Sunfish (dinghy)
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The International Sunfish Class is a popular one-design class of sailboat which was developed in the 1950s. It can be sailed with one, two, or three persons, but is most often sailed singlehanded (one person). At 13 feet 9 inches (4.2 m) in length and 130 lb (59 kg) in weight, the Sunfish is easily carried in a luggage rack or a light trailer. The Sunfish is used as a day sailer or a racing boat, with over 1000 racing events every year worldwide.
Key to the Sunfish's success are simplicity and low cost. A Sunfish can be sailed using only a single line (the Sheet) and the tiller. A second line (the halyard) is used to raise and lower the sail. A Sunfish setup for racing will typically add outhaul, cunningham, a gooseneck quick-release adjuster, and vang lines. The lateen sail is fixed to the spars and is stored by simply wrapping the sail around the spars, or by rolling the sail up parallel to the spars.
A single person can easily handle the Sunfish. The "board boat" design, with its small, self bailing cockpit, resists swamping. The boat can carry up to 3 small people. The wide, hard-chined hull allows it to plane and achieve a Portsmouth handicap of 99.6, which is very low for a boat of its size. A new Sunfish costs about US$3395-$3820[1], with older used models in working condition going for under US$500. Because of its low cost and simplicity (it is often regarded as the simplest boat to sail, and is widely used for teaching sailing) it is also perhaps the most popular sailboat ever invented; over 500,000 Sunfish have been built. Because of this, the Sunfish is part of the American Sailboat Hall of Fame.
The great popularity of the Sunfish has lead to many imitators; Starfish, Aquafin, Phantom, and Big Fish are all boats virtually identical to the Sunfish.
[edit] Racing
In recent years the Sunfish has turned from just a cruising and purely recreational boat into a racing class. Now all over the country there are Sunfish Racing Events, the class has also benifited from World Wide Racing Events.
[edit] History
In the 1940s, Cortlandt Heyniger and Alex Byran created a company. They used their names to form the portmanteau Alcort, the company name. (The name Cortlandt is often misspelled Cortland, but authoritative sources use the Cortlandt spelling.[2])
Alcort's first sailboat was the Sailfish. Introduced in 1951, it was similar to a large wooden surfboard with a sail, a rudder and a daggerboard. It was available in either finished or kit form.
Carl Meinelt - one of Alcort's first employees - created the classic shape of the Sunfish in 1951 as a wooden kit boat. By 1959, hulls were being commercially produced in molded fiberglass composite. Over the years, rights to produce Sunfish have been held successively by Alcort, AMF/Alcort, Sunfish Laser Inc., Pearson Sailing Yachts, and Vanguard Sailboats (the current manufacturer).
The class became popular for racing int he 1960s and 1970s, and was designated the International Sunfish Class in 197_[citation needed] by the International Yacht Racing Union (now the International Sailing Federation).
[edit] External links
- International Sunfish Class Association
- Manufacturer's website
- The Sunfish Forum - Sunfish News, Discussion, and classified ads
- Sunfish manual covering 1955 to current production boats.
- Owner's Support Group Sunfish, Sailfish, and "Clone-fish". Download Library of Repair Diagrams, Setup Guides, and Historical Information.
| Sailing dinghies (ISAF International Classes) | |
|---|---|
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