news@sunfishclass.org

We invite the participation of all ISCA members to submit applicant(s) to be considered for this coveted honor.

The applicant’s name must be accompanied by a summary of the applicant and an explanation of why he or she should be considered for election as an Honorary Life Member. All applications must be submitted by October 15, 2025.

Current Lifetime Members:   ISCA - Lifetime Members

The ISCA Executive Committee will then review all applications to make sure they comply with the requirements in ISCA’s Constitution before selecting up to three (3) applicants with the highest achievements/merits.

Thirty (30) days before the next World Council meeting (Salinas Yacht Club, December 10, 2025), the ISCA Executive Committee shall appoint an Evaluation Commission of at least three (3) to a maximum of five (5) members from among the World Council members and/or honorary life members to select a final candidate to be voted on at the World Council meeting.

This new policy was written to include worthy candidates who might not otherwise be recognized. Thank you so much for your help and consideration to nominate deserving individuals.

Respectfully,

Liza Clinton, ISCA Secretary

ISCA Constitution 10.4 - The World Council may grant honorary life membership in ISCA to any one person a year, who, through special contribution to the class or through special relationship to ISCA is considered meritorious. An honorary life member is entitled to full privileges of membership but is not required to pay the annual dues of ISCA. The World Council must approve the “Policy for Election of the Honorary Life Member.”

USSCA is pleased to announce the next 2 seminars on Monday, August 11th and August 18th 7:30-9:00 EST.  This is a 2-part series - August 11th Strategy (big and small fleets) and August 18th Tactics by Mike Ingham and co-presenter Conner Blouin.

You must login to the website go to Member Only Content >drop down menu Seminar - Starting & Tactics and be a current member to register. There is NO CHARGE for members to attend this seminar. 

Thank you Doug Kaukeinen for leading the educational team to find speakers - if you have a topic you want to hear about - email Doug! 

If you have questions, please contact the USSCA President Susan Mallows ussca.president@gmail.com  or if you have trouble with login, please contact the Class Administrator sunfishoff@gmail.com. 

The Women’s North American Championship, September 5-7, will be here before you know it! Registration fees increase after August 22. The Notice of Race is posted, and Registration is Open: USSCA Women’s North American Championship

This is a fun photo from past years! Don't miss out - join us register today!

CLICK on the graphics below to go directly to the event registration page!

Registration & NOR: https://theclubspot.com/regatta/pjCb98UpwA

Registration & NOR: https://sailsaratoga.org/regatta/kfxelAkm9c

Registration & NOR: https://lakeworthsailingclub.org/event-5818391 

Registration & NOR coming soon!

Notice to all current USSCA Members from the Midwest Region.  We are putting out a bounty for the upcoming Regional Championships on September 13 & 14, 2025 at Devils Lake Yacht Club.  Here is how the deal works:  Any current USSCA member who brings a new class member to the Sept. 13 & 14, Regional Championship will get a subsidy of $25 towards their entry fees for this regatta.  

Current members are the best salespeople for the class.  Now you have an actual reason to convince your friends, neighbors and fleet-mates to join the class and attend a regatta.   

Here’s the deal again – Bring along a new USSCA member (not a current member) to the Devils Lake Regional Regatta and USSCA Midwest Region will pay a $25 subsidy towards your regatta fees that weekend.  This gives you two reasons get to this regatta, a place on the World Championship list and a way to bring new members into the class.   

Questions? Get in touch with your Midwest Regional Rep, Doug Warren at midwest@sunfishclass.org

Navy Battle July 18-20

Finished the Italian championship of the Sunfish class 2025, which was disputed in the offshore waters of Briga Marina (Messina) in the days from 18 to 20 July, organized by the venue ASD Vela Mare 83.

All eight scheduled practices have been disputed in the three days of regatta in which the fleet of Sunfish, gathered at Briga Marina, had to engage in the typical weather conditions of the Strait of Messina characterized by a medium-intensity wind and the inevitable current.

The victory in the general ranking went to Antonio Liotta of the Circolo del Tennis and Vela Messina from Messina, who became the Italian Sunfish champion for the third time, ahead of Francesco Scuderi and Marcello Alveario, both of the Italian Naval League sez. of Messina.

The women's title went to Madalina Petrea, while among the juniors (under 18) was Luca Stellaccio, both color bearers of the LNI of Pomezia.

To report that finally the title in the grand master category (over 60) conquered by Lelio Bonanno of CTV Messina.

Typical shifty conditions with winds light in the morning building into the low teens in the afternoon. It was great to see Andy David and Eric Woodman back on the race course after a long break. Thank you Geoff Stucke for all the photos! Full FLICKER Album

Winners table - 1st Amanda Callahan, 2nd Bill Brangiforte, 3rd Kevin Buruchian, 4th Andy David  [FULL RESULTS]

The Niagara sailing club board boat regatta is over. Got a total of 10 races in over 2 days Hats off to the Race Committee the regatta organizers the club and all the volunteers. 

It was a great weekend. I hope we can capitalize on this momentum and grow the regatta next years. Congratulations to the winner and thank you everyone for participating.  By Fritz Dusel on FB

By Chris Williams

This was the 54th year of the race, which is a 20+ mile circumnavigation of Shelter Island.  Winds were great this year, starting out in the higher single digits and reaching 15 or maybe a bit more on the final, loooonnnngggg beat to the finish. Congrats to Griffin Sisk on his first win, edging out 6-time champion John Eckert. They stretched out a five-minute lead over the rest of the fleet! That is Griffin in the white sail and John is other boat.  And if you ever wondered if the masts bend in a big breeze, the picture has the answer (see below)!  Fortunately, they straighten out once the load is off. 

Top 10 Finishers: [FULL RESULTS]

by Griffin Sisk

This event highlights one of my favorite aspects of the Sunfish Class: the camaraderie. Everyone catches up before the race—discussing the weather, boat setup, and offering advice to those with fewer circumnavigations of Shelter Island—right up until the start. It’s the kind of event where people lend each other parts on the beach, share stories from past races, and genuinely want everyone to have an enjoyable sail. I was very lucky that Beth Fisher, the event’s PRO, chose for us to go around the island counterclockwise, as that was the only direction I had ever gone before.

While I understand that it’s a long race and you can recover from a bad start (and some past winners say the first hour or two doesn’t matter), I think starting ahead definitely makes things easier—especially since the race began on a reach. Falling behind would have meant tacking away from the group and sailing in the opposite direction, making it nearly impossible to catch up. So I knew a good start was crucial. My goal was to start on the line away from other boats so the 10–15 degree oscillations wouldn’t cause me to be lee-bowed or rolled by a boat to leeward or windward.

After I gained a few boat lengths off the start, my main focus was to stay in clear air and between the fleet and the island, keeping my boat flat and my sail properly trimmed. The one time I tried to sail away from the fleet was within the first hour, near the South Ferry, I was reaching and took some puffs upwind toward the South Fork. This caused me to lose six boats, and I started encountering dead spots with very light wind. I bore off 20 degrees in one of the larger puffs and was able to reach off and get within 2–3 boat lengths behind John Eckert by surfing some waves at the reach angle. After that, I caught some lucky puffs and managed to stay between him and the island for the rest of the race. There were a few other times when I cut too close to the island and lost ground, and maybe didn’t read the current correctly, which shows that good boat speed and understanding the conditions around the island are essential for doing well. I have a lot to learn and research to do before next year.

I want to thank all the volunteers who helped make this event possible, as organizing a regatta for a 75-boat fleet is no small task. I can’t wait for next year!

Check out this great video from Lee Montes detailing all the events of the race and a great interview with a few of the leaders including 2025 Winner - Griffin Sisk. Thanks Lee!

Richard Staples (RI) sent more background on his families passion for sailing Sunfish/Sailfish and we think this will resonate with our members. 

My family and I have had a life-long love of Sailfish/Sunfish, starting with a Sailfish back in the 1960s on a Cape Cod lake, a Sunfish (and later, a Minifish) at our family’s vacation home in Freedom, New Hampshire, starting in the early 1970s, and now, our two restored Sunfishes here at our home in Barrington, RI. When in NH with family, we've loved taking out the two ‘Fishes and bopping around the lake together for years! 

We are very lucky to live close to the water in the same Barrington neighborhood I lived in as a child, but I had never entertained the idea of having a Sunfish here until after a neighbor offered me a Dyer Dhow Midget at a great price and I restored it with our little grandson as a learn-to-sail boat - he was almost four at the time. Little Loon is a wonderful little boat, but a bit cramped for teaching, so after selling our larger, 16-foot O’Day Daysailer in 2023, I started thinking about buying a Sunfish of our own since we now have four little grandchildren living nearby, Reid being the oldest. (Hard to believe it took me until age 75 to figure this out. We’ve lived in this neighborhood since 1988.)

As with many in the Sailfish-Sunfish Facebook Group, Facebook Marketplace was my go-to shopping site. The first (red deck) 1970* Sunfish was purchased from Smilin Steve, a member of the group, in April 2024. It was (and is) a nice dry boat and he sold it with the dolly I needed, plus lots of other accessories, including the second red-and-white sail you see in the most recent photos. (Smilin Steve has some great comments of his own on the most recent post, since I wanted him to know that his boat was one of the pair.) The main thing this boat needed was a deck restoration and I can’t say enough good things about the step-by-step video put together by Cliner Restoration. That boat hit the water in June 2024.

Interestingly, my initial thoughts about a second Sunfish was so neighbors I sail with on our Dyers (four among us) could also sail with me on another Sunfish. But then I also realized that our family and could go out on two-Sunfish sails like in NH, so I started looking at Facebook Marketplace, again, and found a water-heavy 1971* for free down on the Cape. I brought it home in August 2024 and set it out to dry over the winter season with new inspection ports and fans, perched on sawhorses in our garage. It didn’t need much work beyond restoring the deck and I was happy to find out it didn’t leak, either! One neighbor loaned me a dolly, and I’ve invited them all to use the boat.

*Sunfish years are approximate. Smilin Steve advertised his as a 1970 (old rudder style; no cockpit cuddy) and the second is a guess at 1971, since it also has old rudder style, with the cuddy. Chat on the Facebook page has helped narrow this down.) 

In summary, no matter when you get your start, sailing can be rewarding for all ages! Richard certainly used the available resources to get on the water and the smiles on his grandchildren clearly say it all!  Thank you, Richard, for the pictures and the background on your sailing successes. 

ISCA/USSCA Class Administrator

8070 Willow Tree Way, Alpharetta, GA 30005

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