Sunfish Youth Scholarship APPLICATION

Purpose:  To advance the sport of Sunfish sailboat sailing and racing and to assist sailors in their participation in events that would bring honor and distinction to themselves and the Sunfish Class Association.

Requirements:  The youth has to be a Class member and has to have sailing experience on a Sunfish. The age requirement is 18 or younger.  If the youth turns 19 on January 1 or later of the year of the event, he/she exceeds the age limit. So designating the date of birth on an application is important.

Scholarships will only be issued for Sunfish world-qualifying events which includes Regional Regattas, the Women’s North Americans, the North Americans, the Midwinters, and a World Championship.

Please submit an application at least 60 days prior to an event to give the Committee time to review the application and respond in a timely manner for the recipient to make plans to register and travel, if required.

The youth will have to compete in a world-qualifying event the year before a World Championship in order to qualify for a scholarship. For example, if wanting to compete at the 2024 World Championship to be sailed at the Rush Creek Yacht Club in Rockwall, TX, a youth will have to sail in at least one world-qualifying event in 2023.

Applications to compete in next year’s World Championship cannot be submitted until January 1 of that year so that the number of Sunfish world-qualifying events sailed in the previous qualifying year are officially recorded in Class Race Results.

Conduct:  A competitor’s actions, both on and off the water, must reflect well on the individual as well as the Sunfish Class Association. Sportsmanlike actions, for example, include: (1) Be cooperative, supportive and respectful of other people and their property, (2) Sail within the Racing Rules of Sailing, and (3) Be gracious in victory or defeat.

Selection Process:  Financial help shall be awarded based on several factors including, but not limited to: (1) Funds available, (2) Number of requests received, (3) Financial needs of the individual.  Notification of the status of a scholarship will be made within 30 days upon receipt of the application.

Terms and Obligations:  Grantees shall provide receipts or other written evidence for all reimbursable expenditures.