Sunfish general questions

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UKdinghyman

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The sunfish is rare over here in the UK however, I am off on holiday to the carribbean in a month and know there are sunfish at the hotel for use.

I have a few questions please. How stable is a sunfish against say a laser? Is it more stable or pretty much as tippy as a laser, and sensitive on the helm especially downwind? Is it a lot heavier than a laser to move about and what about the power in the sail is it more controllable. Is it easier to right after a capsize?

Any advice welcomed please. I hope to have a go at sailing one on holiday.
 
I never sailed a laser but two people can easily lift a sunfish. Sunfishes are tippy if it is high winds but if not not to easy to tip.
 
I have extensive Sunfish experience and limited Laser experience. I'd describe the Sunfish as a Sunday Sailor, and the Laser as a high performance racing craft which constanly requires you to "be on your toes" . The Laser tips diagonally forward. The Sunfish tip to its side. If I want excitment I take out my windsurfer or hang glider. If I want a leisurely sail, its the Sunfish, hands down!
 
Thanks guys. It's a shame that you don't see them over here in the UK (I don't know why) as they have made it to the Netherlands & Italy. The sunfish must be one of the biggest classes in the USA judging by the 5 figure sail numbers and seem reasonably priced secondhand.

Maybe one day they might take off here ???
 
UKdinghyman said:
The sunfish is rare over here in the UK however, I am off on holiday to the carribbean in a month and know there are sunfish at the hotel for use.

I have a few questions please. How stable is a sunfish against say a laser? Is it more stable or pretty much as tippy as a laser, and sensitive on the helm especially downwind? Is it a lot heavier than a laser to move about and what about the power in the sail is it more controllable. Is it easier to right after a capsize?

Any advice welcomed please. I hope to have a go at sailing one on holiday.
Click to expand...

Several of your questions have been answered by now.

A Laser and a Sunfish weigh just about the same (130 lbs, if dry), but the Laser is tippier. Although death rolling a Sunfish downwind is possible, it doesn't happen anywhere as easily as in a Laser.

A Sunfish is easier to right than a full rig Laser, and about the same as a Radial.

Personal experience: One 'problem' that you may run into is that Sunfishes at beach places are usually set up with the boom very high (to prevent guests from damaging their skulls). Convincing the beach staff to change the set up may require a lot of convincing. In addition, the Sunfish is pretty sensitive to the gooseneck setting and hotel boats don't have the adjustment. Therefore, you may find yourself with a fish that is difficult to tack in higher winds. But come to think of it, most beach places won't let you out once the wind pipes up.
 
The Sunfish has a relatively flat bottom while the Laser is rounder. That makes the 'fish much more stable and forgiving.
 
One more down side to a Laser. Letting the sail down requires you to remove the mast, and most people don't do that, or tip them over either, so picnicing next to one requires you to listen to the flapping sail which is quite annoying.
 
Thank-you all for your help. Yes, I suppose the fact that you have to lift the mast out to get the sail off is cumbersome. I took it for granted when I was younger. I would have to think twice about it now though! In fact the radial rig wasn't invented (let alone 4.7) when I sailed a laser.

It's a shame that there aren't many sunfish about over here. I have yet to see one, only pictures from the web. There must be many UK sailors that have gone by the tippy 'machine' and look for something a little less demanding. The sunfish certainly looks to be one of those boats but certainly offers with ability the way to get the best out of it. (I expect there are many current laser sailors older than me just smiling.....)
 
Hello UKdinghy man ,
I'm an English bloke from the Isle of Wight , and i now live in Deerfield Beach , Florida.
Over the past 6 months i've seen a couple of Sunfish & an old Sailfish for sale on eBay.co.uk , so keep your eyes open as there are a few over there.
I think that both of the Sunfish were up north ( Yorkshire ) and one was up for 250 quid & didn't get any takers.

Cheers ,

Len
 
Hello IsleofWightLen
Thanks for the post. Hoping to try a 'fish in a few days time whilst on hols, see how I go first. I've 'messed about' in various dinghies over the years (with gaps) from an old mirror, ok, 420cherub, Int Moth, 505, laser, solo etc and when something unusual catches my eye, then i'm left intrigued.

Maybe when I get back, i'll be bitten by the 'fish bug and go a hunting for a cheap one over here but at the moment it's just a case of finding out what to expect before I take off on one and maybe dump it 10 metres from the shore :)

But then you never know !
 
UKdinghyman,

If you have dumped a laser and gotten it back up, the Sunfish is much easier (unless youv'e gone turtle and have the mast stuck in the mud, then it is a pain) and a little easier than the laser to re-board. Normally the SF just lays on its side, you make sure the main sheet is free, swim around, grab the dagger board, apply a little weight and in less than a minute you can be back on board. A practice capsize or 2 will make things familar so you know what to expect. Good luck, get a Sunfish and have fun.
 

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Thanks to all for your help.

Guess what, having been told there were SF at the hotel, I got there to find that they had just been replaced.... by Hobie Cats.............

Hence I never got to try one. :(

Guess i'll need to wait till the next vacation but I won't give up!
 
If you ever vacation on Cape Cod during the summertime I'll be able to rent one to you by the day(s), or week. I'm a 3 min. walk to the beach with the best sailing around!

Al Courtines [email protected]
 
Well I did have a go of the cats but I have had a go of Hobies' before from the 14,16, FX1 and up to the Tiger, it was the SF that I really wanted to try.
Thanks anyway. Try one hopefully on next vacation, whenever that may be!
 
Ahoy, UKdinghyman, You've just described me -brand new to the SFforum, sorry I'm so late to the discussion- I sail a Hobie 14(late '80's) and a late '60's Sunfish on a small lake in northern NJ. Both were and are resurrection projects. I grew up learning on a sunfish-type sailboat and we keep 4-6 Sunfish at our 'clubhouse' for the kids to learn on during 'daycamp' and for the community at large to just try out... It's a great learner, alot of fun, and in no wind or good wind a bit of a real sailing... Hope you find one to play with -it is play. Take a youngster with you, if you can.
 
There was a builder for a very brief time in Italy. Holland imported them during that time (early 80's if I remember right). They also recently imported about 20 new boats (couple years ago). Holland and Italy have hosted the World Championship which is why there are boats there as well.

To get new Sunfish in another country today requires importing them from the US. The only builder is in the US. It's not impossible, but thus far a Dealer is involved. It likely would take a container full of boats and the ability to sell them rather snappily to make someone's effort worthwhile. If someone is interested they only need to call Vanguard Sailboats.

There are used boats everywhere, though more in the US than anywhere. The Class would be very interested in adding more fleets and country organizations. Contact the Class Office.
 
Looking accross many pictures of sunfish, is there any difference between the 4 and 5 part sails? is one type of sail better for racing?
 
The only one to use for racing is the racing sail, most of which are all white. The sails for the Worlds each year are the same cut but made of colored cloth. The "regular" recreational sails are a flatter cut and are too slow to be competitive. Over time those have had 5, 6 or 7 panels. The racing sails appear to have five panels but I think if you look closely you will find a very short panel (4-5" high??) at the top of the sail. The worlds sails always have that "mini" panel the same color as the next panel down, so they look like 5 panel sails. BB
 
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