Excited New Sunfish Sailer!!

IkeLightner

1974 AMF Alcort Sunfish
Hey there everyone, my name is Ike Lightner and I just joined the forum. I am 22 and from Missouri and just recently purchased my first Sunfish sailboat!!!! I had been looking around for the past month or two for a nice boat at a fair price and had even considered driving a long distance to pick one up when I lucked upon an absolute beauty of a boat locally!!! I was really stoked when I saw pics of her and immediately had to go check her out. I was even more shocked to find out that the man selling the boat actually lived in my parents neighborhood. I went and checkeed it out a couple times and just couldn't resist and we made a deal!!!

I have litte sailing experience to date and have only sailed on a few resort hobie cats on various vacations throughout the years but I always enjoyed them and I already spend a LOT of time at the lake during the summer so I figured why not!! Anyway, without further ramblimg. I have so far taken her out on two local lakes, first I took her out on Fellows Lake in Springfield and then this past weekend I sailed her on Tablerock Lake in Branson. I have had an absolute blast with the boat so far and have had pleasant, non-intense wind conditions so far but look forward to getting her out in some serious wind!!!! The boat is a 1974 AMF Alcort Sunfish with beautiful paint, completely redone rivets all the way around, the sail and boat are VERY colorful and the sails in great shape, also it came with a much needed trailer!

Anyway, check out the pics and let me know what you think!!

Ike
 

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The boat is a 1974 AMF Alcort Sunfish with beautiful paint, completely redone rivets all the way around, the sail and boat are VERY colorful and the sails in great shape, also it came with a much needed trailer!

Anyway, check out the pics and let me know what you think!!
Looks nice and clean.

I did notice you have the sail raised to the starboard side of the mast. Though unconventional it works either way..., provided you rotate the gooseneck 180 on the boom. Otherwise some problems get created.



Click on image to enlarge, then click on (+) in upper left corner of image to enlarge to full size
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Ike,
Welcome to the club! I am new to sailing and this is my first season and boat as well. What a blast it has been so far!:D I just wish I was smart enough to get into it at your age instead of waiting until my 40's. This forum is probably one of the best resources for the sunfish, and there is a wealth of knowledge and experience at your fingertips!

Edward
 
Welcome,
My Sunfish started its sailinglife in MO. I actually lived in MO but never knew my 'fish.
Now I live in MI and I own a 'fish that was registered in MO.
 
Your boat is a beauty. What will you name it? Fireball come to mind with those colors.

Post some more pictures...close ups.

Once again congrats on a sweet looking boat.
 
Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the nice comments on my new boat!

To Wayne,
Thank you for your pointers! This is exactly the type of stuff I need to get ironed out and it's nice to have experienced people like yourself willing to help me out. I am slightly confused however on what I'm doin wrong here. I have looked at the picture you attached and am trying to compare it to my rigging. So, the unconventional way I have my sail hoisted in the picture is this the same way the boat in your attachment is rigged or is your attachment the correct way I should be doing it? Sorry if this doesn't make sense to you, I have just been rigging everything the same way the man who I bought her from was rigging everything so I definitely could be doing something wrong here. Thanks, and let me know your thoughts.

To NightSailer,
Thanks for your compliments! I really do like the idea of "Fireball" for a name. Thanks a definite option!!! I have been brainstorming trying to think of something clever. So far I have only thought of "1 sheet to the wind" or "breakin wind" but those are just generic sailing related ideas. I like how your idea represents the colors.

To Edward Teach,
Glad to have some other newbies on here with me. What got you into sailing and did you take lessons to start with or did you just learn via trial and error (as I have been doing).

Hey Hoosier Daddy,
Sounds like your sunfish has had quite an interesting journey/life thus far.
 
Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the nice comments on my new boat!

Thanks for your compliments! I really do like the idea of "Fireball" for a name. Thanks a definite option!!! I have been brainstorming trying to think of something clever. So far I have only thought of "1 sheet to the wind" or "breakin wind" but those are just generic sailing related ideas. I like how your idea represents the colors.

I don't like Breaking Wind. You can do better than that. Then again, you would get a few laughs with that name.

I recommend a short name on each side of the bow in a font that is easy to read from a distance. I use Times Roman--all uppercase.

Whatever you choose for a name, put it on with nice vinyl 3" letters. I use red letters fairly often--black on my bigger boats. Red would be perfect for your boat and match your deck. Then again, black letters would make a nice contrast with that gorgeous yellow hull.

Here is a sample of how this size and font looks like on a Sunfish.
Threat1011.jpg
 
To Edward Teach,
Glad to have some other newbies on here with me. What got you into sailing and did you take lessons to start with or did you just learn via trial and error (as I have been doing).

Ike,
I did take a basic two day class on small boat sailing, and as it turns out the class used Sunfish for our instruction. I had already purchased my Sunfish before I took lessons, and was lucky to come across this class. The instructor taught a lot of sunfish specific info in addition to basic sailing. Trial and error, oh yeah I still do a lot of that!:D
 
I am slightly confused however on what I'm doing wrong here. I have looked at the picture you attached and am trying to compare it to my rigging.

So, the unconventional way I have my sail hoisted in the picture is this the same way the boat in your attachment is rigged or is your attachment the correct way I should be doing it?

A starboard side rig isn't wrong if you make the adjustments needed for the switch. I cannot see clearly enough in your picture if this was done.

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Tag pointed you to the current rigging guide and I too recommend following that setup. However, if the gooseneck position to make a starboard side rig work has been attended to, you will then need to restore it to the way the manual lays it out. This should simply involve rotating the gooseneck 180 on the boom, back to its original position.

If you post some higher resolution photos or medium range pictures that show the gooseneck and the junction of the boom with the upper spar, anyone familiar with the standard rig will be able to spot any discrepancies.

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Really neat colors! I must confess, that I've been tempted by a couple of SF offerings with this color combo over the summer. I've been able to resist, but barely. There are flowers this color, also PIZZA! (Hot Pizza). Hot dog (mustard & relish). Some sports team probably has these colors.

I've gotten to like orange in the past few years, especially orange roses and boats.
 

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