Vicki Palmer, Windward Leg Editor

windwardlegeditor@gmail.com

The name of our boat has changed, but our outlook on life and awesomeness will forever be who we’ve been for 50+ years – champions both on and off the water! 
 

*** CELEBRATING AN EVEN MORE EXCITING FUTURE ***

Dear ISCA members, receive a fraternal greeting from the leadership of your class.

Before starting, I want to thank the members of ISCA and National Associations (NICA’s) for having re-elected the leadership of the class for the period 2024-2026, which forces us to fulfill with greater responsibility, the plans for a better future and growth of the class.

With 2024 coming to an end, and having issued a press release that changes and guarantees the future of the class, approving ZIM Sailing as the new manufacturer of the ISCA boat, we can be satisfied to have achieved the goal proposed at the beginning of our mandate in 2022. This process could have been long, but we took care to do it in the right way and with the participation of World Sailing (WS) to avoid jeopardizing the international status of the class.

We started 2024 by coordinating with WS the extension of Authorization Requests for Emergency Parts (sails, masts and booms) that were granted in 2023, and we added the same for Jibetech daggerboards and rudders, which was granted by WS for 2024. Then followed many meetings that have allowed to reach the annual meeting of WS in November 2024, and approve the action plan proposed by ISCA where the approval of the new class rules, the new agreement with WS between WS and ISCA and the approval of a new manufacturer of our sailboat were considered. It is worth highlighting the participation of our WS Representative, Mr. Hector Duval, in the WS annual meeting, where in different committees, he defended the position of ISCA, finally being able to reach the approval by WS for the plan proposed by ISCA.

At the same time, in November 2023, we started the project to look for a new manufacturer. Chris Williams and John Butine led this project that consisted of identifying potential manufacturers, signing confidentiality commitments, sending ISCA proposals, receiving proposals from interested manufacturers, etc., where we had a response from 6 interested manufacturers.

In March 2024, the ISCA Executive Committee evaluated the proposals received and approved concentrating on 2 manufacturers. It was also approved that within the final evaluation of the manufacturers, a visit to the plants is included to see the facilities and knowledge of the personnel they had. This process was executed during March, leaving April for questions and answers that were absorbed by both manufacturers.

In May 2024, the ISCA Executive Committee evaluated both manufacturers and approved the decision to take Zim Sailing’s proposal to the ISCA World Council for final approval (at the same time, we were waiting for WS’s approval to move forward). In the meantime, the contract/agreement began to be worked on between Zim and ISCA, having reached a prior consensus to the World Council in Heath, TX.

The 2024 World Championship, held at Rush Creek Yacht Club, Heath, TX, from October 12 to 19, with 100 competitors, set a record for the participation of junior competitors, having had 16 competitors (10 men and 6 women) and 18 women.

The 2^nd South American Youth U21 Sailing Championship was also held, from November 11 to 16 in Paracas, Ica, Peru, with the participation of 120 competitors in various classes (Ilca 7, 6, 4, IQFoil, Techno 293 and ISCA), where the ISCA class had a participation of 25 competitors from 6 countries (13 men and 12 women). Always betting on our youth sailors.

I want to welcome our new ISCA Secretary, Liza Clinton, who will be supporting us for this period of 2024-2026. 

It only remains for me to thank the members of the ISCA Executive Committee and the class administrator, for the hard work during this 2024 and all the NICA’s for the permanent support to be able to meet the objectives, and to consolidate the future of the class.

I hope everyone enjoys the holidays, and that we return recharged for a 2025 full of joy and good fortune, which will allow us to continue growing our class.

Willo Cappelleti, ISCA President 

Nov. 2-3, 2024 – Columbia Sailing Club, Columbia, SC

 By Scott Elliott

The second southeast regional championship was held during the 65th Midlands Regatta at Columbia Sailing Club on Lake Murray in SC. This is also a SAYRA Junior Grand Prix Championship event, with a cap of 175 boats, four race circles, and nine+ fleets with Sunfish as the biggest fleet that had 31 sailors, 12 of them youth sailors!

As hundreds of sailors started to stream in to find camping spots, set up boats, and talk with old and new friends, it was great to see such an outpouring of interest in sailing from all over the Southeast.

Saturday was a gorgeous morning, sunny, warm and with lots of anticipation for racing. The wind gods decided to mess with us. After drifting around, we came in after a few hours with the possibility of heading back out. Sadly, this wasn’t the case. I believe the Opti Green fleet got one race in.

Sunday was cooler and cloudy with decent wind at 7-10 knots. The RC had notified all competitors during dinner that racing was starting an hour early due to a forecast showing a dying breeze as the day went on. This, of course, was also the Fall-Back time change, so there were lots of sleepy eyes as we pushed out. 

We got in four races by 1330. Racing was extremely close in the Sunfish fleet with four different winners and a tie in 2nd place. Chris Schreiber is our SE Regional #2 Champion and is excited and looking forward to sailing south of the border next December in Ecuador! Go Chris! Elaine Parshall got the 2nd place with a tie breaker to Dylan Barbour in 3rd.

A big “Thank You!” to Columbia Sailing Club for an outstanding regatta!

Again, sailing in the Sunfish Class is amazing. Almost half our fleet was under 18 years of age in a regional championship, and it was exciting seeing everyone finish within the time limit and so close together.

The wholesome family atmosphere with world class competition -- that is only improving -- shows why I’m proud to say "I Race Sunfish!!"

Hope to see you out there!

Scott Elliott, Lake Gaston Sailing

lakegastonsailing.com

Link to results: 

https://columbiasailingclub.theclubspot.com/regatta/T4fvX2XKwh/results?class_id=fyBwgnNRLa

November 2-3, 2024 – Arizona Yacht Club - Lake Pleasant, AZ

November 9-10, 2024 – US Sailing Center, Martin City, FL

L to R – Florida Regional Winners – Hal Gilreath (1^st); Jesus Salazar (2^nd); 
Mary Ellen Ingham (3^rd); Ezra Zenkel (4th); Peter Commette (5^th)

At the 2024 ISCA Worlds it was the Tallest and the Smallest Bahamians who led this amazing group. Bahamian Team and proud to represent at the 2024 Sunfish Worlds. Check out our flag!!! The only one presented.

• 18 year old Alvin McKenzie of Exuma was the best finishing Bahamian after 12 races finishing 39th overall out of 100 competitors. 
• 13 year old Drake Knowles of Long Island was next in 51st overall; also the 6th best placing youth sailor (sailors not turning 19 in 2024).
• 17 year old Tanaj Manos of Exuma was 65 overall and 7th best youth sailor.
• 19 year old Dawson Knowles of Long Island, in his first ever appearance in the United States, finished 75th overall; and
• 16 year old Dai Major of Exuma finished 80th overall and 10th place youth sailor.

Great performance by all the Bahamian crew!

Nov. 11-15, 2024 – Paracas, Ica - Peru

By Willo Cappelleti

From November 11 to 16, 2024, the 2nd South American Youth U21 Sailing Championship was held in Paracas, Ica – Peru, organized by the Peruvian National Sailing Sports Federation and the South American Sailing Confederation under the auspices of the Club de Regatas "Lima" – Paracas Branch.

The event had the participation of more than 130 competitors in the different participating classes, such as: ILCA 7 (men), ILCA 6 (men and women), ILCA 4 (men and women), ISCA (men and women), Techo 293 (men and women) and IQFoil (men and women).

The ISCA Class had 25 competitors (13 men and 12 women), with the following competitors obtaining the podium:

Men:

1. Bernardo Fernandez  ECU
2. Juan José Hincapie   COL
3. Jonroy Celi                 ECU

Women:

1. Fernanda Higueras    PER
2. Constanza Olivares   CHI
3. Ana Sofia Bermudez  COL

Overall results in link: 2° Sudamericano Juvenil de Vela - 2024, ISCA results.

The closing event was attended by Germán Vasquez-Solis, President of the Peruvian Sailing Federation, Pablo Leiro, President of the South American Sailing Confederation and Federico Tong, President of the Peruvian Institute of Sport, who promised the creation of the High Performance Nautical Center in Paracas, for the training of future national sailors and sailors from the entire region.

Here some pictures by Matias Palma:

October 18-19, 2024 - Louisville Sailing Club, Louisville, KY

By Mike Stratton

The Louisville Sailing Club’s Ninth Annual Jim McBee Sunfish Pumpkin Regatta was held on October 18-19 on the Ohio River.

Despite the forecast of 1-3 mph wind for both days, fourteen boats came to the event, some from out of town for what everyone hoped would be at least one more race before the season’s end.

And that’s what it was: one last race. On Saturday, the wind “filled” in across the Ohio River at about 3-5 mph and racing began on schedule. At first it was pretty good, but by the time racers started back upwind on a long windward/leeward course, the breeze decided it was too much effort. On the second time at the windward mark and offset, the committee shortened course. The wind was back to its pre-race forecast strength.

The race finished downwind with Mike Stratton crossing first, followed by Laura Peters who had led most of the race by one to three boat lengths. Dom Everaet finished third after being the seventh boat to the windward mark. He caught four boats downwind and almost caught the two leaders. Dom’s son Noah finished his first away regatta in 13^th place.

The race committee sent all fourteen boats in but didn’t put up a postponement pennant which caused several competitors to put their boats away. An hour after coming in, the wind filled in again, this time from 3-7 mph and lasted for two hours, enough to get in two more races. But because some had left the club or secured boats, the race committee decided to not send racers back out.

Sunday’s wind was virtually non-existent and no racing took place making it a one race regatta.

Noah Everaet was awarded a LSC shirt for his junior appearance and the club also gave him a spare set of spars and a sail for the Sunfish he purchased recently.

Noah joins Hueston Sailing’s Lauren Anderson as juniors who have traveled to away regattas recently.

Results:  

1.     Mike Stratton HSA

2.     Laura Peters HSA

3.     Dom Everaet HSA

4.     Joe Collins LSC

5.     Dan French LSC

6.     Bill Timmer LSC

7.     Paul Slaughter LSC

8.     Matt Palsha LSC

9.     Mike Martin LSC

10.  Joe Bechely LSC

11.  Chris Nabor LSC

12.  Jan Ciereman LSC

13.  Noah Everaet HSA

14.  Bill Ferriell LSC

L to R: Noah Everaet, Mike Stratton, Laura Peters, and Dom Everaet

October 6, 2024 – Hueston State Park, Ohio

By Mike Stratton

Hueston Saiilng Association's OktoberFast Sunfish Regatta in sunny southern Ohio lived up to its name. It was “Oktober.”  And it was fast.

The contest, in winds averaging 10-15 mph and with gusts into the 20’s, was always going to come down to who could keep their boat flat and fast upwind where the gusts came in clusters and the shifts always came in double figure degrees and often at the worst moments.

Capsizes and near-capsizes? Plenty of them. Wind shifts of greater than 90 degrees? Of course. Boats stuck in irons and sailing backwards? Yes, and sometimes in clusters.

In the end, it was frequent OktoberFast champion Bill Molleran who managed the five blustery races, winning one and not finishing below third in any of the others. But it was a narrow victory. In the last race where he scored his only third place finish, he absolutely could not have finished any lower or the regatta would have gone to the surprise second place boat of former Hueston Sailing junior champion Kevin DeArmon.

The “KevDog” also won one race and finished no lower than third in any of them but with two thirds he ended up one point from a tiebreaker that he would have won.

In third place was pre-race favorite Brian Callahan who came within three points of Molleran even after winning three of the five races. It was his capsize in race two that spoiled that party. His wins were by wide margins as were the races won by Molleran and DeArmon. Every second place boat had a fight on its hands.

Callahan’s was not the only capsize, though, as others found the wet part of the water. Juniors Noah Everaet and Lauren Anderson also took a flip (Noah’s three times wins) as well as Jackie Guntle, Jerry Brewster, and Charlie DeArmon who waited until he got near the docks before his dunking machine experience.

Callahan’s capsize cost him the regatta, but he still managed to come close. The fourth-place boat, Chris Snider, was, point wise, much further behind the top three but steady in the top five in each race.

Junior Lauren Anderson, despite her capsize, came in 5^th to claim the last trophy. Her quick recovery, according to committee chair Roger Henthorn, was accomplished without even getting wet. That, no doubt, played a role in her success. The 15-year-old bested a number of veteran racers in very challenging conditions making her one of the most successful junior skippers in recent memory.

Results:

1. Bill Molleran 2 2 1 2 3 10

2. Kevin DeArmon 2 1 3 2 2 11

3. Brian Callahan 1 7 3 1 1 13

4. Chris Snider 4 3 5 3 5 21

5. Lauren Anderson 6 6 8 7 4 31

6. Charlie DeArmon 9 6 4 9 7. 35

7. Jerry Brewster 5 10 4 11 8 38

8. Mike Stratton 10 11 7 5 6 39

9. Bob Fletcher 7 5 9 8 11 40

10. Dom Everaet 8 9 10 6 9 42

11. Stephen Cook 12 12 12 10 10. 56

12. Tom Katterheinrich 11 8 11 DNS DNS 60

13. Noah Everaet 13 1 3 13 12 12. 63

14. Jackie Guntle DNF DNS DNS DNS DNS 75

Nov. 1-3, 2024 – Lake Canyon YC, Canyon Lake, TX

By Josh Rubin

The 53rd annual Wurstfest Regatta was held on Nov 1-3 2024. The Sunfish Class was the largest in attendance.  Great turnout with the ISCA World's just a few weeks prior. 

Day One brought light air which makes consistency difficult at Canyon Lake in Texas. No one won more than one race on Saturday with Jim Rehage of Austin YC leading the way after four races. 

Sunday brought exactly the opposite conditions.  It was a little rainy and blowing 15 knots gusting to 25, and it continued to build from there as we sailed out to our course. By the time we finished race 2 on Sunday it was 20 gusting to 30. Josh Rubin won both races on Sunday to win the regatta. Chris Besch took 2nd and Annie Lancaster finished 3rd Overall. 

This was also the end of our SW Circuit series. Six regatta series with the top four regatta finishes counting. Josh Rubin of Seabrook SC was 1st, Art Cayer of Seabrook was 2nd and Annie Lancaster of Austin was 3rd. We had about 100 different boats race this year largely due to Scott Shirley and his efforts as our regional rep. It was the strongest year for Sunfish that we've had in a long time.

Wurstfest Regatta on Canyon Lake in Texas

ISCA/USSCA Class Administrator

8070 Willow Tree Way, Alpharetta, GA 30005

www.sunfishclass.org    sunfishoff@gmail.com  404-451-7743