Sunfish Takes To Wing...

W

Wingschuck

New Member
What do you think about a Sunfish with wing sails. ?.. I have had a lot of comments... some good and some bad... The latest version is 60 square feet of wing area vs the normal 75 square feet...and just learning how to sail it with a wing has been interesting... check out the www.solidwingsails.com site and let me know...read the detail on the sailing tips and the construction...Chuck
 
I would like some Sunfish and Laser owners to try out a wing protoype for development purposes...
Please contact me via www.solidwingsails.com

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I presume you want people to try your solid wing(s) in your neck of the waters, but where would that be?
 
The winged Sunfish prototype is turning heads on the front page of Sailing Anarchy (05/07/2012).
 
Please comment on the "Look" of these ideas.... Chuck
 

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I see the price is $195 for a kit. If it can be assembled fairly easily that is a great deal. My questions:
1) Is this any faster than a standard Sunfish? The video seems to show it is not.
2) Why is the wing asymetrical? The flow over the wing on port looks like it would be awful.
3) Can you make it so the boom is higher? Right now it looks like you need to scoot to the stern to tack or jibe. Under most circumstances, sitting forward in the cockpit is fastest, so allowing that should speeed this up.
4) How fast or slow is it offwind? I would imagine you would sail it like a skiff offwind - going much higher than a standard Sunfish to keep flow going and speed high. Does it get downwind faster than a standard Sunfish despite additional distance sailed, or not?

The idea of bringing it to the Worlds is a great one. You'd get a lot of exposure and suggestions I am sure.

BB
 
tag said:
the Sunfish Youth and Open World Championships will be in St Petersburg in October - you might ask if you can do a demonstration for all of the sailors that will be gathered for those events.

http://www.sunfishclass.org/worlds/

cheers,
tag
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Good Idea... I will try ... and hope that I can bring two or three Wings so that others can try it out...

Also can you give me some comments on the "look" of the wing.. 'have photoshopped to give more traditional look, but cost is affected...

Chuck
beldar boathead said:
I see the price is $195 for a kit. If it can be assembled fairly easily that is a great deal. My questions:
1) Is this any faster than a standard Sunfish? The video seems to show it is not.
2) Why is the wing asymetrical? The flow over the wing on port looks like it would be awful.
3) Can you make it so the boom is higher? Right now it looks like you need to scoot to the stern to tack or jibe. Under most circumstances, sitting forward in the cockpit is fastest, so allowing that should speeed this up.
4) How fast or slow is it offwind? I would imagine you would sail it like a skiff offwind - going much higher than a standard Sunfish to keep flow going and speed high. Does it get downwind faster than a standard Sunfish despite additional distance sailed, or not?

The idea of bringing it to the Worlds is a great one. You'd get a lot of exposure and suggestions I am sure.

BB
Click to expand...
 
tag said:
the Sunfish Youth and Open World Championships will be in St Petersburg in October - you might ask if you can do a demonstration for all of the sailors that will be gathered for those events.

http://www.sunfishclass.org/worlds/

cheers,
tag
Click to expand...
Good Idea... I will try ... and hope that I can bring two or three Wings so that others can try it out...

Also can you give me some comments on the "look" of the wing.. 'have photoshopped to give more traditional look, but cost is affected...

Chuck
beldar boathead said:
I see the price is $195 for a kit. If it can be assembled fairly easily that is a great deal. My questions:
1) Is this any faster than a standard Sunfish? The video seems to show it is not.
2) Why is the wing asymetrical? The flow over the wing on port looks like it would be awful.
3) Can you make it so the boom is higher? Right now it looks like you need to scoot to the stern to tack or jibe. Under most circumstances, sitting forward in the cockpit is fastest, so allowing that should speeed this up.
4) How fast or slow is it offwind? I would imagine you would sail it like a skiff offwind - going much higher than a standard Sunfish to keep flow going and speed high. Does it get downwind faster than a standard Sunfish despite additional distance sailed, or not?

The idea of bringing it to the Worlds is a great one. You'd get a lot of exposure and suggestions I am sure.

BB
Click to expand...

BB

I will update my web site to reflect the lastest thinking on what it takes to build a wing...in the next few days.

1) The video is not a good showing for the wing, me, a big boat sailor, and never having sailed a Sunfish prior to sailing with the wing prototypes, vs a top notch Sunfish racer... if you look closely it does show the wing catching up rapidly after they both get going.

2) The wing IS symetrical...the aft wing section is adjustable to ceate a slot on either tack.

3) The distance off the deck to the bottom of the wing is controlled by the wing support tube. You need to trade off where you want the Center of Effort... a higher COE may be ok in lighter winds, but could be too much after 10 Knots wind...there seems to be plenty of room in the cockpit since the wing is less than 5.5' behind the mast.

4) I have not had enought time to sail the wing in a lot of wind angles, so I can't answer the questions yet...I seem to spend most of my time making changes construction technique and to the rigging...ie, the control lines for the wing slot, so that tacking can be smoother.

More later

Thanks for the comments

Chuck
 
Chuck, you keep commenting on how it "looks".

It looks good, but from the video you posted it "looks" slower.

I'm more of a "form follows function" type of guy. The only reason to get this sail was if it was faster, nobody wants a slower sail, no matter how cool it looks.


I do like it..I'm thinking of ordering one...but your video's on your website made me wait...



Erik
 
Subsailer said:
Chuck, you keep commenting on how it "looks".

It looks good, but from the video you posted it "looks" slower.

I'm more of a "form follows function" type of guy. The only reason to get this sail was if it was faster, nobody wants a slower sail, no matter how cool it looks.


I do like it..I'm thinking of ordering one...but your video's on your website made me wait...



Erik
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Erik,

Thanks for your comments...I have had a few that have said it was ugly...also wanted to reduce the "tipping" and a little weight up high. I have had a hard time getting head to head videos when the wind would cooperate. I don't have a "team" helping me. At the same time I am learning to sail both the wing and a Sunfish... give us some more time... thanks again.

Chuck
 
Have you tried righting the boat and wing after capsizing? It seems like it might be easier than righting a turtled sail full of water.
 
Demon said:
Have you tried righting the boat and wing after capsizing? It seems like it might be easier than righting a turtled sail full of water.
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Yes, you are correct...In the learning experiance I have had the sail in the water several times... since they are now sealed at the top, they float and would not be possible to Turtle it... while the wing is laying in the water, turning the boat into the wind it rights itself...
 
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