A few questions from a new Sunfish owner

FLSailinGirl

New Member
We just bought a little Sunfish knock-off and are unfamiliar with it. I'll ask the standard questions ya'll are already tired of answering first. Have any of you replaced the somewhat cheesy blocks on the lower boom with slightly higher quality and, if so, with what did you replace them? What size line are ya'll using for your main sheet? And ... what's the URL for the Less Expensive Sunfish Parts Store. I think we got a good deal. Bought her on eBay for 102.50 FRN's The sail, mast, booms, blocks, rudder, tiller and daggerboard are all there and in good shape. The hull's not too beat up, but we need to replace some lines and minor hardware.
IM000616.jpg
 
Looks good. The booms and sail look a little smaller than the SF. For the lines - 3/16" - 1/4" x 24-25' long low/no stretch for halyard, 5/16" - 3/8" x 28-29' for the main (some prefer a longer 32' line). I use a rolling hitch (a variation of the clove hitch) and add 2 half hitches and stopper knot for the halyard to boom connection. A couple of wraps of white electrical tape above the hitch will help keep the hitch from sliding up. For the boom blocks, APS lists the "official" Racelite boom blocks at about $11+ (front) and $16+ (rear). Since you don't require "official" parts, you are on your own. You aready have the URL for the Less Expensive Sunfish Parts Store - ebay, as long as you are carefull and know what the retail price for an item is. Check Yahoo Sunfish Sailor in the Clone Files for help in identifying your boat and any repairs you may need.
 
Supercub,

The sail might be smaller, but the spar may be sitting a few feet to starboard. In a 2D photo, this would make it look more narrow. Can't see the height, but I guessed the apex and compared it to the boat length, and it looks about right. Dunno.

Noodles
(nitpicking on a day off)
 
Thanks for the responses. I joined the sunfish yahoo group and posted a few more pictures there that might help with identification. It's really not all that important to find out what kind of boat it is, I'm just curious.
 
We had a MiniFish once and this is definitely bigger. This is right around 14' which would put it in the SunFish size, not the MiniFish size. The hull ID # starts with AMF, which is the manufacturer. With some help from people in the Sunfish owner's Yahoo group, I found out it's a 1976 WindFlite 14 (aka KG-14) which was made by AMF as sort of an economy version of the SunFish.
 
gjohn3707,

I have been following FLSailinGirl's quest both here and at SF Sailor. As she stated, her boat is about 14' long, WAY to big for a Minifish. Looking at her pictures and the ones on SFS, I would have to agree with her conclusion, she has a WindFlite 14.

PS: Noodles I think you are correct about the perspective on the sails.
 
Sorry, we have a minifish the same color hull and sail at our sailing camp, and it has the same splash guard as the mini fish.
 
I sent off an email to the US Sailing One Design Committee asking them if they have any reference available for sail logo's. I'll post any replies I get.
 

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