There were conversion kits so Sunfish sailors could have the best of both worlds. Every so often one of these appears on the market, you just have to keep a watch on the lists to catch one.Hello, I am looking to get back into sailing. In my youth I used a Super Sunfish and liked the relative performance that I could get out of it. However, in searching for a boat I can't find this exact model or even any sail kits around. I thought about getting a Laser instead but I'm only 140lbs and even though I don't plan on racing I'd still like to get some speed and still feel in control.
How can I go about converting a regular Sunfish into a Super Sunfish? I'm sure this has been asked before but I searched and didn't find anything relevant. I believe the Formula S is the same thing, would that work? If so... are these hard to find?
Thanks!
I could see one of the racing sails being fun, but as it is I am hoping to get a boat for under $1000 so it won't be the newest and greatest. Plus, the season in Wisconsin for sailing isn't that long so I would hate to sit on my butt and wait for one of those kits or boats to come along here. I wish I could find some local places.
Good points, the Sunfish has come along way since 1975.A lot of the reason a Super went upwind better than a regular Sunfish was the Super's hydrodynamic foil-shaped centerboard. The plastic Sunfish board that came out in the early 90s is better than the Super's board, so a Sunfish goes upwind a lot better than it did. Combine that with the racing sail that has a lot of draft, and I think I recall seeing that a Sunfish with the plastic board and racing sail has a portsmouth number around the same as a Super's.
You will have to keep an eye out for a used Super rig. Adapting a Laser rig would be a nightmare, as the Laser mast won't fit in a Sunfish hull. Coming up with a mast that fits in a Sunfish hull and works in a Laser sail does not seem very likely. By the way, the Laser sail measures at 76 sq. ft. A Sunfish sail is ostensibly 75 sq. ft., but given all the material in a racing sail, my guess is it probably has more area than a Laser sail, but in any even they are close in size.
just sent an e-mail to laser performance asking about the diameter of the mast in the zuma, waiting for an answerGood points, the Sunfish has come along way since 1975.
The Portsmouth numbers from a year or two back are in that specification link I posted earlier. They're very close.
I think calculating out just the Sunfish's sail area flat it works out to 85 sq ft ... I never have figured out how actual vs published relates.
I wonder if a Zuma rig would work. More like a Sunfish than a Laser with the same size as a Super Sunfish. I just have no idea about mast fit.
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New Zuma rig (sail and spars) plus nec. hardware will easily top $1000 , hmmmmm ?
There is no Sunfish out there faster than a Sunfish, any Sunfish, with a skilled and practiced sailor at the helm.So there isn't an easy/inexpensive way to make an older Sunfish go faster?
IMHO all that traveler get up was more show than function, like some sort of large yacht training simulator. My thought on emmulating that nowadays would be to mount a deck track along the cockpit lip rather than cluttering the cockpit space itself. I'll bet there's a self-tacking jib track out there for a ~16' - 20' boat that would be just the ticket.Note that to convert to a Super, you also need a traveler and associated hardware....
The traveler is a tube that mounts in the front of the cockpit. It has 'rubber' mounts.
The 137 sail is the one that came with the 'official' Alcort upgrade; the other one appears to be the predecessor, I think.