The unusual story of the Melges IC 37 to do “top speed” racing

A racing boat strictly for non-professionals. That could be the advertising slogan for the new Melges IC 37 that made its debut with a bang in the United States by winning Sailing World magazine’s prestigious award for the “Corinthian Boat of The Year” category. If then a new boat starts with twenty boats already purchased before it is even born, then the story becomes even more interesting and unusual.

HOW THE MELGES IC 37 WAS BORN
The Melges IC 37 project was born in 2017 when one of the world’s most famous yacht clubs, the New York Yacht Club, decides to retire the Swan 42 Clubs with which it organizes the Rolex Invitational Cup (we told you about it HERE), one of the most prestigious regattas in the world, and set out to find those who could guarantee him the A boat in the 11-meter range that is suitable for nonprofessional crews who want to have fun in high-level regattas. It must not cost too much but must be the best there is in sailing today. Most importantly, it must be suitable for non-professional sailors.

Design requests are sent to a select group of designers and builders. The choice of design is awarded to Ireland’s Mark Mills, the construction to America’s Westerly Marine. They are joined by Melges Performance Sailboat for management, class control and promotion, North Sails for sails, Harken for winches and rigging, and Southern Spars for mast. In short, the team is the best of the best in high-level sailing. In order to keep up with the 20 boats that must be ready by mid-2019, the British shipyard Fiber Mechanics is also involved.

Everything is designed for fun, high performance but no expensive excess. As an example, there are only three sails provided: mainsail, jib and gennaker. The construction is epoxy but without extremes, all weights from hull to deck and every bulkhead are checked by the Melges quality control team so that the weights are the same for all boats. That way all boats will be truly equal and no one will complain saying, but your boat goes more! “The boat is not built to be extreme,” says Andy Burdick of Melges. “It is built to be fun.”

The boat is nice and wide (3.64 m), with a nice, big, clean, clutter-free cockpit and a giant gennaker that must literally make her fly at the carrying gaits. The Melges IC 37 was born to also be transported by land; the keel is easily disassembled and there is only one point to lift it (without slinging). The price will be affordable for a boat of this level. In addition to one-design racing without compensation, the new Melges IC 37 is also suitable for racing under IRC and ORC regulations. We are also waiting to see it in the Mediterranean. www.melgeseurope.com

THE NUMBERS OF THE MELGES IC 37
Length f.t. 11.30 m
Length at waterline 10.35 m
Beam max. 3.64 m
Draught 2.50 m
Ballast 1,860 kg
Displacement 3,600 kg

DISCOVER ALL BOAT NEWS, TESTING & SHIPYARDS