ISCA Worlds: “It’s never like this”

The ISCA (formerly Sunfish) “Worlds Series” had seven days of racing to award four World titles in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. The Youth, Masters and Women’s championships on November 6-8, followed by the 55th Open World Championship on November 10-13, were missing the normally reliable easterly trade winds due to a weather system near the Bahamas

The Youth, Masters and Women’s competitors sailed in a combined 74 boat, 18 country fleet. This format allows, for example, a 17-year-old woman to compete in both the Youth and Women’s championships. However, the challenging conditions allowed for racing only on the middle day of the event.

In the 32-boat Women’s fleet, Tania Zimmerman of Peru prevailed by one point over her cousin, Sophie Zimmerman Vega, also of Peru. Fourth-place finisher Marie Jose Poncell qualified Chile for the Pan Am Games, as Ecuador, represented by third-place finisher Marie Jose Cucalon, had already qualified.

In the Youths, Rafael Sarrazin of Ecuador won the 19-boat fleet, stepping up from his second-place finish in 2025. Agustin Soto of Chile trailed by just one point to finish second, while Mexico’s Valentina Carranza Hernandez brought home third and was also the highest-placing female.

Forty-three Masters competed for their World Championship. Apprentice Master Peter Stanton of the host U.S. Virgin Islands won overall, recording four second-place finishes (there are no points handicaps in ISCA Masters racing.)

Amanda Callahan of the US won the Women’s Masters championship while also finishing fourth overall. Americans captured the other three Masters category titles: Andy Beeckman won the Master group (50–59), Hank Saurage took the Grand Masters (60–69), and David Thompson topped the Great Grand Masters (70–79).

The Open Worlds, with 74 competitors from 18 countries, had better luck with the weather, although the trade winds were still missing for the 11-race series.

The first day featured lighter-air races interspersed with squalls and direction changes, leading to some high scores among some of the favorites. The wind left early on day two, with just two races completed. Days three and four saw winds ranging from 10 to 16 knots, but big holes and shifts continued, making consistency a challenge and producing some unusual scorelines.

In the end, Colombia’s Simon Gomez Ortiz won his second consecutive Open Worlds, and he was the only sailor to count only exclusively top-10 finishes. Fellow two-time champion Alonso Collantes of Peru returned to the ISCA Worlds after an eight-year break to finish second. Canadian Luke Ramsay finished third and secured a Pan Am Games berth for Canada.

Final Results:
• Youth, Masters and Women’s Worlds
• Open Worlds