Pre or Post 1972 Sunfish

[necarroll]

I bought my Sunfish in the winter of 1972, and need to replace the rudder, tiller and centerboard. How can I tell if it is in fact a post 1972 model?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Alan Glos]

The usual give-away is the rudder design. Up to 1972, the Sunfish had bronze and brass hull fittings for the rudder. Post-1972 boats used a new design with a stainless steel "U" shaped fitting (gudgeon) attached to the transom and a redesigned spade shaped rudder blade rather than the earlier spoon shaped blade.

There are at least three wood daggerboard designs but any of them will fit any fiberglass Sunfish.

Figure out what you have and then search this site for replacement parts. E-bay also has aftermarket parts, but some of them look rather questionable.

Hope this helps.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY

 

[Wavedancer]

Here is a link to illustrate what Alan just wrote:

http://www.sunfishclass.org/ISCA_CLASS_RULES_10052006.pdf

the pre-1972 rudder is on page 7 of the pdf
the post-1972 rudder is on page 10

All the daggerboard designs are shown as well.

 

[Wayne]

up to 1972, the sunfish had bronze and brass hull fittings for the rudder. Post-1972 boats used a new design with a stainless steel "u" shaped fitting (gudgeon) attached to the transom and a redesigned spade shaped rudder blade rather than the earlier spoon shaped blade.

. . . . . . . . .​

 

[dinghyone]

I have the parts that you need - OLD or NEW Style.
These are official OEM foils and not the oak junk that is all over eBay.
Let me know what you need.
C.P. Burks
dinghyone at att dot com
817-266-7816
Fort Worth, Texas

 

[necarroll]

Thanks to all who answered my post. I do indeed have a post 1972 Sunfish.

 

[Wayne]

Then your hull also sports a Hull ID in the upper right of the transom. That would confirm the model year precisely, not that it helps any more than your visual confirmation as far as parts are concerned.