Another Dating Question

K

kmichlrose

New Member
Just purchased a sunfish - and have no idea what it is.... the sail shows "SS"... open deck (no cockpit) serial number FRE19112...

Can anyone help me identify this? I'll be in need of repair parts and want to understand more about this before I get started.

Thanks.
 
Before things get in a tizzy, I gather you are meaning "sunfish" generically as in surfboard looking beach craft with a squat triangular [lateen] sail. The difference being, there's also a name brand Sunfish originated by a company called Alcort and now produced by a company known as LaserPerformance. The popularity of the name brand boat gave rise to dozens of lookalikes. The distinctive look of the squat sail causes the lookalikes to all be referred to as "sunfish".

That hull ID you mentioned looks to be the sort used after the early 70s. That being the situation the final 4 places you didn't show will tell the date. Sometimes the last 2 places sometimes second to the last, depends on the code at the time.

There's a guide to some of the lookalikes at a website on Yahoo.com ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor ). You could find yours shown in the list. Paste up a picture here or there or both and someone may recognize it.
 
Thanks Dan.

I just received some information from a very informative chap who told me that my new toy was made by a company called Freedom Boatworks from North Carolina. The numbers I posted were the complete serial number found on the riveted number plate - nothing else was visible.

The old man I purchased it from said it was a Sunfish.... seems he was mistaken and therefore, so was I.

That being said, I'd still like to renovate this and get it back into the water. Are Sunfish sails, etc universally acceptable on non-Sunfish boats? If so, I'd sure love some recommendations for suppliers.

Thanks for help and advice.
 
The list that Dan refers to has several boats with sails showing 'SS'. Therefore, just go there and take a look.
PS: You will have to 'join' the Yahoo group, but there are no nasty ramifications if you do.

In case this approach keeps you guessing, you may have to consider the possibility that the sail and hull don't match.
 
If I handed you a tissue I’d call it a Kleenex. Cut your finger you probably ask for a Band-aid. Own a boat with no other identifying marks than a lateen sail and it turns into a sunfish. How would you know if you got handed another brand tissue without first being made aware differences even exist. Who’d care when on the verge of a sneeze. All I can say is Gesundheit and don’t throw away the rest of the box since fit, form, and function could be just as worthy.

There are three or four lateen sail rigged boats being build by different companies today. They all have their unique twists and their similarities. Present day parts can fit and work on obsolete builds from by-gone days. The first thing to do is become familiar with your boat then start comparing it in detail to those presently being made. A good place to start is a review of current owner’s manuals. For Sunfish, a manual can be found at the LaserPerformance web page. ( www.laserperformance.com/main/images/stories/pdfs/Sunfish/Sunfish(US).pdf ). Unfortunately for sailing in general, other brands such as Aqua Finn and Pointer are very reluctant to let out information regarding their setup and replacement parts on the web. Google “Sunfish Parts” and you’ll get pages of dealer hits. Take a gander at a few and you’ll find pictured inventories of the bits & pieces. Compare what you see to any broken parts on your boat for replacement possibilities. Sails from Sunfish frequently work on lots of other brand boats. Look up The Sail Store for a generic sail. You’ll see oodles of parts supplier names come up in your web search. Many parts are simply commonplace for small boats in general, others are or were brand specific and require creative thinking when replacement time rolls around.

If you are unsure about substations or compatibility start posting pictures of your whole boat and the detail in question. Lots of experienced sailors here can help sort out the delemas. What doesn’t work is vague references. I see quite often questions that amount to, “I have a car, it has four rubber tires, what is it?” A picture is worth the proverbial thousand words, particularly when you aren’t sure yourself what to ask.



The list that Dan refers to has several boats with sails showing 'SS'. Therefore, just go there and take a look.
PS: You will have to 'join' the Yahoo group, but there are no nasty ramifications if you do.

In case this approach keeps you guessing, you may have to consider the possibility that the sail and hull don't match
Click to expand...
I just signed up at a yahoo groups for information unrelated to sailing. In doing so I made a new user that caused me to start from scratch. It’s changed since I made my sailing user. A whole gauntlet of junk mail now needs to be unchecked to avoid automatic sign-up. No worse I guess than most web places these days. MSN is still in my book the most annoying. The price of “free” I guess.

Well worth the hassle for the information to be had. Broadens the answer base for posted questions.

.
 
More details:

The boat is indeed a Kransco Manufacturers Sailboard.

It appears to be about a 1976 (?) Super Scamper.

IBoats.com shows:

The 1976 Kransco Super Scamper sailboat has a polyethlene (plastic) hull and has an overall length of 11 feet (sometimes referred to as LOA). The width (or beam) of this craft is 30 inches. This boat is rigged as a Lateen. The sail area for the sailboat is 55 square feet. The draft of this sailboat is approximately 2'6".

My measurements match this... but I'd love to confirm this by the serial numbers
 
Careful with i-Boat info. It tends to be user supplied and unverified. Just think if your seller had filled in that form it would say the boat was a Kransco sunfish.

Check at ShortyPen.com, that's another source for info and he tends to do his homework if info can be found. With a poly hull and a little sail your boat seems to compare to the early Snark. I've read Kransco made boats for Snark and others. I'd want to find a couple of independent sources before drawing even a tentative conclusion.

If it was recognized as a true boat and not just a beach toy (no offense) then beginning in 1972 all boats were required to carry a Coast Guard hull ID in the form of ABC 54321 9976 on the right side of the transom. You can look up the company in the CG database by the ABC of the ID marking. Won't tell you about the boat only business info about the company.

To follow the serial number you'll need to discover a number list from the company. Hardly any of those records survive if the mfg goes under. Sunfish is rare in this regard only because the information was preserved by the Sunfish Class Association organized around competition. The majority of lookalikes I've encountered never advanced beyond the recreational level so no need to maintain historical records to insure competitive compliance.

If repairs to the hull are needed stay away from fiberglas repair materials. Most will dissolve polyethylene. Ask Snark what they use since polys were a favorite building material for them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top