Sunfish vs Minifish

Debbie

Member
I have sailed my one and only sailboat- a minifish - for over 30 years. Unfortunately, it is leaking so much that I was told it would cost more to repair than to get another used boat. Minifish are hard to come by, so I am looking at getting a regular Sunfish. How different is the rigging and set up and the actual sailing? Will I have difficulty and not know what I'm doing?
 
They are very similar. The Sunfish will haunt go a bit faster and you will have to hike more when it’s windy.

That said, repairing these boats often isn’t very hard or expensive. Do you know where the leak is? People here can give guidance on fixing it.
 
They are very similar. The Sunfish will haunt go a bit faster and you will have to hike more when it’s windy. That said, repairing these boats often isn’t very hard or expensive. Do you know where the leak is? People here can give guidance on fixing it.
Disregard what is "bolded" above.

Sunfish never become Ghost ships. ;)
 
It will always cost more than it's value to have someone
else do the work however doing it yourself is half of what
this form is about. Start a thread about fixing you Minifish
and you'll most likely get the advice needed to do it yourself.
 
Your boat can be dried out over the off season.

Where are you located? There is a Minifish II, the sloop rig, for sale in Marshall Michigan. Pick it up and you'll have both the lateen and sloop rig plus extra set of blades.

12' AMF Alcort Minifish II, Color; Orange and yellow | eBay

As for you question, the rigging and setup are the same, they use the same blades. The Sunfish sail is 10 sf bigger at 75 sf. The booms and mast are about a foot longer, the boat is 2 feet longer and 2 inches wider. The Sunfish hull weighs anywhere from 119 for newer boats up to 139 for the 1960s boats compared to the 75 pound Mini. Crew weight goes up from 300 pounds to 500 pounds.

Skipper says they handle about the same, there is more room in the Sunfish cockpit, but the extra hull weight on land has to be considered.

amf-sunfish-minifish copy.jpeg
 
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Crew capacity 2-4?! Geez, my other sailboat is a Hobie Cat Getaway and I think 4 people are a lot on that one! I'm not even sure I have room for a passenger on my Sunfish. Where do you put (them)?
 
Crew capacity 2-4?! Geez, my other sailboat is a Hobie Cat Getaway and I think 4 people are a lot on that one! I'm not even sure I have room for a passenger on my Sunfish. Where do you put (them)?
My thumbnail to the left shows the two of us (me and my wife) in my 71 'fish. It is definitely different sailing vs. solo, but still lots of fun. I remove the tiller extension or fold it back when there are two. I can't imagine 3 or 4 people, though. However, a friend in FL told me just the other day about getting 6 people and an ice chest on his sunfish when he was a teenager. He said the gunwales were almost submerged!
 

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