new Sunfish owner

P

parris

New Member
Hello-
I recently bought a new Sunfish and have been out a couple of times in white-cap sailing conditions with 2-3 foot waves. When it's like that it seems I have a 50-50 chance of making the tack. The boat comes around O.K., then when I sheet in the boat heads up sharply into the wind and there I sit until I back up and get on the new tack that way. Any advice from veteran Sunfish sailors? Also the water is real shallow for 50-100 yards until I get out in deeper water and I'm not sure the rudder is down all the way. Would this cause the problem? Sorry if this is elementary but some advice is appreciated. Thanks. Even with this problem, I love the boat though - getting on a broad reach in those conditions is a blast!
 
Congratulations on the NEW Sunfish.

I'm having a similar difficulty tacking: Be happy you CAN back up. My approach is to go onto the new tack somewhat exaggerated. (Turn too far).

Just before you reach the point where you would normally sheet in, move the tiller sharply all the way to the stop. Also, if you let go of the tiller, you'll surely fail to complete the tack. In a tight situation, you can jibe (take the wind behind the sail) but try to get some speed up prior. Don't let the tiller "do its own thing".

Did you mean your daggerboard would hit in the shallows? Or did you mean your rudder—as you said?
 
Thanks for the information. I agree about letting go of the tiller - that never works. I did mean the rudder. I can lift up the daggerboard high enough for clearance. But there's no way I've found to push the rudder down any further after I've started sailing.
 
I dont have alot of sunfish experience yet either but I have had a simular problem on cats without jibs, sounds like you arent carrying enough speed into the tacks, try bearing off a little to get up some speed right before you tack, move your weight forward and dont sheet in too hard until you get moving on the new tack.
 
i just joined this forum thing and i'm a new sunfish sailor. i read in one of the threads that to right your boat after you capsize it, you need to leverage the boat using all your weight on the end of the dagger board. I weigh 195 lbs, should I really put my weight on the end of the board? I'm afraid of breaking it.
 
oh, just for fun, i'll let you all know that i lost my mast this week--sunk to the bottom like a rock when I capsized in turbulent water and I couldn't get it righted quick enough. I cannot express my frustration adequately. did you ever hear of such a thing. And then trying to find a replacement for a reasonable price...
 
Unless you used a mast cleat without running the free end through the deck cleat to secure the rig, just how did you lose the rig?
I've turtled many a fish, and capsized more than I could count and never worried about losing the rig.
As for worrying about the daggerboard I'm just over 200 pounds and bioth with the wooden daggerboard and the newer plastic fantasic one bever had a problem with them when righting.
A key to rightin is to make sure you do not have the main sheet cleated. If it's locked in close haul position as when sailing upwind, the sail forms a HUGH pocket of water that will not come up no matter how much weight or strength is applied.
 
Thanks for the righting the fish tip. I'm sure I'll get it down for the next time I'm out.
Getting the new mast is going to cost me 2 weeks of time and 127 dollars. How I lost it? Well, like I said, I'm new to this, and *very* slow mentally.
My mother in law did some sailing in small craft growing up and she told me that the only way to get the boat right side up after capsizing was to take the sail down, right the boat and then basically re-rig the boat. So, though I did have the rigging tight to the deck with the halyard and halyard cleat (if those are the right terms), I *began* to undue the halyard, when I thought better of it because there was a lot of wave action and I didn't think that I would be able to keep everything together if I did release the halyard. Well, I'd put on 2 of those under loops on the cleat, and I only undid one, but after floundering for so long, eventually the other must have come undone, and as I was trying unsuccessfully to do something or other with the sail or the spars, the mast slipped through the gooseneck, out of the deck hole thingy, and straight to the bottom. I didn't have a stop knot in the end of the halyard to save the mast in such an event, so it's gone.
I was about a 1/2 mile from the launch site, so I swam her back in. I guess I was lucky to only lose the mast and not the whole sail, spars, and mast combo.
If nothing else, maybe this story will serve to aid other mentor-less sailors out there what NOT to do.
 
or, you could do a dry capsize...works great on a 420 and laser:D . I think its much easyer than climbing on the dagger board!
 
FishHead said:
Thanks for the righting the fish tip. I'm sure I'll get it down for the next time I'm out.
Getting the new mast is going to cost me 2 weeks of time and 127 dollars. How I lost it? Well, like I said, I'm new to this, and *very* slow mentally.
My mother in law did some sailing in small craft growing up and she told me that the only way to get the boat right side up after capsizing was to take the sail down, right the boat and then basically re-rig the boat.
Click to expand...

It may be (very) good policy to always listen to one's Mother in Law, but the next time, take her sailing advice with a grain of salt :) . Sunfish with their low aspect rigs are easy to right. And thousands of Laser sailors have been righting their boats after capsizing, even though one can't take the sail down on these boats, once out on the water.
 
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