History

The first indication of sun fish activity in San Diego was recorded in 1965, followed by forming Fleet No. 127 in 1966, which was disbanded at the end of the 1976 sailing season.

Mission Bay Fleet No. 632 was formed in 1981 by Linda and Roger Swingle who moved to San Diego from New Jersey. What started as a family-run operation quickly became a full-fledged fleet with 18 members. Two of these members, John Tentor and Mike Waters, have stayed with the fleet until present time.

In 1984, the first issue of Foghorn was published by Linda Swingle, and John Tentor was the fleet’s commodore at that time.The photo to the right was taken during the 1984 sailing season, and it shows clockwise, from the top: John Tentor, Roger Swingle, Linda Swingle, and Ray Dozier. 

In 1985, Earl and Ray Dozier, Harvey Atkinson, John Tentor, and Linda and Dave Swingle (fleet co-founders) participated in the Regional Championships held in San Diego.In 1986, with the advancement in technologies, the sailing scores were printed out from a computer for the first time.

1988 brought the start of the annual summer campout event at Lake Morena, which was held on and off between 1988 and 1997. The lake was permanently drained in 2001, thus ending the campouts. Mike W. was a commodore from 1988 to 1990, followed by Jeff A. who was a commodore from 1991 until 2005.

In 1992, a few members of the fleet went to the Southwest Regional event in San Francisco, and the Swingle family moved to Colorado.In 1994, Mission Bay Fleet 632, in cooperation with the Navy Yacht Club in Coronado, held another Western Regional event in San Diego.

In 1996, the handicap trophy was introduced for a sailor showing the most improvement during a single season.1999 brought with it an increase in the number of races held from two to three, and potluck was introduced.​ In 2002, Frostbite Regatta event was introduced by a new member Anne H.

An article was published about the fleet in the 2004 second issue of the Windward Leg, a USSCA newsletter (written by John Tentor). In 2004 five new members joined the fleet. In 2006, Mission Bay Fleet 632 was invited to join MBYC’s One Design Regatta for the first time, and an Ocean Cruise event was introduced by a new member Rick Ten Eyck. In 2007, two new members joined the club.

In 2008, the SDSF Club’s website was designed by Beata, and Les P. was elected the commodore. In 2009, Family Days and two new awards (Best Woman Sailor and Most Tenacious Sailor) were introduced by Les to attract new members, and three new members joined the fleet – Barney, Patti, and Bob.  John Tentor, club’s longtime Foghorn editor, historian, and a founding member officially retired from sailing. In 2010, the club welcomed a new commodore – Mike W. Two new members joined the fleet – Paul C. and Jennifer.

In 2011, Les introduced a new event – sun fish clinic. The club decided to hold the USSCA’s Western Regional Regatta again.

In 2012, the club welcomed two new members – Fauss and Paul H. Patti introduced a new “spooky” event – Halloween Sail – with fun sailing games and treats. 

In 2013, we welcomed five new members – Robin, Kate, Jim K. and Heidi K. We elected Patti as our commodore and John H. as a new fleet captain. Congratulations! The fleet co-hosted the West Region Regatta with the MBYC in August, and the event drew a large group of sun fish sailors. We are growing in numbers!

In 2014, we welcomed five new members – Bob, Jerry, Seth, Earl, and Luis.In 2015, we elected John H. as our new commodore and Fauss as our new fleet captain. We also welcomed new member Mike J.

In 2016, Fauss moved to Florida and Les replaced him as our fleet captain. We’ve updated our club website and hosted a wonderful annual awards dinner.

In 2017, Les was elected to the position of commodore and Barney to the fleet captain at our annual club dinner. Craig and Jeff F. joined the club. 

In 2019 Mike K joined the club and became the fleet captain in 2020.