Question Wooden Sunfish?

L

Lars H

New Member
Hello, I have a wooden, kit built Alcort sunfish. I believe it is from 1959. Would it be class legal to race in a national or district championship? What would be the measurement obstacles?
Thanks in advance.
 
This is something I have always wanted to do. It will be class legal. I don't think there are obstacles to it measuring in, but there could be challenges in getting it to go fast. First is, will a modern white composite daggerboard fit into the trunk? If it does, is the depth of the wood boat as deep as a glass one? If not, a non-foil-shaped part of the boat will be below the hull, which may create unwelcome drag. Next, the glass boats have a taller transom than your boat, so retrofitting a modern rudder assembly is probably impossible. I am not sure the old mechanism will work as well under tough racing conditions - say big waves or breeze - as the new style. Lastly, when you put a racing sail on it in conjunction with a modern daggerboard, and a hiking strap, a lot more power is being delivered to the boat. Hopefully the old wood construction can stand up to it!

Hope you bring it out to race!!
 
Thanks Chris,
I used to race it in the mid to late 70's and it did pretty well, especially in heavy air as I recall. The is no way a new center board would fit and my sail is ancient but that is not the goal, I'm just hoping to put it in the water again!
 
I also have a wooden sunfish and have considered doing this. Would the old style rudder be class legal? Perhaps we could make a wooden sunfish race!
 
Hi M,
I assume as original equipment the old rudder and centerboard would be grandfathered in. My spars and sail are more modern so I don't have a 100% vintage boat. Perhaps a vintage sub fleet "Woodies"!
 
Lars H said:
Hi M,
I assume as original equipment the old rudder and centerboard would be grandfathered in. My spars and sail are more modern so I don't have a 100% vintage boat. Perhaps a vintage sub fleet "Woodies"!
Click to expand...
Yes, as long as the parts that are required to be from the builder are from the builder (or have been replaced with new class legal parts) the boat should be good to race. The Lightnings and Stars both have classic boat races - if there are enough wood Sunfish around it would be great to try something like that for Sunfish too. The US Sunfish Class facebook page is quite active - you could see if you could find more woodie owners there.
 
Lars H said:
Hi M,
I assume as original equipment the old rudder and centerboard would be grandfathered in. My spars and sail are more modern so I don't have a 100% vintage boat. Perhaps a vintage sub fleet "Woodies"!
Click to expand...
I have raced 505s for a long time and the class occasionally has had a sort of exhibition “classics” side regatta at big events if memory serves.
 
Great idea on a Classic Regatta. She'll do better with a Barrington board and the 1971 blade with reinforced rudder head, the last iteration before swap to "new style" rudder.

If we raced with the original 31 inch daggerboard and elephant ear rudder and new sail, it would be a sideways race. A blown out Fogh sail is a good match.

IMG_1531.jpeg
 
Here is a thread from the US Sunfish Class Facebook group:
www.facebook.com

US Sunfish Class | Hi All. Thanks for the add | Facebook

Hi All. Thanks for the add. There was a discussion on The Sunfish Forum about using wooden sunfish in racing and if they would be class legal with old hardware. I came here hoping to find some...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
I really like the idea of getting a woodies regatta together, but not sure where the best way/place to organize would be
 
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