When Mike Feierabend bought his boat Bravissimo some 10 years ago it was a J24. He bought it in Tortola and campaigned it for a long time as a J24. About a year ago Feierabend, who resides in St John in the US Virgin Islands, sent the boat to Puerto Rico and had it converted into an IC24. Converting a boat is a big commitment, however Feierabend thought it was worth the effort because there’s a decent sized local fleet in the Virgin Islands, and he thinks the IC24 is just a better boat.
“It’s a great boat and I just wish there were more of them here this weekend!” Owner/driver Feierabend smiles. “This is our first year campaigning it as a IC24 – it’s a completely different boat and we’re learning as we go.”
Basically, the conversion involved cutting out the old deck and making a mold for the new deck to enlarge the cockpit, removing heavy old lockers and taking about 400 pounds out of the boat, which is almost 20% of the total weight, notes Feierabend. Everything from the original cockpit forward remained the same. Feierabend added new sails and a brand-new rig; everything is new.
So, why didn’t he just buy an IC24?
“Because we love Bravissimo so much, I love it!” Feierabend says. “Bravissimo has a history, she was a Puerto Rican boat and she’s had a few owners. We were going to change the name but one of the guys who sails with us is from Puerto Rico and used to sail on the boat out of San Juan when he was a teenager. He told us about its heritage, so we had to keep the name Bravissimo – it’s a good name.”
Feierabend kept his same crew since he converted the boat although he’s lost one crew this week to another boat also racing BVI Spring Regatta. There are just two IC24s competing this week and interestingly, the other boat – RIP – which is kept in Tortola and this week is helmed by Harry Bowerman, also has a relevant local heritage. RIP was built by Tortola local Richard Wooldridge in 1979, the same year that he built his well-known Kelsall 47 Triple Jack. RIP is sailing this week with a set of IC24 sails given to Bowerman by Wooldridge. Bowerman is currently leading after day 1 with a 2, 1 score, giving Feierabend a good workout.
“Those guys are fun and are really good; they’ve got some really hot sailors on board including an Olympian,” Feierabend says. “It’s great training for us and we’re loving it; we were just nine seconds behind in the race we lost to them yesterday, it’s been real close and I can’t wait to get out there again today.”
