You could move from an old (known history) Sunfish to a newer (unknown history) Sunfish and gain nothing or sometimes, the move would be backwards!Hello Folks,
Last summer I returned to racing a Sunfish after more than 45 years! Did way better than I expected, so looking forward to next summer. I'm sailing a very old boat (1968) 100% original including sail (with lots of tape patches). The hull has always been stored (winters) inside and is in remarkably good condition and weighs in at 135lbs. Questions are:
1) Are there any significant differences in the actual hulls, old to current (from a performance standpoint - understand the cosmetics)?
2) Would you upgrade - sail (racing sail), current fiberglass dagger board, pulley main sheet block, extended tiller (about $1k total), or would you upgrade to a more current boat (about $2,500 used)?
3) Same as first question, if all the upgrades are made, would I still be handicapped with the old hull?
4) Racing sail - listed as 75 sq ft, but see other (non official) at 80 sq ft. I would like to keep the boat class legal even though that's no required on our lake racing club. What would you purchase for a racing sail?
Looking forward to helpful answers and thank you all very much.
The bow entry is sharper and shorter in the newer hulls. (Those without the aluminum trim).1. The newer boats have a wider cockpit opening. Hull no significant changes.
2. If your club does not require "class legal" race sail you can use an Intensity sail for $120 or find a used class legal race sail. Daggerboard is a big improvement. Ratchet block is best for mainsheet. Longer tiller extension helps but making it a universal joint would help as well.
3. Not really.
4. Race cut sail has curved luff and foot which is where the additional sail area may be calculated from.
I’m about 110 percent sure that isn’t correct.The bow entry is sharper and shorter in the newer hulls. (Those without the aluminum trim).
You've done so well without spending money--save the money, and compete as you are.Thanks everyone, sincerely appreciate the comments. No aspirations for anything other than pure fun / recreational racing on the same lake I raced on as a kid (and have summer cottage). I would like to know, however, that if I'm going to take the time, that my boat is at least "reasonably competitive" with the others so I can feel confident that how ever I do is my doing and not the equipment (boat or sail). From what I saw last year, my 1968 (with a 68' patched sail and original dagger board) wasn't even close. Although I did fine, it was clear that the other boats, particularly the one's with racing sails and fiber glass boards, were WAY faster on any give leg of the race (I had to "out tak (sp?)" them to do well!).
To give an idea of what I was dealing with, on my first races (two every sunday), the sail tore at every clip (about 3-4 inches), I patched that with tape, got second place that day! On my second day out there, the "s" hook at the front of the sail let go, so sail was flapping, took 3rd place that day. On the third day out there, I won the first race, and almost immediately after coming over the finish line, the tiller broke (at the bolt), so couldn't enter the second race (hard enough just sailing it home with the tiller). It was clear in every race, that whenever we were in a "head to head tak (sp?)", almost every other boat was simply faster than I was.
Sounds like I should go ahead with; new sail, center board (dagger board in today's terminology), main sheet pulley, and extended tiller, OK with me!
I did take a look and try to find where to purchase a legitimate race sail and didn't quite figure out who to "trust" that I would be getting a current and class approved sail. Can anyone please suggest the vendor from whom I should order a new sail?
Thanks again for the help so far, much appreciated.
Please don’t wait til 2020. Interested sailors would like to know now!I have developed some other parts for it that make it easier to sail and I believe also faster. I will post details on these in early 2020.
Please don’t wait til 2020. Interested sailors would like to know now!
I don't know about any apps designed for a sailing application, but something like strava would be able to give you tracking data.
Be interesting to hear the improvements. Are these changes just for your club racing? Very hard to test on open water and there are so many variables.
I’m about 110 percent sure that isn’t correct.