Sunfish 2017 Worlds

sailcraftri

Well-Known Member
Firzt day of racing with some good winds. Apparently some issues with breaking rudders. Anyone have an idea what was going wrong? Apparently a bolt fixed the problem so I am guessing maybe the pintle pin was breaking.
 
The tillers are aluminum as they have been for the past few years. The straps were riveted on with aluminum rivets instead of stainless so they tore out and caused tons of breakdowns.
 
Chris, rumors have it that Sunfish production will be moved from China to the UK.
Is there something to this?
 
Chris, rumors have it that Sunfish production will be moved from China to the UK.
Is there something to this?
Hi, the class doesn't know the plan, although Laser Performance had Paul Jon Patin test two U.K.- built Sunfish this summer, so they seem to be investigating the idea.
 
It is an interesting idea, given that no one here even knows what a Sunfish is. Still, I guess few people in China know what a sunfish is either! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Ouch!

Some great pictures on Facebook here.


worlds boom damage.jpg
 
Tag inspired me :):

Making sure the bottom of this China-built Sunfish is up to spec:
 

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Wavedancer - you'll notice that in the picture I posted, and the picture you posted (perhaps the same sailor/boat?) - the rudder and tiller are completely missing. Must have somehow lost it when the Sunfish flipped and turtled.
 
Hi, the class doesn't know the plan, although Laser Performance had Paul Jon Patin test two U.K.- built Sunfish this summer, so they seem to be investigating the idea.
LP builds Lasers for the US and Euro markets in England (Banbury). Made in UK

They may have excess capacity to make building Sunfish over there an option. Not that LP has made sound decisions in recent history...:(
 
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Wavedancer - you'll notice that in the picture I posted, and the picture you posted (perhaps the same sailor/boat?) - the rudder and tiller are completely missing. Must have somehow lost it when the Sunfish flipped and turtled.

No, I hadn't seen that, but this does appear the same unfortunate (!) guy.
I don't totally get the scenario though. 4716 loses his rudder/tiller (see Chris Williams' post above), but that normally doesn't lead to a capsize. But once he went over, did the upper spar get stuck in the mud to cause the break?
 
Hmmm, but even if the tiller strap attachment broke, why would that disengage the rudder from the rudder bracket? It seems like you would just loose the ability to control the rudder, not that the whole thing would fall off.

The bent upper spar does look like it may have been damaged by lodging on something - mud, or otherwise - under water after the boat turtled. Although the upper part of the sail and upper spar don't appear to be dirty from mud...
 
Hmmm, but even if the tiller strap attachment broke, why would that disengage the rudder from the rudder bracket? It seems like you would just loose the ability to control the rudder, not that the whole thing would fall off

You are correct; my scenario appears to be wrong :(
 
I wonder if this was how that upper boom was bent?
Somehow it got snagged on a Sunfish daggerboard?

sunfish worlds oops.jpg
 
Before the regatta I made a post after I looked up the entry fee, and it was about $1,000 including mandatory boat rental/charter, and then you had to pay for housing on top of that, so I think it was probably a matter of economics.
 
I guess I should've read this thread before I bought my 2017 worlds boat? Turns out I bought the exact one depicted in the photos in this thread...complete with sail no 4716. The issue with the tillers was this: the ones that were supplied by LP were assembled upside down. LP was contacted, and (if I remember the story right) they came to the site and drilled out the stainless steel rivets to allow flipping the tiller over. When they reassembled them, they used aluminum rivets, which ultimately proved too weak for the job...some sailors had their tiller handles pop off during competition, some came back with one popped off, etc. the solution was to drill out the aluminum rivets and replace them with stainless bolts.
When I went to select my boat on Saturday, I was presented a selection of about 15 boats. I couldn't find any significant difference between them (other than 2 had white coaming instead of blue). So I looked for the hull that finished best in the competition...boat 16, sailed by Edgar Diminich from ECUador, finished 3rd overall, including 1st place in the last race. That was the best of the selection, so I chose it. I raced it to a 3rd place finish the following day at my club, so it seems to work just fine (entirely my fault for not doing better). So it was a little surprising to see my boat in this thread looking like a disaster.
 
Rob PA - was the upper boom at least a new one? I'd hope that was the case, as opposed to a straightened out bent one!
 
Rob PA - was the upper boom at least a new one? I'd hope that was the case, as opposed to a straightened out bent one!
I'm pretty sure it's new, but I have to admit that I wasn't looking for any evidence that it had been bent and straightened? The pick-up process after the world's was like this: select which hull you want, then select a set of spars from a pile of them in a cradle...optional to take the time to find the ones labeled to match your hull (took me about 5 minutes)...find the sail that matches, etc. The dagger board and rudder were handed to me...no picking to match, but they were labeled also. So it wasn't until. I saw this thread, and the crunched upper boom that I had any reason to take a super close look at the upper spar. With a house full of Hurricane evacuees this weekend, I didn't get the chance to drive to the shore where my boat is to take a close look. But everything worked great last Sunday.
 
A spar bent back spar is going to be obvious without doubt imo. I can't believe they'd try to pass one off either. Looks like a fantastic fish!
 

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