A new Respect for Sailors of smaller Boats

Billy WIlliams

New Member
Hi fellow sailors, I've been sailing for about twenty years now and have owned five different sailboats 25' and under. But just two weeks ago I bought a Sunfish, a nice little "Toy" boat. I never spent this much time overboard and "In The Drink" in all my 30+ years Kayaking the rivers of West Virginia and North Carolina. I'm 60 years old and thought I would just get this little boat to play with since I retired and moved here to Florida. I've got to learn to sail all over again. I still sail a 16' and a 21' now, but this Sunfish thing is an eyeopener. My hat is off to all you folks that can handle these little rockets the way you do, my hats off, my sunglasses and anything else that was not tied to me. I'm having a real good time, just like when I got my first sailboat, a 25', just staying a lot wetter. Hope to see some of you in the Intracoastal Waterway here in Melbourne Fl., I'll be the wet old guy climbing onto the dagger board.
 

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I moved "down" to a Sunfish after owning three catamarans—including a 18'x10' Matrix, 18'x8' Hobie Formula, and a 20'x10' Tornado. Had some fun, but Sunfish are a lot faster to rig, more fun for the dollar, easier to right, and cheaper to repair. 'Should have gone to Sunfish years ago.
 
Welcome! Any idea what kind of boat the sail came from? It's sleeved like a Phantom sail, but that's not a Phantom logo (at least I don't think it is).
 
Welcome! Any idea what kind of boat the sail came from? It's sleeved like a Phantom sail, but that's not a Phantom logo (at least I don't think it is).
I'm pretty sure it's from an Aqua Finn. As luck would have it, when I bought the boat, the fellow have another sail exactly like it , new, that he gave me. I just bought a Laser yesterday, hull only, so I'm going to try the Sunfish rig on it and see what happens... maybe I can get by with this type rig until I can find the proper rigging for a Laser.
 
I bought a Laser about ten years ago, and found it too "tender"—loaned it to my BIL for a sail—who got about a ¼-mile, when he capsized it. :p
 
Welcome aboard! I also recently downsized from an O'Day Daysailer II to a Sunfish. There's work to do before I can splash her, hopefully before the weather gets too unfriendly here in Tennessee.
 
Aye Billy
Don't feel so bad...I have had my Sunfish for over 20 years...sailed in most kinds of wind and water including salt. But I recently waxed the deck...whooosh ..fell in the drink 3 times... never happened before. I am older than you are!!! Then I got "smart" and sat in the cockpit. I read that "mop and glow" is a "non-skid" type of wax...so I scrubbed the deck and got the wax off and put m and g on it...I will test it tomorrow...if there is any wind and see what happens..I was laughing underwater at my folly.
Kitty
 
Hello Billy & welcome to this awesome forum.
Take a look at this you tube video I posted almost 3 years now.
The response has been extremely positive even in languages that I needed Google translate to help me understand.
I got hooked a few years ago. and still love them.
 
After 3:00, the clew catches a wave, and he falls in. (Capsized?) I adjust the gooseneck to keep the clew "high" for that reason. (Cold lake water here). :(
 
After 3:00, the clew catches a wave, and he falls in. (Capsized?) I adjust the gooseneck to keep the clew "high" for that reason. (Cold lake water here). :(
That works for a regular Sunfish, but the video shows a Super Sunfish; there's is no gooseneck adjustment. However, loosening the vang will help. In addition, keeping the boat flat during maneuvers will minimize the boom catching the water.
 
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I was talking to a someone a few days ago about sailing. He owns a 40 something ft. boat moored in the Caribbean. He told me if you can sail a Sunfish, you can sail anything. Basically, he told me these little boats are hard to sail. I don't agree.
 
I don't agree either. A 40 footer (or for that matter any boat over 20' or so) requires a lot of skills that one doesn't need on a small dinghy.
I wouldn't know how to empty the head (and keep my nose closed at the same time)
I wouldn't know how to maintain the engine
I don't know how to enter a slip without making a fool of myself
And I don't even know how to properly wrap a line around a winch

So sad ;)


 
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Let's see, big boat vs. small boat
Big boat. Emptying the head. Just like an RV. Go to a shore station and pump out the holding tank. Small boat. Not going there.
Big boat. Maintaining the engine. Most are diesels that don't require much maintenance although changing the oil could be an interesting task. Small boat. What engine? I was thinking of putting a bow thruster on my Viking so I don't have to paddle when the wind dies.
Big boat. Entering a slip. Easy as a power boat. It's like steering a sailboat with no wind. Small boat. You're 50 ft from the dock nicely drifting in and the wind shifts. Nuf said.
Big boat. Winches are easy. Small boat. Mount a small winch on the deck to raise the sail. You will get comments.
 
Hello Billy & welcome to this awesome forum.
Take a look at this you tube video I posted almost 3 years now.
The response has been extremely positive even in languages that I needed Google translate to help me understand.
I got hooked a few years ago. and still love them.
Thanks for the video, I've sailed bigger boats so long and really enjoy them, the peace and quite at night and so on, but the the Sunfish is just FUN, I love it all. Thanks again. That is a Wonderful boat you have, you did a real good job on it.
 
I just picked up another Sunfish a few days ago from an"Old Sailor", we, well, he talked for a hour or more about the ol days of sailing and racing, it was very entertaining. I love to listen to the stories sailors have to share, I'm collecting a few stories of my own, (there may be a book in there somewhere). I also just finished some repair work on a Laser I picked up for $30 , just the hullLaser with Lateen Rig.jpg 100_2130.jpg . I took the rig from the newer Sunfish and put it on the Laser hull for a test run today. I have created a Monster, a FrankenLaser, or FrankenFish, I don't know. Anyway it was fun, that's all that counts.....
 
Thanks for the video, I've sailed bigger boats so long and really enjoy them, the peace and quite at night and so on, but the the Sunfish is just FUN, I love it all. Thanks again. That is a Wonderful boat you have, you did a real good job on it.

Thank you for your kind words Billy.
 
I love my SF and I love keelboat sailing but to me they are very different experiences. I think it's physically harder to sail a SF as they are athletic little boats (by which I mean ducking the boom, hiking...I know they are not athletic compared to a Laser or a skiff or something). Keelboats have a lot more controls to play with (jib! Winches, vang, possibly electronic chart stuff). I love sailing in pretty much anything, but it's a different experience.
 
blue boat 2.jpg blue boat.jpg A friend gave me a sailboat today just to get it out of his yard. He said that another fellow told him some years ago that it was an English made boat, we just son't know. Does anyone have an idea what it is? I would just like to know. Wooden boat, about 11' long, storage under seating and the bow area, the upper half of the mast is wood and raised like my sunfish, has a really short centerboard.
 

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Your mainsail is equipped with what is called a "Gunter" rig. Handy in England for going under their many low bridges. Even British steamboats had their chimney stacks on a hinge.:oops:

Your boat is short only because of British tax laws. In New Hampshire, it would be exempt from the existing "Wind Tax" of sailboats over 12'. (12+ feet is $45 annually).

British small boat designs are very well done, and affected the fine sailboats available here in wood or fiberglass in the 60s and 70s. Some, like Windmill and Thistle classes are actively raced today. My own British-designed Tornado was entered in the World Olympics (1976), and has the World Olympics inspection seal on the mainsail. (The Tornado was used as the as equipment for the multihull discipline in the Olympic Games from 1976 through 2008).

Are you located in central Florida? If so, that's a tough environment to keep a wooden boat from rotting away—or eaten by termites! :( If you want to sell it, try Craigslist in New England states.


As previously stated, try:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_(dinghy)

70,000 were made, but few made it to our shores.

:)
 
Your mainsail is equipped with what is called a "Gunter" rig. Handy in England for going under their many low bridges. Even British steamboats had their chimney stacks on a hinge.:oops:

Your boat is short only because of British tax laws. In New Hampshire, it would be exempt from the existing "Wind Tax" of sailboats over 12'. (12+ feet is $45 annually).

British small boat designs are very well done, and affected the fine sailboats available here in wood or fiberglass in the 60s and 70s. Some, like Windmill and Thistle classes are actively raced today. My own British-designed Tornado was entered in the World Olympics (1976), and has the World Olympics inspection seal on the mainsail. (The Tornado was used as the as equipment for the multihull discipline in the Olympic Games from 1976 through 2008).

Are you located in central Florida? If so, that's a tough environment to keep a wooden boat from rotting away—or eaten by termites! :( If you want to sell it, try Craigslist in New England states.


As previously stated, try:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_(dinghy)

70,000 were made, but few made it to our shores.

:)
Thanks, for all of the information. Yes the environment is tough here, there is some rot in the bow area and a spot on one side. I'm thinking of repairing the boat, but I don't know if it's worth it. This thing may be something that someone would want, I'll have to ask around.....
 
Thanks, for all of the information. Yes the environment is tough here, there is some rot in the bow area and a spot on one side. I'm thinking of repairing the boat, but I don't know if it's worth it. This thing may be something that someone would want, I'll have to ask around.....

You can clean up those areas and seal them with West System 105 Epoxy Resin and any of the hardeners. Add filler as needed. Repaint.
Looks worth repairing, if you ask around here in NW Florida if someone wants it we'd say yes :)
 
Hello Billy & welcome to this awesome forum.
Take a look at this you tube video I posted almost 3 years now.
The response has been extremely positive even in languages that I needed Google translate to help me understand.
I got hooked a few years ago. and still love them.

Is that a GoPro and how did you secure it to the end of the boom?? I have a Kodak PlaySport and a helmet mount. Hmmm, thinking.
 
Okay, I just picked up another sailboat this weekend. From what I can find out about this boat, I'm in a pretty small group. It's a US-1. It needed a few repairs, which I have almost finished, before I could try her out. I hope to get in the water by Friday. I'll post some pictures. Anyone else have one of these?
 
The US-1 was made by the Advance Sailboat Corp in Missouri. The hull came from a chopped down Windmill hull (lower sheer). It was made as a response to the success of the Laser.
 

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