Sunfish Rudders

Mama H Chicago

Mother of sailboats
Can anyone tell me what the critical component measurements are for knowing if a rudder will work on a Sunfish? There is a rudder available for sale about an hour and 45 minutes from me, and it looks a whole lot like a sunfish rudder and tiller. The seller was nice enough to take very good measured photos of it. I THINK the pin that attaches in the gudgeon is a little less than half an inch shorter than the one on the rudder that came with my derelict sunfish project. I thought maybe it was just from a minifish or something? But now I’m reading that the two should be interchangeable….

given that I plan to retrofit the 1965 hull to take a new style rudder, I’m guessing I just need to find a gudgeon that would fit the slightly shorter pin?

any advice is greatly appreciated.
In case it’s helpful…. Here are pics of the one I am considering buying F3239EBB-8381-4E33-B2E8-6E3E6EEF9F38.jpegFA890805-8ACF-468A-B50C-DD7E59762B5C.jpeg48536BDB-4726-4DD4-8F11-07D80CFF679B.jpeg71C18B9B-6530-4CDD-8432-3478043A595F.jpeg

and this is the one I have

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If this is your 1965 sunfish in the picture, someone has already done a new style rudder conversation. Hope this helps.
 
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M.H.C.,

The rudder with the metal rudder head shown in your photos is almost certainly a post-1972 Sunfish rudder (*). And all you would need is an external stainless steel rudder gudgeon fitting (like the one shown in one of your photos) an internal back-up plate (or some large stainless steel washers) and a 4" or 6" diameter plastic deck port (to give you access to the innards of the hull so you can bolt the gudgeon bracket to the transom). A complete Sunfish rudder/tiller assembly in the condition shown (needs fresh varnish) should retain for $190 - $225, so if you can it for under $200, you are not overpaying for it.

....and I will sell you a used stainless gudgeon bracket for $20 + $9 USPS flat rate shipping box. You can buy a deck port at any decent marine store or Amazon. Beckson is a good brand. You can find stainless machine screws, lock nuts and washers at any good hardware store.

Let me know if you want a gudgeon bracket. I can also walk you through how to install the deck port and the bracket.


Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY

*It is possible that this rudder/tiller assembly came off a Minifish. The rudder is identical for both the Sunfish and Minifish, but the Minifish tiller is about 9" shorter.
 
I'll take you up on that offer for the gudgeon bracket! I'm still trying to figure out how DM'ing works on this forum, so if you could send me a note I can certainly figure out how to reply. ;-)
 
M.H.C.,

The rudder with the metal rudder head shown in your photos is almost certainly a post-1972 Sunfish rudder (*). And all you would need is an external stainless steel rudder gudgeon fitting (like the one shown in one of your photos) an internal back-up plate (or some large stainless steel washers) and a 4" or 6" diameter plastic deck port (to give you access to the innards of the hull so you can bolt the gudgeon bracket to the transom). A complete Sunfish rudder/tiller assembly in the condition shown (needs fresh varnish) should retain for $190 - $225, so if you can it for under $200, you are not overpaying for it.

.... You can buy a deck port at any decent marine store or Amazon. Beckson is a good brand.

Alan, Why do you recommend a 4” or a 6” port? I’ve found the 5” port to be just right, personally. The 4” is an awful tight squeeze for reaching in and attaching the backing plate, and the 6” (which I think most choose) is too big and it’s hard to level it with the slight curve of the deck, making the screw-on lid more difficult to turn and seal.
 
When I have installed ports for drying out the interior, I have always installed a 6" dia. port centered between the forward edge of the daggerboard trunk and the aft side of the inner "V" of the splashrail and a 4" port a few inches forward of the transom. Then I use a 6" dia Lowes air duct fan in the 6" port to circulate air. Going from a 6" intake and a 4" outlet, I figured the air inside the hull would get into all of the nooks and exit with a little more velocity,

That said, 5" ports would probably work fine and give you a little more hand room.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY

p.s. We got 10" of new, wet snow last night......
 
When I have installed ports for drying out the interior, I have always installed a 6" dia. port centered between the forward edge of the daggerboard trunk and the aft side of the inner "V" of the splashrail and a 4" port a few inches forward of the transom. Then I use a 6" dia Lowes air duct fan in the 6" port to circulate air. Going from a 6" intake and a 4" outlet, I figured the air inside the hull would get into all of the nooks and exit with a little more velocity,

That said, 5" ports would probably work fine and give you a little more hand room.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY

p.s. We got 10" of new, wet snow last night......
get the 5" ronstan ports and you can put bottle ports in. :)
 

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