new to sailing need suggestions

wardie

Member
Hi everyone I am Wardie from Canfield, Ohio. I never have had a sail boat and am looking at joining the Pymatuning Sailing Club and purchase a starter boat like a Sunfish. I'd like to learn enough to maybe put her in a race or two and maybe take her to Kelley's island and around those areas for a camping trip and day sailing.

There seems to be a ton of Sunfish of every price range and description. Is there one year or years that are better than others? Many used boats have no trailers I've read where Harbor Freight has a few that you add cradles to. Is that a good way to go? Any help for a newbie is most appreciated. Wardie
 
Hey dude I'll be happy to help you pick out a good boat and tell you all you need to do and have to be able to start sailing.

I don't really know if getiing a sunfish is a great idea sure its a good boat to sail but if you were to want to race the thing u would have a problem with there being no other sunfish to race there just isnt a fleet of sunfish anymore Id sudgest if you want a good boat to learn with and maybe race you go with a BYTE if u wegih 90-130 or a laser 4.7 and if u are more than that like in the 131-170 range go with a laser radial. But really Dont get a sunfish cuz there is no fleet to race. The years on a boat dont matter that much but I would get a boat at oldest a boat from 1993 becuse A boat from then on will not have much work to do and will have a differnt material base to so it will hold up stronger to damige. But if you dont mind sailing an older boat you can find some really cheep ones from the 80's or maybe 90's
 
Since you want to try racing, the relevant question is: What are the others sailing at your prospective club? If there is an active Sunfish fleet, go ahead with your plan to get a Sunfish. If not, look around for something that is popular around the Pymatuning Sailing Club. The Sunfish is by no means a dying breed (see Wayne's post for evidence).

Buying a GOOD second-hand Sunfish does require study. A solid one meeting your criteria my not be so easy to find, but this is dependent on the area and time of year :eek:.

Use the Search function (in the upper bar) to find threads that are relevant to your questions. You will see that some people have picked up 'roadkill' fishes and made nice boats out of them. But you need time, skill (which can be acquired) and a few tools for that. Your budget is obviously relevant as well.
The Sunfish KB section (upper bar on the left; Knowledge Base) has answers to some of your other questions as well.

Finally, there are several threads focused on trailers. Again, find them by using the Search function.
 
I disagree with Robert regarding the imminent demise of the Sunfish class. Certainly in western Canada Sunfish are very rare, and to my knowledge there are no fleets, eastern Canada I'm not sure, but this does not appear to be the case in the States. As said before, if you want to race then you should sail what the majority of racers in your area sail, if that's a Sunfish then that's what you want. It's like the J24, you don't sell huge numbers of these boats without having a very popular one design racing fleet.
 
Thanks to all who responded. Great information. A guy wants to get rid of a 12' S"Care-Free" Scamp. I can't find much about it but only needs cleaning and I probably could get it for $150. Anyone has some info on this? Is it a decent starter boat? Wardie
 
Thanks to all who responded. Great information. A guy wants to get rid of a 12' S"Care-Free" Scamp. I can't find much about it but only needs cleaning and I probably could get it for $150. Anyone has some info on this? Is it a decent starter boat? Wardie
I have a photo of a Sailfish-like boat called a Scamper 101, but that's all I have on it. There were hundreds of Sunfish look-alikes built in the '70s and '80s..., have you got a picture of the boat you are considering?

If a boat has a hull ID in the upper right of the transom the manufacturer can be decoded from the ID.

A sail emblem can help with identification.

As far as passing judgement on the suitability of an unidentified boat, posting a set of clear pictures will be the only way for people to help you with an evaluation.
 
Here is what I know about the boat.

12' 4" long
Capacity 4
Built by Holloform, Inc.
"Care-Free" SCamp is the name
Sial has an "S" inside a circle on it.

Wardie
 
for $150 so long as it doesn't sink, I think you'll be all right, enjoyment is another matter however and there I can't help you with information on that class. If you're interested, a book you may consider picking up is "A Field Guide to Sailboats" it compares over 150 differant dingy designs and classes side-by-side. It doesn't have some of the newer high tech fancy skiff boat classes, but it covers pretty much every popular boat in North America.

That being said, I own two Lasers and a Laser Two, and have always picked on the sunfish guys...
 

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