Introducing the IC24

Richard Wooldbridge looks at the revamped J/24 that looks set to take the Caribbean by storm

One design racing enthusiasts will be pleased to hear that IC24s are now being built in the BVI.

What is an IC24? Well, the IC24 concept originated in St.Thomas where Chris Rosenberg identified the need for an affordable one design ‘open cockpit’ keelboat. Hurricane Marilyn had brutally taken out most of the St.Thomas YC racing fleet and keelboat racing had effectively ground to a halt. Chris worked with ace boat builder Morgan Avery to convert an old J/24 into a comfortable five person, user friendly ‘inter-club’ keelboat.

Briefly the entire cockpit, most of the deck and the lazarette are cut out of the old J/24. A new, rounded, open deck/cockpit is bonded in, hardware is relocated and ‘hey presto’ you have an IC24.

Strict class rules ensure that the boats are, as far as possible, identical in every way. There are 14 boats already in St.Thomas. Racing is regular, races are short and the competition is keen. Both Rolex and the BVI Spring have IC24 class racing on their own course. The Bitter End has commissioned two boats. Chris Rosenberg’s vision is to see healthy IC24 fleets dotted around the Caribbean.

In Tortola Chris Haycraft and Richard Wooldridge have embarked on an ambitious program to build 10 IC24s over the next 12 months. They plan to sell at least half of these to local sailors and have the entire fleet based on floating docks just inside the bulkhead at Nanny Cay Marina.

The decks are being laminated in the Nanny Cay yard by Chris Spencer of BVI Painters. Richard will be managing the ‘chop and build’ process in the TYS yard at Wickhams Cay. Hull #1 is already in the yard receiving the chop. As soon as 10 decks have been produced the mould will most likely be off to Puerto Rico where the fleet building process will continue.

Over 5200 J/24s have been built worldwide so ‘donor’ boats are relatively easy to find in the US. The big problem has been getting them down to the Islands. Fortunately Crowley Shipping has a regular ‘Ro Ro’ service into St.Thomas from Jacksonville, Florida and Port Elizabeth, NJ. They helped ship in the entire St.Thomas fleet and are now doing the same for Tortola.

Once the Tortola fleet is up and running Chris and Richard will form a local owners' association along the lines of the St.Thomas YC.

There will be ‘Inter Club’ regattas, local evening/weekend racing off Nanny Cay and regular meetings to organise it all. They also plan to offer five day ‘race charters’ under the name ‘Racing in Paradise’.

The concept is pretty simple. Groups will come to the BVI, rent a bareboat and turn up at Nanny Cay early on a Monday morning. Here they meet the Racing in Paradise team and are introduced to their IC24. After some short races off Nanny Cay the bareboats and IC24s head off to Norman Island. After some late afternoon racing the IC24s tie up alongside their mothership.

More racing in the morning then it’s off to Cooper. Then The Bitter End, Trellis Bay/Marina Cay and back to Nanny Cay for Friday afternoon. Bit of a party, prizegiving, video footage and that’s that’. The mothership has kept its bimini on and the ‘non racers’ have enjoyed a regular charter. Richard describes these charter weeks as a "cross between the HIHO and the ‘Interline’".

Sailing an IC24 is not unlike sailing a J/24. No surprises there. The big difference is comfort levels. The mainsheet has no track, there is nothing to bang into. The 100% jib is easily winched in on the windward side. The boat is rigged for a spinnaker but they are not used yet. The main reason is to keep it all simple and the racing close. With short downwind legs and a typical race only lasting 20 minutes you don’t really miss the spinnaker. There’s plenty of fun to be had sitting on the lead boat’s wind with your crew simply holding the jib out goosewinged. It was always Chris Rosenberg’s intention to use the IC24 as an entry-level race boat. You really don’t have to be Russell Coutts or Peter Holmberg to do well.

It certainly looks like the IC24 is here to stay. For well under $20,000 you have a durable custom built racing machine with very low maintenance and low annual costs. The appeal of identical boats, a growing fleet and races that are decided by getting a good start and picking the shifts is hard to beat.