granny needs help

[cantankerousoldlady]

first off, i live way out in the boonies, none of these fishermen around here can help me at all. Someone gave me a sunfish and it is all put together. problem is, i unhooked a rope or two, cant remember,when i packed it up and brought it home. Now I finally got it registered, but cant figure out how to hook up the "lines". I have been to pdf, Come on, it says all these parts to do what with and no diagram to tell you what each part is they are even telling me about. I kinda think i can figure out the line on the bottom of the sail, but..........the long pole in the middle, the mast i think it is called, has an eyelet in the top of it. Does i line go thru there? I am out in this hot sun today trying to put this together before i drag it to the lake and try it out. I have been on many sites trying to find this information,,,,,,,,something with a clear diagram would be best........I can find nothing to explain it, or if it is explained, it is written in a way you would have to know eachand every part and name of everything on the boat before slapping it together. I am an old granny, lol, and am gonna put this thing on the water this weekend, right or wrong, and I need some help.And, no, there arent no sailing clubs near my house to go ask......and i dont want to spend six weeks pouring over books on how to do this and that trying to learn all the technical stuff, im just now figuring out this new cell phone! does anyone have a pic of the top of the mast showing where to run the line? do you tie a knot in the top? where does the other end go to? I guess i'll pack my paddle, looks like im in for a good one. oh yeah, do they turn over easily? hmmmmm.......go granny go...........

 

[PBA]

I'm sure someone will come along soon who will give you a good rundown as to how to set up the boat. However, in the interim, here are two sets of pictures, one with the sail spread out on the lawn, the other with the sail semi-assembled at the site. So hopefully someone can now come along and use a diagram, in conjunction with these pictures, to help you get things assembled.

One of the best, and easiest, ways to learn how to set up the rigging is to take the sail, and literally spread it out on the lawn as shown. Once you have everything spread out on the lawn, it's a lot easier to start looking at diagrams, and then understanding how everything comes together from those diagrams (and thus gets put together and then taken apart).

In the first picture, I have spread the sail out on the lawn, and removed the mast from the gooseneck. That gooseneck is that piece of brass on the boom there, the brown colored, circular thing that has some black electrician's tape underneath it. The mast goes through that hole.

In the second picture, you'll see an onsite photo of the mast going through that hole, with one of the lines attached to the "gaf", or "upper boom" of the sail.

So, here are some quick partial assembly pictures/suggestions, and I'll now let someone else take it from here.

 

[chau8238]

This should help you out greatly, and takes less than an hour to read.
http://www.avonsailboats.com/pdf_files/learn3days.pdf

 

[tag]

granny,
have you seen this .pdf file? it is the current rigging manual from LaserPerformance.
http://na.laserperformance.com/images/stories/pdfs/sunfish/sunfishrigging.pdf
it has a lot of photos and explanations for the rigging.

you'll have 2 basic lines: halyard (lifts the sail up) and the mainsheet (to adjust the trim of the sail - to pull the sail in our let it out away from the boat).

from the .pdf file above, step #1 and #2 have good diagrams that explain what each part is called, reference back to that if anything I describe doesn't make sense... I also attached the diagram from step #2 below.

look at steps #10 and #11 - the halyard line is tied to the upper boom on the sail with a clove hitch knot, goes through the mast cap, and down to the fairlead and cleat down on the deck (see step #12).

for the mainsheet (see step #13), it is clipped or tied to the bridle, goes up through the block (pulley) at the back end of the lower boom, up to the forward block, and then down to the cockpit of the boat, where you will hold it, or cleat it, if your boat has that option.

here is a recent thread showing a picture of a rigged Sunfish.
http://www.sunfishforum.com/showthread.php?t=32747

good luck, and ask more questions!

cheers, tag

 

[Wayne]

I have been on many sites trying to find this information,,,,,,,,something with a clear diagram would be best........I can find nothing to explain it, or if it is explained, it is written in a way you would have to know each and every part and name of everything on the boat before slapping it together.

I'm never gonna learn to drive - all those terms -
Glove Box, Turn Signal, Gas Cap, Dip Stick,
Wiper Blade, Engine Warning Light, Gas Pedal...
Why can't it just be Start Thing, Go Thing, and "Get outa my way" Thing?
​

.

 

[Wavedancer]

Did granny roll the calendar backwards to April 1?

 

[cantankerousoldlady]

first off, i live way out in the boonies, none of these fishermen around here can help me at all. Someone gave me a sunfish and it is all put together. problem is, i unhooked a rope or two, cant remember,when i packed it up and brought it home. Now I finally got it registered, but cant figure out how to hook up the "lines". I have been to pdf, Come on, it says all these parts to do what with and no diagram to tell you what each part is they are even telling me about. I kinda think i can figure out the line on the bottom of the sail, but..........the long pole in the middle, the mast i think it is called, has an eyelet in the top of it. Does i line go thru there? I am out in this hot sun today trying to put this together before i drag it to the lake and try it out. I have been on many sites trying to find this information,,,,,,,,something with a clear diagram would be best........I can find nothing to explain it, or if it is explained, it is written in a way you would have to know eachand every part and name of everything on the boat before slapping it together. I am an old granny, lol, and am gonna put this thing on the water this weekend, right or wrong, and I need some help.And, no, there arent no sailing clubs near my house to go ask......and i dont want to spend six weeks pouring over books on how to do this and that trying to learn all the technical stuff, im just now figuring out this new cell phone! does anyone have a pic of the top of the mast showing where to run the line? do you tie a knot in the top? where does the other end go to? I guess i'll pack my paddle, looks like im in for a good one. oh yeah, do they turn over easily? hmmmmm.......go granny go...........

thanks to all that helped me and thanks for the joke too , i needed that. will be attempting to try again tomarrow after pouring over these pics and info. thanks again

 

[Wayne]

. . . will be attempting to try again tomarrow after pouring over these pics and info

.

If you think flying this was tough to learn, try owning a Sunfish





If there's a thingamajig or a whatchamacallit you can't figure out, just post a picture of it.
Someone will know what it is and how it works.

.

 

[PBA]

Pick a day with light wind, preferably early in the morning, and grab one of your fisherman friends to give you a hand out there - especially if/when you tip over.

Don't go out far, and be prepared to spend the whole day going backwards and being frustrated. Then come back in, and see if you can learn what you did wrong.

Contrary to popular thought, it's not rocket science learning how to sail these things. Practice makes perfect.