What year is my Sunfish?

aggiearchi

New Member
Hello - I just found this forum, and I am glad to see how active it is. As a very out-of-practice sailor, I hope that you will be patient with me.

I bought a Sunfish 5 years ago from a party that had kept it stored and unused for something like 30 years. If I remember correctly, the last registration on the trailer was in 1973. I know that the original owner sailed it for several years before storing it, but I just don't know how many. It has sat in my garage, also unused all of this time, because I dreaded all of the work and parts that I was sure it was going to need. I finally got it out this past Saturday, though, and to my surprise, it only had one small problem (I'll post again about that for input), but was otherwise in great shape, and ready to sail! We took it out for several hours, and it was wonderful!

Now I am re-hooked, and want to find out all I can about the boat and how to take care of it. My first question is, how old is it? It has a fiberglass hull, but maybe a wood deck (painted kelly green). The original sail (still in pretty good shape) has green and white stripes and a black sunfish logo. There is a little plate on the deck behind the mast that says "Alcort" with a pair of Sunfish boats on it. The rudder, tiller, and center board are all stained and varnished wood. The mast and boom, and whatever you call the member that folds up to the boom (please help me there), all look like aluminum, and it has very minimal harware. As far as I know, the sheets and everything else are all original.

Any idea of what year it came from, or a suggetion of how to find out?

Thanks!
 
Dianne - you have a Sunfish with a footwell or a Sailfish with a flat deck? If its a Sunfish check that metal plate for a serial number. There's a list of numbers and years at the Sunfish Class web in the FAQ. http://www.sunfishclass.org/frequent/index.htm
Sailfish have numbers too but there's no list I know of. Maybe someone else has an idea in that case.
 
Thanks for that info & website, Dan. It has a cockpit, so I will check the plate for the serial number. I do remember seeing a number there.
 
This site has some good info that will answer many of your questions:

http://www.windline.net/buysf.htm

As for care the sunfish is kinda like an Apple Computer (one rule - don't type with a hammer). It is ridiculously easy to take care of it.

I suggest pulling out the drain plug when it is sitting on the beach (so the rain water drains out of the cockpit.)

Keep replacing the sail clips as they fall out (which they will do). Prevents undue stress on the sail.

Rinse the rudder in fresh water after you use it - otherwise the corrosion makes attaching it the next time a pain.

If any of the rubrails around the edge of the boat are loose, fix them (drill out and re-rivet - its a stitch in time thing)

I suggest storing it indoors for long stretches (for me that's winter), but make sure it's dry before you do. You should have a screw-like thing in the surface of the deck near the cockpit - that's your hull drain plug. Unscrew it and tip the boat over to get any collected water out. If you regularly collect water in the hull it's an issue you need to take care of - repost and get hints on the common causes and fixes.

Many people don't leave their sail out in the sun when they're not using the boat, I take the mast out and flip the boat over as well, but I'm boarderline O/C about boats....

Otherwise have fun.
 
:eek: Holy cow!!!! My boat is a 1959! It's almost 50 years old! Before I knew this, we took it out in a good stiff breeze yesterday, and really put some stress on it. It took in some water in the cockpit, but the sail held up fine, and the boat performed beautifully.

I'll look at those sites that were suggested, but I have a couple more questions that can probably be answered here.

There is about a 10" section of rubrail that is missing from the starboard side. The gap was neatly covered up with ancient duct tape, which has now fallen off. I can see that this is a potential place to get water in the hull, so where do I find replacement rubrail - or will I need to have it fabricated?

There is no drain for the hull. I can't hear water sloshing around inside of it, and th boat doesn't seem to sit low in the water, but the it seems pretty heavy. Should I install a drain, or maybe a port? What location is best?

There is a drain in the cockpit, which I assume is a self-bailing feature, or not? When I opened it up with the boat in the water, it seemed to let water in rather than draining it out. I closed it before I could be sure, though. Looking at it from the bottom, it appears to have a ball valve. Is there some kind of maintenence that it needs to function properly, or is it not a self-bailer at all?

With a 1959 boat, would you upgrade it with all the modern conveniences and colors, or would you try to keep it in original condition?

Thanks for all your help!
 
:eek: Holy cow!!!! My boat is a 1959! It's almost 50 years old! Before I knew this, we took it out in a good stiff breeze yesterday, and really put some stress on it. It took in some water in the cockpit, but the sail held up fine, and the boat performed beautifully.

I'll look at those sites that were suggested, but I have a couple more questions that can probably be answered here.

There is about a 10" section of rubrail that is missing from the starboard side. The gap was neatly covered up with ancient duct tape, which has now fallen off. I can see that this is a potential place to get water in the hull, so where do I find replacement rubrail - or will I need to have it fabricated?

There is no drain for the hull. I can't hear water sloshing around inside of it, and th boat doesn't seem to sit low in the water, but the it seems pretty heavy. Should I install a drain, or maybe a port? What location is best?

There is a drain in the cockpit, which I assume is a self-bailing feature, or not? When I opened it up with the boat in the water, it seemed to let water in rather than draining it out. I closed it before I could be sure, though. Looking at it from the bottom, it appears to have a ball valve. Is there some kind of maintenence that it needs to function properly, or is it not a self-bailer at all?

With a 1959 boat, would you upgrade it with all the modern conveniences and colors, or would you try to keep it in original condition?

Thanks for all your help!
 
Holy cow!!!! My boat is a 1959! It's almost 50 years old!
Quite impressive

There is about a 10" section of rubrail that is missing -
It won't leak unless the hull is splitting open in that spot. Rubrail acts as a protector only. Sunfish dealers sell replacement pieces

There is no drain for the hull. Should I install a drain?
Has it got a half-inch brass screw in the bow that's not attaching anything? It could be at the tip of the starboard splash guard. That would be the drain plug

The only way to know if there's trapped water is to weigh it. Get out the scale and hold the hull up on one side on the scale. Your year hull was listed at 139 pounds. See what it is now.


There is a drain in the cockpit, which I assume is a self-bailing feature, or not? When I opened it up with the boat in the water, it seemed to let water in rather than draining it out.
Those things must have been war surplus scuttle valves. If you are captured you open it to sink the boat. :D
Seriously, the valve only works when the boat is moving. Read the manual at Team Vanguard ( www.teamvanguard.com ) for an explaination of operation. Lucky you can still open it. Many old ones get corroded closed


With a 1959 boat, would you upgrade it with all the modern conveniences and colors, or would you try to keep it in original condition?
Personally, I'd clean it up and keep it original.
 
Holy cow!!!! My boat is a 1959! It's almost 50 years old!
Quite impressive

There is about a 10" section of rubrail that is missing -
It won't leak unless the hull is splitting open in that spot. Rubrail acts as a protector only. Sunfish dealers sell replacement pieces

There is no drain for the hull. Should I install a drain?
Has it got a half-inch brass screw in the bow that's not attaching anything? It could be at the tip of the starboard splash guard. That would be the drain plug

The only way to know if there's trapped water is to weigh it. Get out the scale and hold the hull up on one side on the scale. Your year hull was listed at 139 pounds. See what it is now.


There is a drain in the cockpit, which I assume is a self-bailing feature, or not? When I opened it up with the boat in the water, it seemed to let water in rather than draining it out.
Those things must have been war surplus scuttle valves. If you are captured you open it to sink the boat. :D
Seriously, the valve only works when the boat is moving. Read the manual at Team Vanguard ( www.teamvanguard.com ) for an explaination of operation. Lucky you can still open it. Many old ones get corroded closed


With a 1959 boat, would you upgrade it with all the modern conveniences and colors, or would you try to keep it in original condition?
Personally, I'd clean it up and keep it original.
 

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