Dec. 9, 2001 – The easy-to-sail nature of the IC-24 proved itself this weekend when Tortola's Robbie Hirst stepped aboard one of the unique-design vessels for the first time Saturday and ultimately skippered it to a first-place finish in the first-ever IC-24 Invitational Regatta at the St. Thomas Yacht Club.
"It's comfortable and user friendly but still competitive, and it was close racing," Hirst, who shared skipper duties with brother Michael Hirst, said. "The key to our win was consistency. We were always in the top three."
Twelve teams of five sailors each competed in six IC-24s in a total of eight races during the Saturday-Sunday event. "This was our first invitational regatta, and we invited teams from St. Croix and Tortola to participate," Chris Rosenberg said. He and boat-builder Morgan Avery were the brains behind the IC-24 design.
The idea for the IC-24, or Inter-Club 24, came about a year and a half ago when STYC members pondered how to jump-start keelboat racing and instruction after successive hurricanes has decimated the sailing fleet. Essentially, the IC-24 has a Melges 24-style cockpit in a J/24 body. The IC has no spinnaker and the transom is closed. Stanchions are lower and are covered to make the cockpit more comfortable.
But comfort doesn't mean any less competitive, as near bumper-car mark roundings in the regatta proved.
Winds started out light and shifty but turned more blustery with squalls as the weekend progressed. "The challenge was to get a good start with the short courses," Rosenberg, who finished behind the Hirsts, said. The courses in Cowpet Bay were windward-leeward in design, with two roundings taking the fleet less than 20 minutes to complete.
"The boats were really fun. Chris Schreiber of St. Croix, who came in third overall, said. "Equal boats make good racing."
Rosenberg said the purpose of the event "was to get guest teams from other islands to see the boat and help push forward the idea of Inter Club racing. Ultimately, it would be great to see everyone travel to different islands for a few weekends each year and race in a series of one-design regattas."
The yacht club will host anotner IC-24 invitational regatta Jan. 18-20. "There will be a few changes, like we'll figure out a way to have eliminations on Saturday and finals on Sunday to intensify the competition," Rosenberg said.
Robbie Hirst said he'll be back. "I think this is great and hope to get the design going on Tortola, preferable three to four, as having someone to race against is the whole idea," he said. An avid laser, J/24 and Melges 24 sailor, Hirst said he appreciated the broad appeal of the IC-24 and one-design racing. "I think it's the future."
