Question on buying a used sunfish

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plmsunforson

New Member
Question for the Sunfish Enthusiasts

We are new to sunfish, and are considering buying a used sunfish for our son.
What questions should I ask or what should I check on a used boat?
It appears to be that the Sunfish have a long lifespan, but still need to educate myself on the obvious and the hidden things to ask/check.

Thanks!
 
Having just done this, I can make a few suggestions.

My advice is to spend some time reading here everything you can on how to repair and restore a sunfish. A couple of evenings of reading will get you well up to speed on what to look out for.

First, you want a complete boat. Buying significant parts (like mast, spars, sail, rudder, tiller) will get expensive quickly. Some parts you can locate used, but that will be hit or miss.

Eyeball the boat carefully. You want to know if there is any hull damage. Fiberglass can be repaired, but ideally you want a hull that is in good basic shape, without significant cracks, gouges, or gaping holes.

Look at all the deck hardware. Is any of it loose? Again, this can be repaired, but will involve some work. Is the bow eye on solid? What about the rudder hardware? Loose hardware can be repaired, with epoxy, time and hand tools.

If at all possible, you want to weigh the actual boat you are thinking about buying. Older boats will have leaks and will have taken on some (possibly a lot of water). A waterlogged hull will need to be dried out.

Also, spend some time getting a feel for how solid or mushy the deck is. If the deck has lots of give to it, this is a sign that the foam blocks inside are not attached well or have come loose, a messy problem.

Before I bought a sunfish for my kids, I wish I had spent more time reading here and the sunfishsailiors yahoo group. I bought a pre-1972 boat, in pretty fair shape with a trailer in good shape. For my $500 I don't mind spending a little time and effort fixing the loose hardware and repairing one hull crack.

Robert
 
THANKS!!!!

My son is hooked on sailing, and I would hate to buy something that ends up frustrating him and our wallets too.
 
Robert gave you good advice. Here are a few other points:

You can check the soundness of the mast step pretty easily. Pour in water to the top and watch the level for about 30 min.

The drain is on the right hand side of the deck, near the splashrail. Open it and put the boat on its side, making the drain the low point. Ideally, no water should come out. Of course, if the hull weighs around 130 lbs, it's sound. But, as Robert indicated, weighing a hull isn't all that easy when you are inspecting somebody else's boat.

You can do a soap bubble test without much effort. Just search the forum on how to do this.

Take somebody along who knows Sunfish.

Good, second-hand Sunfish aren't easy to find. Check the 'For Sale' section of this forum, E-Bay and Craig's list (but watch out). A whole bunch of almost new World's boat will go 'on sale' after the World Championship, but they don't come at too much of a discount over new.
 
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