Caribbean IC24 catches Texas sailor's interest
By Carol Bareuther

Ready to round the windward buoy for the last time, in the last race of the IC24 Invitational Regatta hosted at the St. Thomas Yacht Club (STYC) in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Doyle Sherman and his Team Barefoot crew from the Rush Creek Yacht Club (RCYC) in Dallas, TX, battled 20 knots-plus of breeze, three- to five-foot swells and keen competition as they tried to make a tight mark rounding.

© Dean Barnes

The leeway was just too short, and the Texas team smacked stern to midship, disqualifying both themselves and the other visiting team from the Virgin Island of St. Croix. That was the bad news, especially since both boats were tied for second in a field of 12 teams. The good news is that Team Barefoot came so close to the winner's circle after stepping aboard an IC24—a modified J/24 design—for the first time only two days before the regatta. "It's a blast and a user-friendly design I'd like to take home," said Sherman.

The Virgin Islands/Texas connection

Last spring, Sherman, who is RCYC's auxiliary fleet captain, read an article about the modified J/24 design innovated by two sailors from the St. Thomas Yacht Club and immediately wanted to learn more. "We're a club that started in 1969 to promote one-design racing, but from a heyday of 30 J/24s in 1987, there's only three now that regularly race. The J/22s have taken over for cost reasons. It takes less crew and is easier to maintain," Sherman explained. The IC24 caught Sherman's attention for two reasons. First, "the club population is getting older, yet still wants to actively sail. This seemed like an easy design," he said. Second, a boat restoration career puts Sherman, known as the barefoot sailor professionally, in good position to make the design conversion from unused J/24 hulls. This is how he and St. Thomas' Chris Rosenberg, co-innovator of the IC24 along with boat builder Morgan Avery, first hooked up. "Chris was looking for project boats, and we communicated by cell phone and e-mail," Sherman said. "Ultimately, I packed up and shipped four J/24s down to St. Thomas. In doing so, I got to know Chris, and he invited us to test out the design by coming down to do a regatta." Interestingly, one of the J/24s from Texas was once owned by Paul Foerster, a RCYC member and the 470 Class silver medallist at the 2000 Olympics.

IC24 design

The idea for the IC24, or Inter-Club 24, began back in 2000 when STYC members pondered how to jump-start racing following the decimation of the sailing fleet after successive hurricanes. "We desperately needed a boat for club racing that was economical, fast, dependable and comfortable," explained Rosenberg. "And we wanted a design that could give rebirth to keelboat racing as well as promote inter-club competitions." As an avid Melges 24 sailor, Rosenberg naturally envisioned key aspects of this design, yet in less of a high performance form. "Basically, we've taken a Melges 24-style cockpit and put it in a J/24 body," he said. "There are around 3,000 J/24s on the U.S. mainland, of which only about four or five hundred are actually racing. We don't want to kill off the J/24, but with only one in six actually racing, we wanted to take some of the other hulls and actually do something with them." He added, "If you can pick up an old J/24 hull for, say $6,000, the conversion with re-decking and all brand new deck gear and rigging costs $7,000. You have a really competitive, exciting boat for just $13,000." In the new design, a used J/24 hull is fitted with a new Melges 24-style deck mold that is wider, has no traveler, and is capable of carrying five sailors. There is an inside track for a genoa, but no spinnaker or bow pulpit, and the transom is closed. "The stanchions are lower, and we put a cover on them to be more comfortable. The whole idea was to create a more comfortable cockpit," said boat builder Avery.

Comfortable and competitive

© Dean Barnes