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ISCA President

ISCA Class Builder Update

ISCA Rules and Updates

• Does Your Boat Measure Up?
• World Sailing Plaques: Why It Matters

Bahamas ISCA Junior National Championship 2025

Boca Ciega Championship - 3 Day Learn to Race Regatta

Empowerment by 129 Pounds of Fiberglass

Major Championship Schedule 

• Midwinter Series
• US Masters Save the Date

USSCA Events

• Florida Regional Championship #1 
• Gulf Coast Regional Championship 

Make your regatta experience a breeze and charter with Zim Sailing for ISCA International Masters and US Nationals this March at USSCMC! Show up at the venue, hop into your brand-new ISCA, have a blast, and walk away when the boat is put back on the trailer at the end of the event. No tying boats down, no stopping on I-95 to readjust covers; just rig your boat and enjoy the regatta while our team handles the rest. Take advantage of a $200 discount if you book both events! Discount applied automatically at checkout.

Book Charter for International Masters Champs

Book Charter for US Nationals

charter@zimsailing.com | 401-237-6117

By John Butine, ISCA Chief Measurer

Vol 6

Mainsheet System

When the Class approved the extra purchase in the mainsheet system, sailors described it as – and I will quote Amanda Callahan – “a game changer.”  The extra purchase allows sailors potentially to be more comfortable sailing upwind in heavier air, and hopefully to be more competitive in a greater range of wind conditions.  Competitors at all levels are using it as conditions warrant.  Immediately, sailors (me included) referred to it as the 2:1 mainsheet. I hope to set the record straight here as to what it technically is.

The conventional mainsheet system where the sheet attaches to the traveler bridle, passes through the boom blocks and then down to the deck ratchet block, is a 2:1 system. The diagram below shows that arrangement. The load is the force of the wind on the sail, which I have labeled as W. Each boom block shares half of the wind load (the green “1”) and the sailor pulling on the sheet has an effort equal to half of the wind load (red “1”).

For the Class approved mainsheet system where a boom block could be attached to the traveler bridle, this creates a 3:1 mainsheet system, effectively adding one additional purchase to the mainsheet system. You may recall the original wording of Rule 3.7.1 stated that the end of the mainsheet had to be tied to the aft boom block eyestrap.  This was quickly changed to read that the sheet had to pass through the eyestrap but could be tied to the boom. Looking at the diagram below, labeled as 3:1, you will see that two-thirds of the wind load is now at the aft boom block, one-third is at the forward boom block, and the effort by the sailor to trim the sail is also one-third of the wind load.  Anyone who has sailed with the Class approved 3:1 upwind in a blow knows this reduced effort is easier on the arms and hands.

As I mentioned above, two-thirds of the wind load is at the aft boom block in the 3:1 system. This is consistent with the wording of Rule 3.7.1, allowing the mainsheet end to be tied to the boom provided it passes through the eyestrap. By not attaching the sheet to the strap itself, the load on the block and eyestrap is only one-third of the wind load, the other one-third is carried by the boom itself. The traveler bridle also sees that two-thirds wind load. As part of the improvements to the ISCA boat built by Zim, all the deck fittings are backed by aluminum plates. This helps ensure the traveler withstands the loading in the most challenging conditions (see photo below).

I hope you found this edition of Measure Up useful. If you have ideas for other topics or rules questions, please send them to me at chief.measurer@sunfishclass.org.

2025 marked several major milestones for the ISCA Class. 

World Sailing Plaques are issued only to boats that are approved by World Sailing as official World Sailing classes. In December 2025, ISCA and World Sailing signed a formal agreement granting the ISCA continued World Sailing Class status -- the result of more than two years of work. This replaces a prior agreement dating back to 1991. The 2025 agreement secures the future of the class by approving the ISCA boat as the class-legal successor to the Sunfish® (all Sunfish produced prior to 2025 continue to be legal).  As shown below, all new boats now come with an ISCA World Sailing Plaque (sticker.)

Earlier in the year, World Sailing approved Zim Sailing as the builder of the ISCA.  The next step is to receive World Sailing’s final approval of the ISCA Construction Manual, which was developed by Zim Sailing. It states for the first time a clear and consistent set of specifications of how ISCA boats are built. 

ISCA now has ownership of the Construction Manual and maintains a direct relationship with World Sailing. Most importantly, World Sailing status allows ISCA to continue holding World Championships and to be eligible for events such as the Pan American Games.  Per our agreement with Zim, at the end of 2028, ISCA will also have ownership of the hull plug, which is used to make hull molds.

What does the World Sailing Plaque mean?

A World Sailing (WS) Plaque confirms that an ISCA boat was built to approved class specifications. It ensures consistency among boats and guarantees that any future changes have been approved by the class, the builder, and World Sailing. A WS Plaque is required to race in all ISCA races, including local, regional, continental, and World Championships, and helps maintain long-term boat value.

Boat owner notice:

Per our class Rule 2.5, all hulls produced in 1998 and later carry a World Sailing Building Plaque. 

Boats built by Laser Performance between 2021 and March 2023 may have been delivered without compliant plaques. Owners of boats from this period -- or boats built between 1998 and 2020 that don’t have an ISAF or World Sailing plaque -- should contact the class with their hull number for assistance (info@sunfishclass.org). MORE INFO

Examples of earlier and current World Sailing plaques, including the plaque introduced in January 2025, are shown in the accompanying images.

The breathtaking turquoise waters of Elizabeth Harbour, Great Exuma in The Bahamas, were filled with bright Sunfish sails the weekend of November 15-16 with 23 junior sailors from around the country competing in the 2025 Bahamas Sunfish Junior Championships.  We had a steady 12 knots of breeze on Saturday for some exciting racing. As the forecast predicted very light and possibly unsailable wind on Sunday, we squeezed in five races on Day 1. 

The competition from our junior sailors was phenomenal with four different winners in the five races. The scores were very close at the end of Day 1 with much on the line for Sunday's races. With everyone in desperate need of a dropped score, we headed out on the water hoping the wind would meet us there. Thankfully, it did. We had two more races, which allowed everyone to throw out their low score. Going into the final race two sailors were tied for 1st, and only three points separating 3rd and 4th place finishers as well.  The final race started, and the wind just barely allowed us to finish race #7. 

When all was said and done, Drake Knowles (15 yrs) was the overall Champion, Emit Knowles (16 yrs) came in 2nd, and Kahden Knowles (16 yrs) finished in 3rd place. No relation among the "Knowles" on the podium either -- just solid sailors from good ole Bahamian roots. 

It's very exciting to be a part of the Sunfish Class in The Bahamas, and see these junior sailors raising the bar of their level of competition year after year!

Drone shots: Carson Gray (Grays Media Productions)

Others: Tamara Knowles, Exuma Sailing Club

Racing in Boca Ciega

 By Derrick Fries Ph.D.

In 1975 in Miami, Florida, I was honored to win my first World Sunfish Championship (WL Spring 1975).  More than a hundred sailors from all over the world sailed in the very light and tricky seas by Kings Point Yacht Club. I was 21 years old and had been to three prior World Championships, placing 4th, 7th and 4th, respectively, before my success in Miami.

It all seems like yesterday and now, fifty years later, I wanted to reflect on and rejoice in this accomplishment that altered my pathway of life. Since my Miami victory occurred when I was age 21, I decided in the summer of 2025 to complete 21 athletic events, including running races, triathlons and Sunfish regattas. In other words, the 129 pounds of fiberglass in the Sunfish empowered me to seek more and more goals and objectives in the next 50 years of my life. Reflecting on this one event in Miami in 1975, I underestimated its unique power to take on challenges both mentally and physically far beyond that of sailing.

At age 72 one could wake up each morning and think the thrill of competition had diminished with passing years. Rather, I have been empowered by these early athletic experiences to realize I needed to honor my DNA, which was telling me loud and clear that I needed continuous physical movement. I needed new goals and activities that keep me physically moving for long-term athletic and health needs. No lying around on the couch would ever work in my life, and this also in later years keeps me away from too much time looking at a piece of glass. 

In 2025 I set out on the mission of 21 athletic events, and training at my high school graduation weight of 158 pounds. This weight made training much easier and helped greatly in the running races. But 21 events in the summer of 2025 meant an event almost every weekend to honor an important accomplishment fifty years earlier.

Now, fifty years later, I recognize that other Sunfish victories and everything I did and accomplished was deeply influenced by that 129 pounds of fiberglass. I remember the challenges of earning a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, where many of my colleagues dropped out of the program after the statistical classes and heavy workload. But I would not let this happen to me. No math class was too difficult to overcome when I managed the training for years as I chased after a World Championship and North American Championship. 

The power of that 129 pounds of fiberglass would carry forward through many other storms and obstacles. For example, I trained for a year for a full Ironman endeavor, only to crash at mile 44 of a 112-mile bike course and break my clavicle. But I still finished the entire event, running a full marathon with a broken clavicle. As another example, I set a life goal of trying to win National Titles in two sports, sailing and sprint triathlons. After years of training, hard work and applying much of sailing's aerodynamic principles, I met this goal in Cleveland, Ohio in 2013 and Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2015 with two triathlon National Titles. 

The summer of 2025 was inspired by the endless days of sailing a Sunfish as a kid, learning the value of hard work and never giving up!  Along the way, after writing five textbooks and winning National Titles in two sports, my DNA has been honored but it will always hear the calling of the incredible lessons I learned tacking and jibing 129 pounds of fiberglass in the warm waters off Miami, Florida. This crazy little boat we call a Sunfish empowered me for a lifetime and its influence is so strong I could not do 21 events in the summer of 2025 -- it had to be 22.

Derrick Fries has won six world sailing titles and eleven national sailing titles. He also has won two triathlon national titles since 1975. 

The Brant Beach Yacht Club once again is looking forward to welcoming the ISCA class to our shores. The USSCA Masters Championship will be held September 11-13, 2026 in Brant Beach, NJ. As the locals know, Long Beach Island is better in September! With its favorable winds and seasonal temperatures it is a sailor’s delight. 

BBYC is always excited to host a Sunfish event because, as we all know, Sunfish sailors are a special kind of people. In the past, we have had the honor of running Sunfish World Championships along with Youth World Championships, the North American Championship, and the Mid-Atlantic Championship, to name a few. Our motto is the more the merrier, so we hope to get as many Masters sailing in our harbor as we can. Our goal is 75 sailors, so please join us to help us meet that goal.  We promise you outstanding racing, delicious food, friendly faces, and an all around good time! 

Look for the NOR to be posted soon and register promptly. It’s never too early to plan your next amazing ISCA adventure! 

ISCA/USSCA Class Administrator

8070 Willow Tree Way, Alpharetta, GA 30005

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