Empowered by 129 pounds of fiberglass

The list of Sunfish World Champions includes Sailing Hall of Famers Garry Hoyt, John Kostecki, and Paul Foerster, with two-time winner Derrick Fries reflecting on what the title meant to him:

In 1975 in Miami, Florida, I was honored to win my first World Sunfish Championship. 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.