Greetings, all:
Excellent forum! I've enjoyed reading through the various threads over the past several days and have learned a lot. Those of us who are brand new to Sunfish are lucky to have such a resource. I hope some of you will take a few minutes and answer some questions for me.
My goal is to enjoy a Sunfish on inland lake waters just sailing around by myself. I really want to race, too, but with no fleet anywhere nearby I'll have to travel unless I can convince some of the locals who belong to a sailing club to hop into a Sunfish and join in. That may be possible due to some circumstances not worth discussing herein. I have borrowed an older 'fish, a 1970 model, to sail a bit while I am shopping for a boat to buy. My question is this: In looking for a boat to race, what would be considered a deal-breaker? I am considering boats that are already rigged for racing and just want to know some keys to look for or ask about.
I may have gotten in over my head on this; but, I signed up for a Cordero weekend clinic that's being held in Dallas in mid-September. I suspect there'll be some rather serious racers there. Two questions: Being new to the Sunfish (I've had a grand total of three sails on this borrowed boat), what skills should I work on to best prepare me to take advantage of the clinic? Secondly, what should I look to gain from the clinic?
Where I'll be sailing on inland lakes the winds are usually 5 - 10 kts. Sometimes we get days that are 10 - 15kts. So, for sailing in light to moderate breezes, any thoughts on clothing to buy? I'm looking at Camet shorts with pads and maybe a rash guard. I live in the hot, humid south and the lake water is mostly like bath water. Any other ideas, suggestions?
A little off-beat; but, I have a question about boat registration numbers. Frankly, I can't think of another single item that can be placed on a sailboat--especially one as small as a Sunfish--as ugly as those dang registration numbers. But, flipping through magazines (I just now looked at every picture, cover to cover, in Sailing World), I see where most of the boats do not have registration numbers. And they are boats being raced--not ads for boats. What gives? How does that happen? It might seem trivial but I'd appreciate some insight on this. In fact, one of the Sunfish I am looking at buying belongs to a guy in Florida and it has no registration numbers--and I know it's been raced for at least five years. So...what's the trick?
Thanks in advance to all responses!
Excellent forum! I've enjoyed reading through the various threads over the past several days and have learned a lot. Those of us who are brand new to Sunfish are lucky to have such a resource. I hope some of you will take a few minutes and answer some questions for me.
My goal is to enjoy a Sunfish on inland lake waters just sailing around by myself. I really want to race, too, but with no fleet anywhere nearby I'll have to travel unless I can convince some of the locals who belong to a sailing club to hop into a Sunfish and join in. That may be possible due to some circumstances not worth discussing herein. I have borrowed an older 'fish, a 1970 model, to sail a bit while I am shopping for a boat to buy. My question is this: In looking for a boat to race, what would be considered a deal-breaker? I am considering boats that are already rigged for racing and just want to know some keys to look for or ask about.
I may have gotten in over my head on this; but, I signed up for a Cordero weekend clinic that's being held in Dallas in mid-September. I suspect there'll be some rather serious racers there. Two questions: Being new to the Sunfish (I've had a grand total of three sails on this borrowed boat), what skills should I work on to best prepare me to take advantage of the clinic? Secondly, what should I look to gain from the clinic?
Where I'll be sailing on inland lakes the winds are usually 5 - 10 kts. Sometimes we get days that are 10 - 15kts. So, for sailing in light to moderate breezes, any thoughts on clothing to buy? I'm looking at Camet shorts with pads and maybe a rash guard. I live in the hot, humid south and the lake water is mostly like bath water. Any other ideas, suggestions?
A little off-beat; but, I have a question about boat registration numbers. Frankly, I can't think of another single item that can be placed on a sailboat--especially one as small as a Sunfish--as ugly as those dang registration numbers. But, flipping through magazines (I just now looked at every picture, cover to cover, in Sailing World), I see where most of the boats do not have registration numbers. And they are boats being raced--not ads for boats. What gives? How does that happen? It might seem trivial but I'd appreciate some insight on this. In fact, one of the Sunfish I am looking at buying belongs to a guy in Florida and it has no registration numbers--and I know it's been raced for at least five years. So...what's the trick?
Thanks in advance to all responses!