I picked up a Sunfish for my daughter (8 years old and sailing an Optimist in a club) and when it got home I found it was missing the long carriage bolt. Luckily a great guy seems to have come through and found me a proper bolt. Now upon further inspection it seems to me that more may be different than I expected, but I am unsure. Can anyone verify if this rudder assembly is original parts? I thought the large vertical hinge bracket that the rudder pivots on would be bronze, but in this photograph it certainly does not appear to be. Did Sunfish change from bronze to something else for this hinge bracket in the late 1960’s? As you can see in the photograph below the upper and lower brackets on the boat are bronze with a nice patina. On note you can see a threaded bolt being used for the horizontal hinge pin and luckily I found the proper horizontal hinge pin for this (thanks to eBay).
Is this “old style” Sunfish rudder assembly original parts?
- Thread starter M25max
- Start date
Tops
Mildly Thixotropic
Here is the stuff off my mid 1960's 'racing' boat 
as received for reference. I am new enough to this I cannot comment w/ authority.
The spring plate, screws, and kick-up bolt on mine are not stock. I think I have a kick-up pin loose somewhere.
I like the larger cheek plates and rubber bumper on yours.
as received for reference. I am new enough to this I cannot comment w/ authority.The spring plate, screws, and kick-up bolt on mine are not stock. I think I have a kick-up pin loose somewhere.
I like the larger cheek plates and rubber bumper on yours.
The parts on the rudder appear to be very nice machined copies of Alcort parts but not original. The rudder head piece is not stock, but the parts on the boat are OEM.
beldar boathead
Married to Primat Boathead
Signal Charlie is correct. Also, as you may know, the boat appears to be missing the vertical carriage bolt that runs from the bottom plate on the hull, up thru the flat metal spring plate on the deck, with wingnut used on the deck side. There should be some articles here on getting such a bolt. Also, it is essential that that bolt run thru a plastic tube so that the carriage bolt cannot move side to side in the groove in the stern of the boat. Without it, the bolt can get vertically mis-aligned and the rudder will unexpectedly pop up. I think if you search for McMaster-Carr in the search box you will find a tubing part number to order.
Where there companies making upgrades rudder assemblies for Sunfish or do you think someone did this nice machining on their own initiative?
To my earlier question, is it normal practice to disassemble the wood rudder from the hinge assembly to varnish it or do you only varnish the exposed wood and not worry about what is under the brackets?