Zim Sailing Interview with Christopher Chwalk (Barrington, RI)

Sailing ISCAs is a lifelong endeavor, and has been foundational in the development of countless sailors around the world. To learn more about this, Zim Sailing caught up with Christopher Chwalk of Barrington, RI to hear about his development in the class and experience going to the Open Worlds in Salinas, Ecuador. We learned about how Christopher's time in the ISCA has made him a better-rounded college sailor, and provided a foundation for future campaigns in other classes. Say Hi! to Christopher the next time you see him at a regatta, and encourage the college sailors in your life to join you for some ISCA sailing!

(Photo from the 2025 ISCA Worlds by Kathleen Tocke Saiing & Media)

Name: Christopher Chwalk
Age: 20
Hometown: Barrington, RI
University: University of Rhode Island
First boat you sailed: Sunfish

How did you get into sailing ISCAs?
I first sailed a Sunfish with my dad when I was 2 years old. I sailed Sunfish off and on throughout my childhood and into middle school, mostly as a fun thing to do on vacation. When I got to high school I began racing in the Sunfish Frostbiting fleet in Barrington, which is where I developed my love for the class. I have been racing most weekends through the winter every year since 2020, and I have learned a lot about the boat.

How did the ISCA/Sunfish play into your development as a young sailor?
It was the first boat I ever sailed with my dad, and it made me want to learn how to sail. As a kid, I would hear about the frostbiting that my dad did every weekend, and it made me want to sail at a high level. This led to me learning how to sail in Optis in Barrington, and moving on to 420s in Newport. Amidst this, I learned how to sail Sunfish in the Barrington Frostbiting fleet, and fell in love with the boat, and the class. The people in the class are a great bunch of goofy people that all share a love for getting better at sailing, and promoting more people to get better at sailing. My favorite thing about this class is how cooperative people are, and how willing to give advice everyone is.

You're an active college sailor, with a long history of youth dinghy sailing. How has sailing the ISCA helped your sailing in other classes?
Sailing in the Barrington Frostbiting fleet has helped me a lot with short course, small fleet racing, which is similar to college sailing. The Barrington venue is also very similar to many college venues because it is very shifty and there is a lot of current. I also think sailing different boats helps make me better at sailing all of the boats that I sail. This well roundedness is something that I strive to continue to work on throughout my life. I have a Snipe, and will be competing in that class along with the ISCA class this year. In the past, I raced Optis and C420s competitively for many years, and did High School sailing at Barrington High School. I also do college sailing in FJs and 420s, race on a GP26 in beer can racing, and do distance racing on a Pearson 36 with my family. All of these different looks at sailing help to make me better at getting around the race course.

What motivated you to get on the path to ISCA Worlds in 2025? Did you start the year with a plan to qualify for Open Worlds?
Ever since I started doing the Sunfish Frostbiting in Barrington, I had been thinking about going to Worlds. There are a few people that I race against in that fleet who have been, and they always talk about how great of an experience it is. I didn’t really have a plan to qualify for ISCA Worlds, but I sailed in the 2024 Erie Open Regatta for fun with my mom and dad, and ended up qualifying. It was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.

Tell me a bit about your qualification regatta. ISCA sailors are a pretty easygoing bunch, how did having berths to Worlds on the line impact the regatta experience?
I went to the 2024 Erie Open Regatta in Erie, PA, where I placed third and got my berth for ISCA worlds. I went to this regatta, not really with much of a plan to qualify for ISCA Worlds, so it was an exciting surprise to get third and qualify. I would agree that Sunfish sailors are generally quite easy going, and at the qualifier in Erie PA, it was no different. I felt welcomed by the top group of sailors, and I felt a willingness from them to teach me how to be better at sailing the boat.

Once you qualified for Worlds, how did you prepare for a week of sailing in Salinas, Ecuador?
I prepared for Worlds by competing in regional regattas, training in the gym twice a week, and sailing in college regattas every weekend. Looking back on it, I don’t think that I prepared enough for the long courses that we raced on at Worlds. The regional regattas I sailed in, and all the college sailing I did, were on short courses which didn’t prepare me for 1 mile long beats. I also think that I should have done more cardio leading up to the event, as I felt that I didn’t have enough stamina. Even though I feel that I didn’t prepare enough, I am pleased with how the preparation that I did went. I placed well at the regional regattas I competed in, and I had a good season of college sailing.

Congrats on a very solid 41st at Worlds! What were your goals going into the regatta, and did you meet them?
My goal was to be in the top third, which I missed by quite a bit. I would attribute this to my lack of preparation leading up to the event, and primarily my lack of big fleet practice. I would have liked to have had some more practice in big fleets on big courses. Overall though, I am pleased with my performance. Even though I didn’t place as well as I had hoped, I feel as though I raced many good, clean races that I can be proud of.

What was the biggest lesson you learned at the 2025 Worlds?
I think the biggest lesson I learned was about starting. It had been a while since I had started on a line with 85 boats, since Opti Nationals in 2019, so I was a bit nervous to push the line. This was detrimental to my performance because I was not able to have good starts for the first couple of days. On the last day, I decided that I needed to really push the line, I had nothing to lose, and this led to my two best starts of the event.

Are we going to see you at 2026 Worlds? What's your plan for ISCA sailing in 2026?
Unfortunately I didn’t qualify for the 2026 Worlds at either of the qualifiers that I attended, so I will not be in St Croix. Through 2026, I plan to compete in the North Americans in Barrington, and probably one or two more events throughout the summer. Hopefully at one of the events I sail in this summer I can qualify for the 2027 ISCA Worlds in Bonaire.

Learn More About the Zim ISCA Sailboat