IC37 Summer Series Champions (2025)
A $100 bill was blowing around in the cockpit. It had come out of the main trimmer’s pocket just as the gun went off and New Wave, Steve Liebel’s IC37 turned upwind headed to the first mark. The crew was hiking, getting the boat up to speed and in good position. Then one fellow made a move to get off the rail in order retrieve the bill. A cry from the back of the boat was heard “Leave it! It’s worth $500 for you to stay on the rail!” These guys are very serious racers, but they have a good time too.
Steve and his crew have been sailing in the IC37 Summer Series up in Newport, Rhode Island for four years now. They’ve won the five-event series three of those four times, including the 2025 series that concluded last month. Along the way, they also won the most competitive IC37 event, the National Championship, three of those four years
The IC37 is a one-design race boat with a maximum allowed crew weight of 1512 pounds. That generally adds up to a crew of between seven to eleven sailors. Only one Pro is allowed and if the crew number seven or fewer, one of them needs to be the opposite gender. Crews of more than seven are required to have two crew members of the opposite gender.
New York Yacht Club had the boat designed and built. They own 20 boats for charter, but there are also many that are owned by individuals. The series consists of five regattas between June and September - The NYYC Annual Regatta, the Sail Newport Regatta, the IC37 National Championship, the Safe Harbor Regatta, and the IC37 North American Championship.
In addition to New Wave’s skipper, Steve Liebel, the regular crew this year consisted of several sailors from DIYC and the west coast of Florida –Ron “Hacksaw” Hyatt, Marty Kullman, Mark Liebel, David Hillmeyer, and Jeff Linton was the tactician during this year’s North Americans. Over the years many other local sailors have participated in the program including Michael Booker, Amanda Plewes, Chris Kubisiak, Judah Rubin, Miro Kaffka, and Jeff Linton has made a handful of cameos.
One thing that sets this team apart from others is their fishing habit. They always try to leave the dock early and get in some fishing on the way out to the starting line. Not only does this give the crew ample time to look at weather patterns and ready the boat but it also allows them to clear their heads and gives them something else to focus on for a little while. During this year’s North Americans, they had a cooler full of eels to use for bait. At one point, the remaining eel count was in question, and a search and rescue mission ensued to find the missing eel. Some were worried that it got packed in the chute.
This year’s North American’s (the last race in the series) was notably dramatic, when it was decided during the final race. After the finishes were tallied, three boats were tied for second, all just a single point behind the first-place boat. After all the tie breakers were applied, New Wave was scored in third place. This was sufficient to give them the Summer Series Championship, taking into account their finishes in the other four regattas.
While weight on the boat is always a consideration, and taking as little unneeded weight as possible is generally a winning strategy, New Wave always has a well-stocked cooler. After they cross the finish line for the last time after a day of racing, the beer and red Solo cups come out. The customary toast is to “Mostly Friends,” an homage to a published quote taken out of context meant to refer to how Steve and most of the crew of New Wave have been friends and have sailed together for decades.
In the high-stakes world of big boat one-design racing, it’s refreshing to see that camaraderie, fishing, and post-race drinks can still be a vital part of a winning program. And if that rogue eel really did make his way out of the cooler, he’s probably somewhere bragging about how he almost won the IC37 North Americans.
