My "new" Sunfish

Bought a Sunfish this week. The title says it's a 1970 but there's a storage compartment in the back. The bailer is metal; there's no HIN the state has issued a metal id number (that's not mounted but is supposed to be. The clear coat is beautiful, no damage and everything is there except the sail and rings. Rudder is the old school one.

Could this be a 71 model or an in-between?
 
Do you have any photos yet? I had one from about that vintage and it had a storage compartment. Mine had a metal bailer and a block (a pulley) at the foot of the mast for the halyard to pass through on its way to the halyard cleat.

Enjoy your Sunfish!
 
Do you have any photos yet? I had one from about that vintage and it had a storage compartment. Mine had a metal bailer and a block (a pulley) at the foot of the mast for the halyard to pass through on its way to the halyard cleat.

Enjoy your Sunfish!
I can't take pictures yet, its too dirty and heavy to move by myself. But it does have the pulley at the foot of the mast also. It's really dirty from the previous owner having it upside down on sawhorses beneath his deck. So lots of yuck to wash off but still can tell gelcoat is great. Not bad for $200.00.

I need to plan on cleaning up the hardware. Anyone have tips for that?
 
Hi Phantom Driver,

From your description, it would likely be a 71. My boat is a 71 and has the old style rudder and storage cubby. There should be stripes on the bow only.

Mine still has the builders plate behind the slash board, and so I was able to look up the serial number.

Good luck!
 
Hi Phantom Driver,

From your description, it would likely be a 71. My boat is a 71 and has the old style rudder and storage cubby. There should be stripes on the bow only.

Mine still has the builders plate behind the slash board, and so I was able to look up the serial number.

Good luck!
Correct on the steps: White hull, big blue strip with a thinner red stripe on each side on the bow only. I'm thinking the red, white and blue Intensity sail with a window will be perfect :) Also has the wire traveler on the back...
 
Hi Phantom Driver,

From your description, it would likely be a 71. My boat is a 71 and has the old style rudder and storage cubby. There should be stripes on the bow only.

Mine still has the builders plate behind the slash board, and so I was able to look up the serial number.

Good luck!
I bought a similar '71 Sunfish, relied on the forum to identify the year--so the same Q & A can be found here--in a search.

Cockpit drain professionally removed. Aside from the color (maroon) the boat was perfect. (Maroon and other red colors of the 1970s usually failed, due Sun's UV).

Moored its whole life, later stored under a wood deck by the previous one-owner. Bought in New Hampshire for $150, talked it up and offered--sight unseen--to Sailcraftri for $300--sold a month later for $750. :cool:

Got around to only polishing a corner of the deck (for presentation) when the buyer just "had to have it". The next day, the buyer sent me pictures of his kids all over it. :)

A month later, when I needed a laser treatment for an eye condition, I'd serendipitously relocated my ophthalmologist-buyer! :rolleyes:

.
 
Congratulations on your new boat! Does she have a name yet?

Laser Performance sells beautiful sails, $300 USD. Parts > Sails > Sunfish

94316_Sail_Sunfish_Colada_1080x1080.png


Some other large Sunfish Dealers might have sails in stock, Shoreline Sailboats, Yankee Boating Center and The Dinghy Shop. You may also find New Old Stock sails out there called the "Olympic" that are Red White Blue, like the one we have on PHOENIX. Note that it does not have the little window.

Phoenix Audrey bungee.jpg


Check for a Serial Number plate between the splashguard and daggerboard trunk, it should say AMF ALCORT.

AMF ALCORT Serial Number Data Tag.jpg


Or it may have had a sticker

AMF Sunfish metal data sticker.jpg


Sounds like she can be pinned down to pretty much 1971 though, when they were changing over rudders and adding storage cubbies. It doesn't seem that there was a clean transition there, I imagine they started adding cubbies but kept using the old style hardware until they ran out of the 7 inch vertical hinge plates, the rudder assembly part that only fit on the fiberglass Sunfish. She's going to sail great, those were good years for fiberglass layup, pretty much bulletproof woven roving with nice thick gelcoat. And that was back when they hand poured the two part expanding foam to hold in the structural XPS foam blocks, later in the 70s they got foam guns and foam went everywhere!

Did she come with the spoon tip daggerboard?
 
As for cleaning the hardware, which bits? And remember, there's always a case to be made for "patina."

Our 1971 had the old style rudder and no cubby. The hull was stiff as a board, one of the best that we have had. Here's BUTTERCUP out for Sea Trials.

Buttercup Audrey test sail.jpg


She needed a little work.

Buttercup deck before.jpg


She scrubbed up real nice though, and we converted to the new style rudder.

Buttercup sail.jpg


Had some interesting transom handles, those were floating around Waterbury for a bit, I don't know if the factory put them on as a trial but my friend who worked at ALCORT had several extra sets he sent me.

Buttercup transom handles.JPG
 
I was thinking about the pulleys and the traveler attachment points, also the rudder attachment point. I looked for a serial number plate (by centerboard and in cockpit) but there is none. I check for a hin at the transom, nope. But man, the gel coat is sweeeeeet :)
 

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