New to me Sunfish

Congrats, you and your son will have a great time with a sunfish. Get the sunfish owners guide that Signal Charlie wrote and read it cover to cover, it has a lot of great information.
 
So a few questions from a friend with a slightly newer sunfish.

Should I replace the old brass rudder system with the newer style?
How are the sails from Intensity sails, what is a race cut sail?
There isn't a hiking strap, is it possible to add one?
 
For non-racers, the Intensity sails can't be told from the full-bodied, expensive, sails. (I have two of the non-racing sails).

Hiking strap info:
heavy weight hiking

The trick with the old rudder is to maintain the "tensioning tube"; otherwise, the newer rudder is an improvement. (IOW, don't bother unless you've broken something).

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Thanks, one thing I have seen is a PVC holder for the spars. I'll look into the book.

The PVC tube is great, especially if you can mount it on your trailer, but they are expensive new ($150 or so) and hard to come by used. You'll need an 8" diameter tube, 10' or a bit more in length, and end caps. I keep my spars and sails in a long, zippered canvas spar bags and that has worked out well.
Let's see some pics of your new Sunfish!
 
The mast is 10-ft but the booms are almost 14-ft long - if you meant keeping the sail/boom/mast in a pvc tube, you’ll need a 14-ft pvc pipe.

If you meant little pvc jigs that sit on the hull, go for it - any device to help hold the sail stuff off the deck when transporting is an improvement.
 
Thanks, one thing I have seen is a PVC holder for the spars. I'll look into the book.
Thinking of my Sunfish spars, I rescued a 20-foot length of PVC tube from a dumpster :cool: and dragged it home. 'Great (!) that the dumpster was just across the street, 'cuz I could barely lift it! :oops:

Don't bother with the readily-available (and heavy) Schedule 40 PVC. For less than $10, you can buy Schedule-20—used in dust collection systems and found at farmers' feed-lot stores:
Where to Buy Schedule 20 PVC Pipe (for Dust Collection) - The Geek Pub

What I'd do, is to cap one end, and notch the tube for the gooseneck to stick out. Have the (little bit of) last few feet of sail exposed, but bag it securely. Install the open end forward.
 
The mast is 10-ft but the booms are almost 14-ft long - if you meant keeping the sail/boom/mast in a pvc tube, you’ll need a 14-ft pvc pipe.

If you meant little pvc jigs that sit on the hull, go for it - any device to help hold the sail stuff off the deck when transporting is an improvement.

I meant the little PVC piece that look like a field goal cross bar that fits into the mast step and keeps the spars off of the splash guard.
 

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Congratulations! What's her name?

For the spars, just wrap an old towel around them to pad, over the splashguard and back by the bridle. I'd rather rub the splashguard a bit then have something bouncing in the mast step going down the road.

Should I replace the old brass rudder system with the newer style? No.
How are the sails from Intensity sails, what is a race cut sail? They are nice. A race cut has fuller draft cut into it. Not needed if you plan to sail for fun. For $250 you can get a real nice sail from Laser Performance with a nice cut. The Mai Tai sail pops on the water.

IMG_6449 2.jpg


There isn't a hiking strap, is it possible to add one? Yes. We've never needed one for recreational sailing.

IMG_2970.jpg
 
Congratulations! What's her name?

For the spars, just wrap an old towel around them to pad, over the splashguard and back by the bridle. I'd rather rub the splashguard a bit then have something bouncing in the mast step going down the road.

Should I replace the old brass rudder system with the newer style? No.
How are the sails from Intensity sails, what is a race cut sail? They are nice. A race cut has fuller draft cut into it. Not needed if you plan to sail for fun. For $250 you can get a real nice sail from Laser Performance with a nice cut. The Mai Tai sail pops on the water.

There isn't a hiking strap, is it possible to add one? Yes. We've never needed one for recreational sailing.
Her name is Prädəjē

good point about the maststep, thanks.

The current sail has seen its day. I am guessing it is original from 1970. They were little holes I could see through on it. My son is a Sea Scout and wants to race against his buddies in our Ship's other Sunfish.

He likes to the get the boat moving and has always used a hiking strap.
 
Her name is Prädəjē good point about the maststep, thanks. The current sail has seen its day. I am guessing it is original from 1970. They were little holes I could see through on it. My son is a Sea Scout and wants to race against his buddies in our Ship's other Sunfish. He likes to the get the boat moving and has always used a hiking strap.
Her name appears curiously Slavic in origin, so I looked it up. The name is connected to a Miami, FL, recording group named Mixmaster—logical enough. :oops:

Then we've got members mixmkr and Mashmaster.

What's in a name, anyway? :confused:
 
Sounds awesome. You didn't mention that your Son wants to race in your original question. If the racing is more than just goof off racing then you'll want to upgrade to the new rudder system. And the new infused rudder blade, daggerboard, tiller with extension.....

We have some very knowledgable racers in the Forum, they'll be along shortly to advise. It is also possible to add the hiking strap, we haven't explored that yet.

So we say Welcome Aboard to Prädəjē . Take pictures!

Cheers
Clark and Skipper
 
if you have a 1970 that doesn't have the storage cubby in the back of the cockpit, you'll have to put inspection ports in to install the hiking strap.
I put one on the back wall of the cockpit, made it really simple to install the eyestrap with big fender washers and nuts (you could probably add some type of backing... I think I just went with the fender washers only). I also put an inspection port up on the deck between the coaming/splashguard and the daggerboard slot - it's tricky, but you can reach back to the front wall of the cockpit to install the fender washers and nuts for the bolts at the flat plate for the front of the hiking strap.

img0175_125-hiking-strap.jpg
 
Sounds awesome. You didn't mention that your Son wants to race in your original question. If the racing is more than just goof off racing then you'll want to upgrade to the new rudder system. And the new infused rudder blade, daggerboard, tiller with extension.....

We have some very knowledgable racers in the Forum, they'll be along shortly to advise. It is also possible to add the hiking strap, we haven't explored that yet.

So we say Welcome Aboard to Prädəjē . Take pictures!

Cheers
Clark and Skipper

He has dreams of racing but it will really be just with his buddies.

Cool pics of the hiking straps, somehow I think I will be spending money :)
 

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