AMF Alcort (now LaserPerformance)

USA Est. 1945

Alcort Inc. designed the Sunfish in 1952 — a flat board with a lateen sail that became the most popular sailboat in history. AMF (American Machine and Foundry) acquired Alcort in 1969 and mass-produced Sunfish by the tens of thousands. The brand changed hands multiple times and is now part of LaserPerformance.

Heritage

Alex Bryan and Cortlandt Heyniger designed the Sunfish as a simple board boat that anyone could sail. The name Alcort combined their surnames. The design has barely changed in 70 years because it didn't need to — it was right from the start.

Vessels (1)

Sunfish

Sunfish

The Sunfish is the most popular sailboat ever made. Over a quarter million have been built since 1952. It weighs 120 pounds. You can carry it on top of a car. The sail is a single lateen rig — one sheet, one halyard, done. A ten-year-old can learn to sail one in an afternoon. An expert can race one at a world championship. The Sunfish removed every barrier to sailing: cost (a used one is a few hundred dollars), complexity (one sail, no rigging to tune), transport (car-top or small trailer), and storage (leans against the garage wall). It is the gateway drug of sailing. More people have learned to sail on a Sunfish than on any other vessel. It's the boat that turns landlocked kids into lifelong sailors.

1952-present · sailboat