Vicki Palmer, Windward Leg Editor

windwardlegeditor@gmail.com

October 12-19, 2024 – Rush Creek Yacht Club, Lake Ray Hubbard, Heath, TX

(14 countries sailed – 100 competitors)

By Clara Getty

Photos by Regattashot.com Gustav Schmiege

Conner Blouin of Charleston, SC, captured the 2024 ISCA Worlds’ title, ending an impressive two-time Sunfish World Championship winning streak by Jean Paul De Trazegnies of Peru.  

Blouin won with 44 points saying, “I just had to focus on not getting first every time but staying in the top ten - keeping my eyes out of the boat and, of course, had luck on my side.” Blouin is the Head Coach for the College of Charleston’s sailing team and an accomplished Laser and Wasp sailor. 

Luke Ramsay fought his way into second with 64 points commenting that “conditions were challenging, it was a mix of everything, I had to bring it my all-focusing only on the shifts and ignoring the competitors.” Ramsay, a 2012 and 2016 Olympic sailor, fought his way to second place from 17th. Jean Paul De Trazegnies placed third with 79 points.   

Maria Cucalon of Ecuador scored 112 points, winning the Women’s title and placing 7th over a male and female field of competitors from 14 different countries. Cucalon weighs only 120 pounds demonstrating how versatile and still competitive the Sunfish sailboat is for sailors of all sizes and ages when racing in the Sunfish One-Design Class. 

One hundred boats competed in the five-day, 12-race regatta. Each competitor was permitted two throw-out races.  The Sunfish Class scores the same as Olympic sailing on a low point basis.  First place receiving one point, second gets two points, third three points and so on.

The first day of racing was a harbinger for the regatta’s conditions. On day one sailors raced in sunny hot weather with shifty winds with the day starting at 18 mph and slowing down to 6 mph.  The wind barely cooperated on the second day of racing with only one race sailed before the wind shut down as a cold front skulked in overnight. Day three kept the race committee busy with large wind shifts of nearly 60 degrees, limiting the day to three races.  On the two final days of racing, Southeast winds predominated, allowing five more races.   

1-Connor Blouin-USA, 2-Luke Ramsay-USA, 3-Jean Paul De Trazegnies-Peru, 4-Sebastain Medina-Puerto Rico, 5-Simon Gomez Ortiz-Columbia, 7-Maria Jose Cacalon-Ecuador (Women’s 2024 Winner), 9-Paul Foerster-USA (Grand Master Age 60-69), 11-Andy Beeckman-USA (Master Age 50-59), 14-Rod Favela-Venezuela (Apprentice Master Age40—49, 15-Bernardo Fernandez-Ecuador (Youth), 20-Greg Gust-USA. (Great Grand Master Age 70-79), Oldest Sailor-Doug Peckover-USA, Youngest Sailor-Drake Knowles-BAH, Marco Polo Award for furthest travelled- Luigi De Luca ITA. 

 For full race results, go here: link PDF file

Thank you to Rush Creek Yacht Club for the amazing event and Vela Sailing for onsite charters and support. 

At the Rush Creek Yacht Club in Heath, TX

Regatta Statistics: 14 Countries represented, largest is USA with 48 sailors; 17 women; average age 41; 18 sailors under the age of 19; Under age 30 - 32; 9 sailors had a 1st place finish with Greg Gust from RCYC [sailing a boat he got in 1976 when he was 12] (Great Grand Master) with a 1st in Race 7.

By Scott Elliott, Lake Gaston Sailing 

(Another perspective at the 53^rd ISCA World Championship)

During the second week of October, Sunfish sailors from all over the world started to descend on Rush Creek Yacht Club at Lake Ray Hubbard in Heath, Texas (just east of Dallas) for the 2024 ISCA World Championship. This, of course, was a week early as many of us wanted to practice with some of these top sailors before things got started. 

Myself and the two youth competitors from North Carolina, Dylan Barbour, age 15, and Jonathan Clubbs, age 17, camped at the Club the week before the regatta to practice. We also had Dylan‘s younger brother Wes Barbour, age 13, out there to help us practice as he is also an accomplished Sunfish sailor. While Wes did not race, he was on measurement duty with NC Sunfish sailor John Butine (ISCA Chief Measurer), helped out on the parts boat on-the-water and was in a safety boat on several days. Also in attendance was another Sunfish sailor from NC, Larry Mass, who is the ISCA Worlds Coordinator.

L to R … Larry Mass, John Butine, Scott Elliott, Dylan Barbour, Jonathan Clubbs

With 100 competitors from 14 different countries on the starting line, it was tough going. If you made any mistakes, you were quickly spit out the back of the pack. I myself had three races where I was doing penalty turns just off the line while being covered by100 boats. If you got toward the front, you were always defending your air sailing to a mark; always looking to see whether your next move would put you in front or behind. And with the judges boat just off your stern making sure all sailors were sailing fair – well, this proved to be a bit disconcerting at times, lol!

Great competition, great atmosphere. This was a first-class event from the food to the Texas hospitality at the Rush Creek Yacht Club to the Race Committee’s work on-the-water to the final night with trophies given out. Thank you, Rush Creek Yacht Club! 

The camaraderie and family atmosphere in such a competitive event was just unbelievable. We had Olympians. We had an Olympic coach. We had multiple Sunfish champions. We had college head coaches. We had juniors who ranged from the age of 13 all the way up to age 19 participating in this event. We had eight different winners out of 12 races. A huge nod to Great Grand Master (70-79) Greg Gust for being one of them in a metal trim boat from the 1980’s!

Congratulations to Conner Blouin for his first World Championship. Conner is the head sailing coach at the College of Charleston and has represented the USA at the Pan Am Games three times to compete in the Sunfish! 

As for our sailors from North Carolina, John Butine had the best overall place finish at 60^th. His best finish was 35^th twice while I finished 67th with my best race a 19th. Dylan Barbour finished 72nd with his best race at 41. Jonathan Clubbs finished 83rd but with an impressive best race of 13. And Larry Mass finished 92nd overall with a best race of 43. 

This was my first world championship in any Class. I have sailed in large events in keel boats and in Sunfish. But nothing was as special as this event was. To meet all these sailors from around the world who keep the Sunfish sailboat going after 50+ years, some of these sailors are champions from other fleets, other classes, but still come back and sail the boat most of them learned to sail in. 

The atmosphere of this Class is the best I’ve seen in all my years of sailing. Everybody helps everybody and shows genuine concern over how you may be sailing or what may be happening in your life.

To see the top guys talking and helping other sailors -- young and old -- with rigging, strategy and performance is the best thing for our sport. I don’t care if you are 8 or 80+ years of age or if you sail big boats, power boats or just a rubber raft, you should come sail with the Sunfish Class. You will be a better racer, a better sailor, a better person.

Hope to see all of you out there!

Scott Elliott, Lake Gaston Sailing

Below are a few observations from our NC youth sailors.

Tuesday/Dylan Barbour … When we left the dock today, the wind was 5-10 kts. Today was supposed to be the hottest day of the week. So, no spray top or wetsuit was needed. I decided to try to start on the far-left side of the starting line. However, as the gun went off, I found that I was in the second row and was covered by the fleet. Since most of the fleet was going right, I decided to go left in hopes of getting clear air. I was able to pick up a couple of boats but not as much as I would’ve liked. At the gate I went left again and then almost immediately tacked to the right. This allowed me to get both more pressure and clear air. During this upwind leg I caught quite a few boats. I was able to hang on to my place during the last downwind leg and finish mid-fleet. Unfortunately, after that the wind continued to drop and started shifting dramatically so the race committee decided to cancel all races for the day.

Wednesday/Jonathan Clubbs … Wednesday dawned chilly and breezy. The lake was churned into a washing machine-like chop with the wind gusting and shifting unpredictably causing many a sailor to go for a cold, unexpected swim. The first start of the day ended up being a general recall, the only one thus far, which was very annoying for me since it was my best start of the regatta. The next start, first race of the day I got off the line decently and finished mid-fleet after a long race full of gusts and shifts that seemed to be trying to capsize you. The second race of the day didn’t go so well for me. First, I got a bad start and then watched another sailor capsize to windward after a shift and gust caught him off guard. Hoping to take advantage of the shift and give the capsized boat some room I tacked instantly. However, the gust and shift caught me mid-tack, tangled me and the sheet and capsized me right alongside the other boat. I wasn’t warm again until my drenched sail had been rolled and I could take a warm shower. Key takeaways for the day were to keep your head out of the boat and always be looking for the shifts and gusts and that just because we’re in Texas doesn’t mean it’s warm!

Thursday/Wes Barbour … Thursday, day four, started off as a crisp and cold Texas morning. After a hearty breakfast the sailors were ready to go, winds were blowing a steady 10 knots. The race committee was aiming to get four races in. I was not on a safety boat today so I walked back to camp and started watching from shore. Scott Elliott was doing amazing in the first race, rounding the upwind mark in 8th place and Jonathan and Dylan weren’t too far behind. Our sailors finished that first race well. In the second and third race they did mid-fleet but they had fun, and that’s the most important thing. 

All is quiet on the Texas front.

by Meg Parra

A week after the closing races at the Sunfish Worlds, I’m still basking in the glow of the experience, mulling over some of the choices and mistakes I made on the racecourse, noting the lessons and reliving that one time I rounded the weather mark in front of Paul Foerster.

My children - my grounding forces - bring me back to the present with questions about the day, stories about school, laughing, crying and singing - usually all at once. We have dinner to make and soccer practice on the agenda. It so happens that as much as I love and crave sailing time, my ultimate raison d’etre is my family which includes my husband and 6 kids, ages 4-16.

Finishing in 69th place at Worlds hardly merits contributing an article except that sailing at the Worlds at all, with all it entailed for me as a mom, was huge. I couldn’t give regatta preparations the time and attention I would have liked, given my steady stream of intense mommying obligations. I had no steady coach or perfectly consistent training schedule, but I gave it what I could during a window that life (and a hugely supportive husband) afforded me. And I surprised myself.

Moms, I see you. You’ll never regret what you put on hold to raise your family and taking the time for yourself to get out on the water with all of the responsibilities and schedules to manage is hard.

Still, to you moms for whom the sight of sailboats out on the water makes your heart skip a beat and who miss your sailing days: Carpe diem! And get after it.

You will go through periods of time, sometimes years, where the demands of family life make it impossible to sail, but seasons will change. It’s about seizing those moments when you see a small window of time and opportunity, even in the midst of the chaos, and carving out the space to make it happen.

Your entry or reentry into sailing or racing can be messy. It doesn’t have to look like other people’s consistent involvement or learning curve. You might even hesitate to jump back in at the thought of not remembering or knowing how to rig a boat. I felt this way in 2021 after a 6-year hiatus. But people always help if you ask. Shout out to Sunfish sailors like Rod Favela, Paul Foerster and Greg Gust for willing advice. Perhaps even ask your clubs to host shorter events, like one-day regattas or to hold clinics for women who want to learn more. Rod Favela is hosting a series of such clinics for our women at Rush Creek YC in coming weeks.

Create the space and trust me when I say, if you can raise a child, you can manage to rig, sail and even race a boat! After snagging a wild card spot for the Worlds, I had no idea whether I’d be able to hang or whether I’d be the last boat everyone waited for 30 minutes after they finished. I only knew that I wanted to see how I could do against some of the best sailors the world has to offer and to see how much I could learn in that fleet over the course of a week.

Willingness to experience embarrassment is also part of the process. Don’t let potentially humiliating moments dissuade you from getting back on the water or the racecourse. Remember, at least once you gave birth in front of multiple strangers. That’s way worse.

I surprised myself with 30th and 35th place finishes last week and an overall ranking of 7th among the 20 women. If you can choke down clumsy attempts to learn in front of other people and keep after it whenever you can, you will eventually surprise yourself too.

Looking forward to seeing you on the water!

Meg

September 28-29” WQ Regatta (Yankee Duo)

Corrected Race Results

October 13, 2024 - Michigan Sailing Club, Dexter, Michigan
 

by Gail Turluck

Racing was held on Baseline Lake. The first cold front of the season was making its way through the region. After overnight storms and before the arrival of the front, off and on rain, light shifty winds (ENE 2-6 first two races, E 2-6 third race, SE 1-4 last race) with temperatures dropping from 55 to 48 degrees (brr). Racing started about 12:30 and concluded by 3:30 pm. Kirk Beadle was thrilled to win. Placing third, Derrick Fries noted it had been 24 years since he last finished in third at a Sunfish regatta. Possibly the 5K Running Race he made early in the morning contributed?  So did being on the wrong side of the major shift in the third race that left him in a hole while right siders sailed away. First time there were three women in the fleet at a Michigan Sailing Club Sunfish Regatta.

Podium at 2024 Michigan Sailing Club Fall Regatta (L to R): 
1^st-Kirk Beadle, 2^nd-Stu Pettitt, 3rd-Derrick Fries 
 “Broken Gooseneck Award” for best recreational boat finisher: Rachel Granneman. 
 Photo by Gail M. Turluck Photography.

October 26, 2024 -- Johnson Slough Yacht Club, Hinsdale, Illinois

by Gail Turluck

Competitors arrived on the shore of Johnson Slough to quite a frigid set up. Temperatures were in the mid-40’s. The sun shone brightly, the day warmed into the upper 50’s and winds were N-NE 6-12 and shifty and puffy. Enhancing the event were trees in full display of their autumn colors—bright and charming. Coffee and donuts were enjoyed at registration time.

The first race started about 10:10 am with two boats called over early. They returned and started properly. By the fourth race the wind had gone more right and the course was adjusted. In true Slough form, courses featured the north bay, a/k/a the “Little Lake,” and traversed the full length of the main body of the Slough. In all but the fourth race, courses were sailed twice around. After the fourth race there was a brief personal comfort break for for the competitors. The fifth race easily had 6-7 different leaders. The course was adjusted back to the left for the last race.  The northerly component to the day’s breeze and low water depth, thanks to ongoing drought, made getting off the dock quite a challenge. The breeze direction also brought some big dead spots from time to time; avoiding them was key to having a good race. After the sixth race, all went to shore and packed up.  

Then on to Jim McCarthy’s home for a late lunch and awards.  Delicious beef soup, turkey sliders and sloppy joe sliders with chips, popcorn and other accompaniments prepared by Cheryl Wintz McCarthy repowered the worn out group.

The racing was all about just-returned-from-the-World-Championship and practiced-up Rich Chapman who had one win that was a huge horizon job. The next six sailors duked it out with position changes a steady experience throughout the whole event.  

A big thanks to Rick Roderick, Kristine Lang, Patrick Bredlau and more Race Committee for keeping things going on this beautiful, way above average conditions regatta day. The Great Pumpkin went to John Irwin.

Podium at 2024 Great Pumpkin Regatta: John Irwin-Great Pumpkin; 2^nd-Mark Kastel; 3^rd-Scott Schappe;  4^th-Art Haggerty; 5^th-Dave Anderson. Not pictured-1^st-Rich Chapman. 
 Photo by Gail M. Turluck Photography.

by Alex Roose

Curaçao National Championship Sunfish 2024

A bit late but here are the results of the Curaçao National Sunfish Championship  2024.

It was, of course, already known in advance that the battle for the top spot would be between Hans, Bas and Jürgen. They were a class on their own that was decided in favor of Bas in the last of the 9 races. Bas can find his name as the 4th van der Gulik after Grandpa Wim, father Hans and brother Tijn on the same trophy that has now been rewarded  every year for the 51 times in a row.

As always, the races were sailed on the "Spanish Water,” a lake with an open connection to the sea. The part of the Spanish Water where we sail is the "storm puddle.” But this year there were no storms at all which allowed pleasant sailing for everyone. It was not a survival of the fittest but just simple racing – may the best sailor win. That winning sailor was Bas finishing in the top 3 in all of the 9 races. Father Hans finished 2^nd with 8 top 3 finishes and Jurgen was 3^rd with ""only"" 7 races with top 3 finishes. 

Curacaos kampioenschap Sunfish 2024

Beetje laat maar  alsnog, de uitslagen van het  Cur Kamp Sunfish 2024

Veel dan aan de wedstrijdleiding  en fotografe  Cisca . Haar foto's zijn te zien in bijgaande links die 3 dagen tot 3 oktober zijn te downloaden.

Dat  de strijd in de top tussen Hans, Bas en Jurgen zou  gaan was natuurlijk al tevoren bekend. Zij vormden dan ook een klasse apart die in de laatste race van de 9  door Bas in zijn voordeel werd beslecht. Hij kan als 4e van der Gulik na Opa Wim, vader Hans en broer Tijn zijn  naam terugvinden op de bokaal die nu  al 51 keer onafgebroken de inzet was van het kampioenschap.

De wedstrijden werden zoals de laatste jaren gebruikelijk gevaren op de stormplas. Stormen deed het  niet  zoals wel vaker in deze periode van het  jaar  zodat  het  voor iedereen plezierig  varen was en het  geen survival of the fittest  was maar gewoon simpel, de beste zeiler wint.

en dat  werd dus Bas met  in 9 van de 9 races een top drie pek, vader Hans werd 2e met  8 top drie finishes en Jurgen 3e met ""slechts 7 top drie klasseringen.

ISCA/USSCA Class Administrator

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