New to Sunfish

[George Hart]

I started out on a canoe and a sail kit. I really liked the ease of being able to raise and drop the sail from the back of the boat with a line and pulley blocks! I can understand maybe not lifting the sail, pressure on the hull of the boat. But I have tried sailing into the bank a few times under heaver than I should have wind and think I will be in trouble if I try it with a dock.

My question is I am considering putting a strap round the top of the mast and installing a pulley and putting a pulley block at the bottom of the mast above the goose neck to be able to drop the sail and then paddle into hard landings. I also consider I will need to lash the gooseneck to the deck for capsizing. I would like thoughts about such an upgrade?

 

[sailcraftri]

You don't really need to add the blocks. Just get a longer halyard and run it thru the coaming to a new cleat installed next to the daggerboard trunk. May require an inspection port to add a back up plate and bolt the cleat to the deck.

 

[George Hart]

I like that idea as I already have an inspection port between mast and dagger board. But I would still have the weight of the sail pulling down on the mast? Is that an issue?

 

[Sailflow]

What type of landings are you doing? On beaches and docks, you would like to land coming into the wind. I realize you can't always do that, but with practice the Sunfish is pretty easy to bring in and slide off into the water with the sail up. Before modifying I would just practice raising and lower the sail while out on the water. Have lowered and raised the sail in the big waves and wind after making adjustments to the sail. Also have come in during heavy air and waves, dropped the sail before beaching and then paddled in. It might be good to have shock cord to hook on either side of the boat and over the booms in case the wind is from a bad direction.

 

[sailcraftri]

The Sunfish has for the last 60 years or more had the halyard go to the deck. For racing purposes I can see attaching the halyard to the mast. But for recreation sailing I would not worry about that. If anything since you have an inspection port, you could thru bolt your halyard eye/block. There is no way to relieve the mast compression and still run the halyard aft on the deck. You could try using the old halyard ball and clip that some sailboats use (see this patent application: Patent US3996873 - Halyard clip). Or here: Halyard Lock Heavy-Duty Fixed which requires a ball on the halyard to lock in place. Works with ss halyards but perhaps a knot in a thinner diameter dyneema halyard will work.

 

[L&VW]

I also started out on a canoe and a sail kit. Looking back at photographs of me taken in a gale showed I was fearless, or the manufacturer sold me a sail with too little sail area to capsize that canoe—and I never did!

You don't really need to add the blocks. Just get a longer halyard and run it thru the coaming to a new cleat installed next to the daggerboard trunk. May require an inspection port to add a back up plate and bolt the cleat to the deck.

That's what I did (blue arrow), and it's worked out fine. There's a lot of tension on the halyard, so I didn't secure it near the existing inspection port.

This arrangement is especially efficient at raising the sail, as I can hold onto the halyard and simply "fall" into the cockpit. The sail will raise quickly—even filled with rainwater! Next summer, I plan to move the cleat forward—in line with the cockpit bulkhead, leaving enough room for the backing plate. (Thumbnail attached).

One error in this arrangement was simply drilling a hole in the splashboard. The opening needs to be cut down to the surface of the deck. (Or install a metal-lined fairlead in the splashguard). Aligning the mast's fairlead with the hole cut in the splashguard should be done first, then secondly, secure the cleat so the halyard "runs" in a straight line. I learned that even a slight deviance makes a significant drag on raising the sail.

This photo also shows the "bayonet" (quick-release) type inspection port originally made by Holt-Allen, but newly available online from a Chinese vendor.

 

[signal charlie]

The 1960s mast had a block at the top of the mast before the 1970s plastic cap, eyebolted through. You could put an eyebolt through again with a pulley. If you buy an original part, watch out for the chrome plated brass, the eyebolt could open up under excess pressure. Also use a good locknut, the old ones could vibrate loose, esp on trailer rides and the eyebolt falls off.

 

[George Hart]

I have thought about the top of the mast and believe for the time being I will leave it. I did install a cleat to the mast yesterday just above the gooseneck and plan to hoist the sail via feet on the ground with both hands. And if I want to lower the sail underway, plain to move forward and untie the cleat and see if I can control the lowering properly! If not I plan to buy a mast block and lock witch will cost me a quarter of what I have invested in the boat!!!

I also plan to increase the size of the buzz line to the main sheet so I can hang on to it with out cutting my hand. And plan to mount a lock in the cockpit to be able to lock the line.

Any thoughts?

 

[signal charlie]

....I also plan to increase the size of the buzz line to the main sheet so I can hang on to it with out cutting my hand. And plan to mount a lock in the cockpit to be able to lock the line.

Any thoughts?

Here are recommended sizes for lines to use as a starting point, you can go up and down a 1/8 of an inch or so as desired. We like thicker mainsheets as well, but make sure they are don't kink and that they are not too big to run freely through the blocks. And with the newer line technology a smaller diameter halyard works as well, I know several people who run it through the deck block/fairlead and back through the splashguard to a deck mounted cleat there.

The lock in the cockpit is a good idea, look for a cam cleat, maybe one with a integral fairlead.

Hull weight is for newer boats, boats with aluminum trim weighed 139 lbs.

Sunfish Specifications