It all began in Waterbury, Connecticut when friends Alexander 'Al' Bryan and Cortlandt 'Cort' Heyniger (the Al and Cort in Alcort) put a sail on a surfboard, and by 1951 created the Sunfish as we know it today. It became the most popular sailboat ever built worldwide with over 300,000 built to date.
For a brief period, Bob Johnstone ran AMF Alcort in Waterbury, CT helping to re-energize Sunfish marketing from 1975 to 1977. When AMF didn't want to build the J/24, Bob J and brother Rod J decided instead to start J/Boats in 1977! But there's more. Later, after AMF sold off their sailboat division to Pearson Yachts, brother Peter bought it out of bankruptcy and merged it with Laser to create Sunfish-Laser in 1991 with funding from North Marine Group (the parent company of North Sails owned by Terry Kohler) and Gary Jobson, amongst others. Later in March 1987, Peter and North Marine Group sold it off to Vanguard Sailboats based in Portsmouth, RI.
When
the Sunfish reached Lake Michigan, the Sunfish sailors in Lake Bluff,
Illinois wanted organized racing, which led to the founding of Lake
Bluff Yacht Club in 1962. They hosted the first Sunfish North American
Championship held in 1963. This summer the Sunfish North Americans and
Lake Bluff YC will celebrate their golden anniversaries, and in
conjunction with the Waukegan Yacht Club, will mark the occasion by
hosting the 50th Sunfish North American Open Championship. The regatta
will be sailed in the fresh waters of Lake Michigan off the beach in
Waukegan, Illinois from August 2 to August 4, 2012. The Youth North
American Championship will also be sailed in Waukegan from July 30 to
August 1, 2012. Sailing photo credits- Onne Van der Wal Learn more about the Sunfish Class and North American Championship sailing information
