Old mast vs. new mast

K

KKS

New Member
I'm refurbishing our 40+ year old sunfish. The old mast had holes in it so I got a new one. It seems to be about a foot shorter than the original one. Can I just tie the halyard lower on the upper boom, or will that change everything? Any suggestions/advice is much appreciated. Thanks
 
Sounds like you have a Minifish mast or early Sailfish mast. Those were 9 ft long. The Sunfish mast should be 10 ft long. You can try it but you may find the boom too low or the halyard so far down on the upper boom that you will stress it too much and bend it too easily. If you are near RI I have Sunfish masts available.
 
KKS, I've been sailing this summer in a sunfish clone with a 9' mast. I received the advice on the forum that as a lighter sailor the shorter mast would be a benefit and it has. I've taken a few friends and the mast height hasn't been a problem at all with more weight. I've figured out a configuration with the gooseneck and halyard placement that seems to work pretty well. You can try this and tweak the placements if you feel the need. I have the gooseneck around 22 inches from the front of the spars, and I tied the halyard to the spars just under 8 feet from the front of the spars. I don't know if this is correct so if anyone wants to correct me feel free. I hope this helps.
 
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