Successful second Winter Series has sailors ready for more

The second IC37 Winter Series wrapped up in Fort Lauderdale in March with the 2022 Midwinter Championship following the Lauderdale Cup in February and Fall Cup in November. Topping the podium in the end was Steve Liebel and Ray Wulff’s NEW WAVE, 13 points ahead of Peter McClennen’s GAMECOCK in second and Bob Hesse’s ZING in third.

McClennen’s crew won the first two events of the series but it was Liebel and Wullf’s successful final regatta that launched them to the top. “The racing was extremely competitive,” said Liebel. “The first regatta was decided by one point and the second regatta ended in a three-way tie for first with fourth place being only one point back.

The Midwinters in March was Liebel’s fourth regatta owning the boat and he attributes the constant improvement to crew work with each regatta. “We finally felt like our upwind and downwind modes were getting dialed in. With some good luck, we had a really solid final regatta to win the Winter Series.”

All three events were hosted by Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club. Jeff Ecklund, Race Chair, pulled all the pieces together to run a successful event both on and off the water.

“My goal was not just to coordinate everything from racing to socials, but keep my ears open to how we can make the experience better for all the sailors,” he said. “This winter season, we had some weather challenges between too much wind to not enough wind but the PRO and Race Management Team made some tough calls on and off the water. It seems the class was happy with the final decisions though”

Despite those few challenges, most of the sailing was conducted in 10-15 knot sea breezes with temperatures in the low 80s. Liebel even commented that he only had to put his gear on for only one of the 12 days of racing and practice.

On the overall logistics of the Winter Series and future plans, the NEW WAVE skipper added: “The reasonable and convenient storage and sailing from Pier 66 made everything very easy. Newport in the summer and Fort Lauderdale in the winter appear to be a perfect circuit for the IC37 class. I believe NYYC is purchasing trailers to move additional charter boats to Fort Lauderdale this fall. There is no reason we can’t have 15+ boats next year!”

Ecklund echoed that sentiment “Send more boats to Florida! Hopefully a lot more boats next year to appreciate what Fort Lauderdale has to offer both on and off the water. More boats will allow us to enhance all three events.”

Jim Wilson, Class President, added that there are already tentative dates for the Winter Series 2022/2023. “We have already secured the space and spoken with many owners planning to join who felt they missed out on the fun in Florida this year. So next winter is already shaping up to be bigger and better. The goal is to build on the momentum of the summer season up north right into the winter down south.”