Sweet… IC-37 till New York Yacht Club

Mark Mills är ju en av mina favoritdesigners. Kanske inte alltid sportigt och innovativt, men ofta toksnyggt och balanaserat.

När NYYC väljer bland 19 designer, så känns 37 fot sportig båt helt rätt. ClubSwan 42 blev ju en ganska maffig båt, som var svårt att semestra i för ett pensionerat par :-) Nu har man tagit konsekvensernam, och det blir en ren kappseglingsbåt.

Skall bli kul att följa.

Mills Design Chosen for New York Yacht Club One Design

IC-37 for the New York Yacht Club

The New York Yacht Club has selected Mills Design to draw a 37’ high performance racer to form the fleet for the Club’s flagship Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup in 2019. The first 20 will be owned and maintained by the Club, which looks forward to high quality fleet racing in a strict One Design class.

“To ensure the future of this great event, the Club decided to build its own fleet of raceboats. From 19 submissions from top yacht designers around the globe, we have selected a 37-footer drawn by Mark Mills. We think it’s the perfect choice to carry this regatta forward and build upon the substantial legacy established by the Swan 42.” explained Commodore Philip A. Lotz.

The Club had a vision for a high performance One Design that embraces high quality fleet racing, encourages the widest range of participation, and will keep costs managed in a way that ensures the largest uptake. “We were overwhelmed with the response to our initial request for proposals,” says NYYC Sailing Committee Chair Paul M. Zabetakis, “We feel that’s a strong indication that there’s an opportunity in sailing for the next great one-design class. While our primary goal is to create a boat that will sustain the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup well into the future, we also hope that the momentum provided by the Club’s investment will establish a class that will reinvigorate a general interest in Corinthian yachting in larger boats.”

The new design, with the working title of IC-37, is a dedicated raceboat with a flush deck, open cockpit, and square top main reflecting the latest developments from Grand Prix inshore racing. It has been drawn from the outset with an emphasis on series production to manage costs and ensure every boat meets strict class tolerances. “It’s definitely a planing downwind design,” says Mills, “We tried to find a displacement that produces that outcome, but still provides a boat you can build within the cost envelope and doesn’t leave you lacking stability going upwind. It will be an exciting boat to sail.”

While the class rules are a work in progress, the Club is committed to sustaining the amateur focus of the Invitational Cup and promoting the inclusion of women and youth sailors. “One of the goals is to accommodate a wide range of ages of both genders,” says Mills. “I would like to see a fleet with a greater breadth and depth of competitors than other high performance One Designs have been able to attract, to ensure the best possible experience for the sailors, and as a result the best class. “

Mills Design entered the competition as a team with regular R&D partners KND-Sailing Performance, and SDK Structures producing the engineering. This team approach produces the involvement of leaders in each speciality, and allows the greatest integration of their contributions to the design from the outset. Dimitri Nicolopoulos from KND summed up the team response to the award of this ninth One Design for the Club in more than a hundred years: “Being in a position to contribute to a legacy of designs from the drawing tables of Nathanael Herreshoff, Olin Stephens, and Doug Peterson is something really special. We’ll do our best to modestly try and walk in their footsteps.”