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Important Information from the International Sunfish Class Association™ (ISCA®)

2/19/2025 1:48 pm

 

 

Important Information from the International Sunfish Class Association ™ (ISCA®)

Emailed on February 19, 2025

 

We want to update you and provide additional information on recent developments regarding ISCA and the Sunfish®, answer several questions that have come up, and discuss how we can work together to support our class. 

 

As many of you know, ISCA recently selected Zim Sailing as our new builder of ISCA-legal boats [IMPORTANT NEWS November 12, 2024] . Zim has been making excellent progress toward a spring launch, and we are excited about the future of our class.  Expect more news shortly as the North American sailing season approaches.

 

 

Why ISCA Chose Zim as Our Builder

 

For the past decade, many of us have been frustrated by the lack of new boats and poor availability of parts, and the situation seemed to get worse instead of better. As a result, ISCA took proactive steps to secure a reliable builder that could provide top-quality boats and a consistent supply of parts. After an extensive, competitive review process between Zim and another US-based builder, ISCA selected Zim as the sole builder of the ISCA class certified boat due to their:

  • strong reputation in building high-quality, durable, small sailboats
  • engineering expertise to develop a top-quality build
  • robust plans to support the class, including marketing, promotion and utilizing and growing their already strong dealer network
  • agreement to pay the class certification fees for boats and parts, which will help support the class (more detail further below)
  • experience working with World Sailing on the Optimist and ILCA
  • years of experience in event support, charters, etc.
  • relationship with marine vendors in the US and abroad
  • global reach

Feedback from members has been overwhelmingly positive regarding this decision. It is important to note that as an International Class governed by World Sailing (WS), ISCA had to receive permission from WS to search for and select a new builder.  This was an exhaustive process that took in excess of one year to complete.

 

 

Common Questions and Concerns

 

Why didn’t ISCA license the Sunfish® name from Laser Performance (LP)?

ISCA leadership spent an entire decade trying to improve the situation with LP, with little progress made that would benefit the class. Prior to ISCA deciding to search for a builder, at least one highly respected small sailboat builder attempted to negotiate a licensing agreement with LP to build the Sunfish®, but the discussion stalled (the manufacturer of the Sunfish® has always owned the Sunfish® trademark – it’s not available for general use.) As a consequence of this and our stagnating relationship with LP that had no hope for improvement, ISCA leadership determined it would be best to find a new manufacturer, and the best way to ensure a vibrant future for the class was to move away from LP. It wasn't until after we made our new builder announcement that LP finally agreed to license the Sunfish® (more below.)

 

 

Why not allow multiple builders to make class legal boats – wouldn’t that be a good thing?

After careful consideration, we decided to have a single class-legal builder for several key reasons:

  • Lower boat prices – Our boat is not a high-volume boat - currently a few hundred are made annually.  Contrary to what you might expect, spreading production across multiple builders would increase the boat price since each builder would sell fewer boats to help distribute their fixed expenses (this has already happened with the ILCA - formerly Laser - class). 
  • Stronger class support – We want a builder strongly committed to promoting and growing the class.  If multiple builders were competing, builder A could spend money to promote the class but sailors might end up buying boats from builder B. With the possibility that a builder’s promotional investment might end up benefiting a competitor, there will be little incentive to support or advertise the class.
  • Builder management – ISCA is a volunteer-led organization. Overseeing multiple builders to ensure quality and building to ISCA and one-design standards would require significant resources (ILCA has a paid staff for this purpose.)  We want to remain a volunteer organization to keep the class and boat affordable.

Ultimately, our goal is to ensure the long-term vigor and growth of the class by providing Zim with a stable, profitable foundation to invest in the class.

 

 

Zim’s Investment in Our Class

Zim is making significant financial and operational commitments to our class, including:

  • Developing new molds and sourcing components such as daggerboards and rudder cheeks.
  • Better construction of the boat to improve durability (but not performance), including a stronger deck, reinforced mast step, and stronger rudder cheeks.
  • For the first time in class history, paying a certification fee to ISCA on every new boat and major part sold, providing direct financial support to the class.  These certification fees will allow the class to do things like invest in fleet building, offer things of value to our members, reduce reliance on dues to fund the class, and help bring new recreational and racing sailors to the class. 
  • Hiring additional staff to support production, sales and marketing.
  • Supplying charter boats, parts and staff at the World Championships and other major events like the North Americans.

 

Why Zim and ISCA Need Your Support

Zim’s willingness to invest in our class was based on their role as the sole provider of class-legal boats, along with an expected share of the recreational market. The more successful Zim is selling recreational and racing boats, the greater Zim’s revenue will be to invest in the class, and the more certification fees ISCA will earn to help support and grow our class.   

 

Zim’s eagerness to be involved in the success of our class is a striking improvement over our relationship with our former builder.  We urge all ISCA members to enthusiastically stand behind Zim and encourage fellow sailors to do the same.  This has become even more important, as after we announced Zim as the new class builder, LP at last decided to license the Sunfish®.  Sero Innovation, the builder of the Sol sailboat, recently announced a deal with LP to take over manufacturing of the Sunfish and use the Sunfish® name and trademarks (these trademarks continue to be owned by a company associated with Laser Performance.) Please note that the Sero Sunfish® will not be legal for sailing in class events and it does not conform to the new ISCA construction manual.

 

Some sailors have suggested that with LP now out of the picture, we should support Sero.  However, since Sero appears to have licensed the Sunfish® brand name from LP, it's reasonable to assume Sero is paying a royalty to LP for the license, likely on a per-boat basis.  If that is correct, it means LP is not “out” of the Sunfish® business. 

 

 

To ensure a bright, fun-filled future for our class, we need Zim to thrive.  Their success will directly translate into the strong builder support that ISCA has been missing for so long.

 

Thank you for your continued dedication to ISCA sailing and racing.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.

 

 

Regards,

International Sunfish Class Association (ISCA)

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