, we can honestly say that we are the most competitive big boat one-design fleet in North America.
For 2023, we already have our schedule confirmed for six Newport events and the return of the three winter series regattas in Fort Lauderdale. Everything will kick off June 3rd for a new 2-day coached regatta called the IC37 Spring Tune-Up Regatta followed the next weekend by the NYYC Annual Regatta. In July, the Sail Newport Regatta and Nationals will take place in back-to-back weekends. Then we hope you will join us in August for the Safe Harbor Race Weekend - which is a great time on and off the water. The Newport season will wrap up with the North American Championships in October when a new season winner will be crowned.
As 2023 is a Rolex Invitational Cup year, the namesake of our class name, we are expecting more teams to partake in the events as teams descend on Newport for the chance to prepare for the premiere international big boat regatta for teams of amateur sailors. Fun fact, more than 40 yacht clubs from 21 countries and all six inhabited continents have competed in at least one edition of the Invitational Cup. The 2023 edition of the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup will take place from Sept. 9 to 16.
In the NYYC Charter Fleet, a number of changes will take place this season; seasonal charter teams will be in the same boat all season and the entire fleet will get bottom paint similar to the private boats. North Sails will professionally tune the rigs across both the charter and owned boats to further equalize the fleet.
The Season Championship Trophy will also return in the same format as 2022 with the addition of an All-Corinthian Trophy. Teams wishing to qualify will have to sail 4 of the 5 summer races in Newport, 3 of which are the big three: Annual Regatta, US Nationals, and North Americans. A boat that sails with only Group 1 sailors onboard will qualify for the Corinthian Trophy provided they meet the regatta requirements.
Lastly, we know that finding crew or even on a boat to sail is the biggest challenge facing our fleet. We also know crew boards are sometimes ineffective, so we are launching a new initiative called IC37 Crew Connect. Sailors who want to put their hand up to race should fill out this form. These submissions are sent to our Class Coach, Moose McClintock, who will cross-reference your name with our database of more than 800 IC37 sailors to vet experience. If you have no IC37 experience, you can still apply and let us know your sailing resume. Owners and skippers looking for crew should contact Moose who can help match one of these sailors with you.
See you on the water!
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