Need help in I.D.ing a Sunfish Clone

Alan Glos

Active Member
I just bought a Sunfish clone hull with no rig that I am in the process of restoring for re-sale as I have a full rig off a hull damaged 1981 Sunfish. I am about 90% sure it is an AMF Windflite as it is virtually identical to a rolled over deck Sunfish and has a hull I.D. number of AMF 41055M76H making it a 1976 model from AMF, the maker of the Sunfish in the mid-1970s. However, it has a molded in splashrail with two wood panels screwed to the after side of the splashrail. I looked at the Sunfish Clone photos at the Yahoo Sunfish_Sailorwebsite and it looks like an AMF Windflite except for the wood panels (which may have been added on by a previous owner to keep more water out of the cockpit. )

Like the AFM Minifish, this hull was the AMF prototype for the current Sunfish design with the rolled decks.

Can anybody verify that this is a Windflite? Where is the late Wayne Carney when you really need him?

Alan Glos
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Cazenovia, NY
 

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Maybe an AMFlite? My superficial (!) search showed Windflites to have wooden grab rails, like the Laser.

Please search this Forum; you will find several references to these clones. Some have pictures that could solve the dilemma.

And yes, we do miss Wayne...
 
It is not an AMFlite as the AMFlite had the old style bronze rudder attachment fittings (according to the Clonefish photos in the Sumfish_Sailor Yahoo file photos.

Alan Glos
 
Per Wavedancer's suggestion, I did a search of the Forum and found an old Wayne Carney post with photos of an AMFlite and a AMF Windflite side by side and my boat is definitely an AMF Windflite. Thanks Wayne. Your boardboat expertise live on.

Alan Glos
 
I just bought a Sunfish clone hull with no rig that I am in the process of restoring for re-sale as I have a full rig off a hull damaged 1981 Sunfish. I am about 90% sure it is an AMF Windflite as it is virtually identical to a rolled over deck Sunfish and has a hull I.D. number of AMF 41055M76H making it a 1976 model from AMF, the maker of the Sunfish in the mid-1970s. However, it has a molded in splashrail with two wood panels screwed to the after side of the splashrail. I looked at the Sunfish Clone photos at the Yahoo Sunfish_Sailorwebsite and it looks like an AMF Windflite except for the wood panels (which may have been added on by a previous owner to keep more water out of the cockpit. )

Like the AFM Minifish, this hull was the AMF prototype for the current Sunfish design with the rolled decks.

Can anybody verify that this is a Windflite? Where is the late Wayne Carney when you really need him?

Alan Glos View attachment 7281View attachment 7282View attachment 7282
Cazenovia, NY
I have a 1974 AMF Windflite that looks similar, but also has wood grab rails and bow stripe or toe strap.
 
The story I have heard is that in the heyday of the Sunfish knockoffs were under pricing the Sunfish and AMF decided to try to compete with those prices by creating a two piece boat themselves. They used the Sunfish hull but made a one piece deck, the Sunfish deck being three pieces, deck, tub and splash guard). It was sold for maybe $100 less than the Sunfish. However hindsight was that it took some sales away from the Sunfish. When AMF went out of business someone bought the molds for the Windflight and started making a boat they called the Orca. You can find the sails that were produced for the boat on eBay. One boat was built and two other boats remain in the molds to this day. The molds were in western CT near the original AMF plant under different ownership. They were for sale for $5000 which is when I looked at them. I declined based on the condition, age and not having a large enough garage to store two sets of molds. There were even molds for a fiberglass version of the Barrington daggerboard.

The person who started building the boat as the Orca must have thought they would build and sell 1000 or so boats so they bought enough parts for the whole year. Consequently there seems to be an endless supply of the Orca sails on eBay.
 
I declined based on the condition, age and not having a large enough garage to store two sets of molds. There were even molds for a fiberglass version of the Barrington daggerboard.

The person who started building the boat as the Orca must have thought they would build and sell 1000 or so boats so they bought enough parts for the whole year. Consequently there seems to be an endless supply of the Orca sails on eBay.
New Orca recreational sails at eBay= $90.

Thanks to Kent's generosity, I think I've solved the logo mis-match. ;)
 

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