Minifish compared to Sunfish

Queto56

New Member
Gotta problem I hope someone can help with. ....

My wife and I sail (Laser and Sunfish). She races the Laser....I'm happy to recreationally sail the Sunfish. Inland lakes, 10kts or so wind is perfect.

We just acquired a small teardrop travel trailer that I can tow with my Mazda CX-9. Now that the kids are gone we want to get back to state park type camping.

I'd love to bring a sailboat, but it needs to:
1. Be light enough to carry on the car.
2. Be easy to move around and up and down off the car. We are both 55 years old and not as strong as we used to be.
3. Be able to carry a 240 pound guy (she's a lot lighter than me).

I love my Sunfish! Would a Minifish work for me? Are there other boats I should consider that are car top able, easy to set up and sail that you might recommend as an alternative?

Thanks
 
I have both Sunfish & Minifish. If you like the Sunfish you will probably love the Minifish for messing around. You are pushing the weight capacity. I am over 200 and I sit pretty low. Also, you have to be a bit nimble. When you are sailing a mini it feels like it's half the size of the Sunfish.

One reason I got the mini was for the same reason- it is not so easy to get the Sunfish up on the car as when I was younger. The mini really is light, with a 75 pound hull or so. Another plus if you have a Sunfish is that the mini uses the same rudder, daggerboard, mast step, etc. If you just get a mini hull you can be in business.

I also have a minifish2 and I really, really like the rig. It is a scaled own SuperSunfish. I have said before on this board that the mini2 is the sailing equivalent of a Miata. The mini2 and Sunfish have the same portsmouth ratings but are very different. The mini2 will be quicker in light air than a Sunfish, and literally sail rings around it. When the breeze builds though, the Sunfish will walk away.

If your wife races Lasers then she might like the mini2 rig. The problem is finding them used. I have played around with alternative rigs, and with the mini you can do that. Search for the "Moth frankenfish" that was featured on this board and on one the regular poster's blogs for some great ideas. I also experimented with a full battened windsurf sail on a mini - that concept needs work. For bigger folks like us, the mini is a messing around boat. Inwouldn't plan long excursions.

Now this won't help in your particular scenarion, but...Going in the other direction, if you want a fun boat you both can squeeze onto and if you already have a boat trailer, a Force5 can be a lot of fun. It will be more stable and have more capacity and sail area than a Laser, but even with two is still a blast. Plus, your size would be pretty good. If you are sailing larger lakes and going some distance, this could be fun. And best of all, they can be really cheap used compared to the Sunfish or especially the Laser. The hull weight is a bit more than an average Sunfish, so that doesn't meet your criteria. But with a trailer and a cheap enough price...

Back to the mini - one thing you will notice right off - it is scaled perectly to your Mazda and it will look really, really good onthe roof.
 
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I have owned both a minifish and still own a sunfish. I can tell you that I'm on medicare and 40 lbs lighter makes quite a difference when moving. very easy for two people to lift.
I brought a minifish from new jersey to kentucky on top of my car with a foam type canoe rack in a snowstorm and had no trouble! I believe on standard minifish, the mast is 1 foot shorter than sunfish.
both fishes lots of fun.

By the way, if you would like to have a amf brochure showing all boats and specs for all fishes, sun,min,min2 ans super,as well as learn to sail chapter, contact me at [email protected] The min sold for 535 new!
 
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I have owned both a minifish and still own a sunfish. I can tell you that I'm on medicare and 40 lbs lighter makes quite a difference when moving. very easy for two people to lift.
I brought a minifish from new jersey to kentucky on top of my car with a foam type canoe rack in a snowstorm and had no trouble! I believe on standard minifish, the mast is 1 foot shorter than sunfish.
both fishes lots of fun.

By the way, if you would like to have a amf brochure showing all boats and specs for all fishes, sun,min,min2 ans super,as well as learn to sail chapter, contact me at [email protected] The min sold for 535 new!


I will be on Medicare soon enough as well! It sounds like the minifish would be a nice boat to be able to take with us when we go camping. All I want to do is putz around the lake with it. No more than an hour or so...nothing exciting.

Looks like minifishes are pretty rare. Are there similar minifish-like boats (size and weight) out there that I might consider?

Thanks to all for your answers, and I'll email you about that brochure.

Thanks

Mike
 
I have both Sunfish & Minifish. If you like the Sunfish you will probably love the Minifish for messing around. You are pushing the weight capacity. I am over 200 and I sit pretty low. Also, you have to be a bit nimble. When you are sailing a mini it feels like it's half the size of the Sunfish.

One reason I got the mini was for the same reason- it is not so easy to get the Sunfish up on the car as when I was younger. The mini really is light, with a 75 pound hull or so. Another plus if you have a Sunfish is that the mini uses the same rudder, daggerboard, mast step, etc. If you just get a mini hull you can be in business.

I also have a minifish2 and I really, really like the rig. It is a scaled own SuperSunfish. I have said before on this board that the mini2 is the sailing equivalent of a Miata. The mini2 and Sunfish have the same portsmouth ratings but are very different. The mini2 will be quicker in light air than a Sunfish, and literally sail rings around it. When the breeze builds though, the Sunfish will walk away.

If your wife races Lasers then she might like the mini2 rig. The problem is finding them used. I have played around with alternative rigs, and with the mini you can do that. Search for the "Moth frankenfish" that was featured on this board and on one the regular poster's blogs for some great ideas. I also experimented with a full battened windsurf sail on a mini - that concept needs work. For bigger folks like us, the mini is a messing around boat. Inwouldn't plan long excursions.

Now this won't help in your particular scenarion, but...Going in the other direction, if you want a fun boat you both can squeeze onto and if you already have a boat trailer, a Force5 can be a lot of fun. It will be more stable and have more capacity and sail area than a Laser, but even with two is still a blast. Plus, your size would be pretty good. If you are sailing larger lakes and going some distance, this could be fun. And best of all, they can be really cheap used compared to the Sunfish or especially the Laser. The hull weight is a bit more than an average Sunfish, so that doesn't meet your criteria. But with a trailer and a cheap enough price...

Back to the mini - one thing you will notice right off - it is scaled perectly to your Mazda and it will look really, really good onthe roof.


Thanks for the input.....I'll probably be looking for a minifish......

As to the larger boat, my daughter (who is in the coast Guard) has a Precision 12, which is like a laser with a larger sail area. I suspect I will inherit that boat at sometime as well, and can always borrow it.

Thanks

Mike
 
what about a laser pico, those are also very light and resistent and should be able to be bought for very little, would probably be perfect for what you are wanting
 
what about a laser pico, those are also very light and resistent and should be able to be bought for very little, would probably be perfect for what you are wanting
According to the specs online, it looks like the hull weight is about 150 pounds. If that is correct, that would be too heavy to cartop and/or handle with just the two of us. Do they weigh 150?

Mike
 
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Wow you are right, sorry, I thought it was a lot lighter, most people I see do car top them.
 

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