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Sailing
St. Thomas' Curerri: 'IC-24 is a Great Class'
By Dean Greenaway
Apr 8, 2008, 08:22

St. Thomas' Chris Curerri, who was fifth in the IC-24 Class. Photo>Dean "The Sportsman" Greenaway

TORTOLA—Forget racing in the other classes. St. Thomas’ Chris Curerri has found his niche in the IC-24 Class.  It’s highly competitive with numerous lead changes over the course of a series like the BVI Spring Regatta. “This is a great class. One design is the best way to sail,” Curerri said after finishing fifth overall in the 37^th BVI Spring Regatta on Sunday with 61 points, just two points behind Colin Rathbun’s 59 and one behind 16-year old Alec Anderson. “You know what place you came in when you finish, because you look behind and just start counting.”

Curerri said competing against the BVI and Puerto Rican sailors is lots of fun, because they literally make the class. “If we just had the USVI competitors, we’d be bored and if we didn’t have the BVI guys or the Puerto Ricans, there’d be no class,” he noted. “We’re happy to have them, the more boats the merrier.”

Puerto Rico’s Fraito Lugo has sailed both the J-24 and Meleges 24. He said he Meleges 24 is fast and was his favorite. There were not many boats in the class and he had to compete against bigger boats, but now likes the one design class. He said competing against the BVI’s Robbie Hirst, Alec Anderson and the younger sailors along with Colin Rathbun and St. Thomas’ Curerri along with the other young crop of sailors is great. “It’s good to see the kids growing in this class,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity for those guys to make it better.”

Mark Plaxton--with arm raised--by Puerto Rico's Fraito Lugo and their respective crews. Photo>Dean "The Sportsman" Greenaway

Like Hirst and Rathbun, Lugo’s crewmate Manuel Ramos agreed the class is very competitive. He said if you win a race, you are likely to finish fifth or seventh in the next race. “It’s always a tough fight in this fleet,” Ramos noted, adding that it’s wonderful sailing against the BVI and USVI guys. “Everybody is very tight, we all know each other. When we come back to the dock from racing, everyone is able to talk about tactics, the different things were doing and everybody tries to help each other, so we all become better sailors and improve the class. I would say the IC-24 class is the best class right now.”   

Anderson, 16, said the class is definitely the most competitive. Tied with Hirst at 40 points for second and one ahead of Rathbun heading into the final day of competition, he quickly learnt to be aware of his scored on the final series of races. “Keeping track of our scores and writing them down is important and I’ve learnt that before,” he pointed out. “This one is definitely an eye opener to that.”

Anderson, like everyone else, stressed consistency. He said in this one design class where there are lots of races and no throw away, you have to ensure all your scores are up there. “One bad race and it will set you back a lot,” he stated.