Securing the edges of the hull when launching the Sunfish

zbieraj

zbieraj

Member
I was wondering, how do you secure the edges of the hull when launching the sunfish into the water?

In my case (ahead of Sunfish delivery), in our marina, there is a slope for dinghies which helps with launching. Normally you would go down with the dolly, put your dinghy in the water, join it temporarily to the wooden platform (with wooden side panels), take the dolly back to its place, and then return to the dinghy. The problem is that when you are away, the dinghy (or Sunfish in this case to be precise) can scratch the edges and in the short-long run create cracks in the hull around the edges. Normally on yachts, you would use fenders...
 
Can you put the sunfish on the downwind side?

At our YC we have a ramp into the bay for the small boat. You then have to walk the boats around to the cleatted side which tends to be downwind more or less. You tie off and the wind blows the boat away from the dock.

The reality is the boat is going to be hitting the edges. That is life get used to it. The plastic floating docks do not really seem to hurt the edges under normal use. Once in a while a wake or waves might be a bit more violent.

In the end, no matter how hard you try the edges will get some dings. But in reality they are pretty tough.
 
Stick some half slices of pool noodles vertically a few feet apart on dock.
No I don’t have shares in the pool noodle coy..
 
Shorefun has good suggestions. If at all possible, secure your boat on the leeward side of the dock while you are away.
I don't know about current (2021) Sunfishes, but the 'overhangs' on my 2006 (Vanguard) have been sturdy.
Finally, if it's really blowing, raise the sail as late as possible.
 
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