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Re: new sunfish

 

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Hello all,

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After a 40 year hiatus I was determined to get back into the Sunfish class in 2017. I came close to not making it because of the gross dysfunction of the manufacturer.

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There were virtually no new boats available. None in the Midwest. And I located a couple really, really nice clean used boats but they needed all the racing gear (sail, daggerboard, lines, etc.). It wasn't mandatory but I bought a new fiberglass broader blade as well before the North Americans. I believe the situation has been resolved but in the whole country I couldn't find a sail or daggerboard.

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I paid $1000 for the hull including wood blades that were in beautiful shape. But everything else I had to purchase and I put a lot of sweat equity in the boat installing ports, sanding the bottom and mounting the new hardware. I purchased covers. I used the dolly and tiller extension from my Laser. I have less invested than if I had purchased a new boat but that's not counting one heck of a lot of time and hassle.

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If I had to do it again I probably would buy a new one (although I love my 1983 – it looks just like the one I owned as a teenager). Here's the whole story that was published in the class magazine:

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The other advantage of buying a new boat, and over the years I used to buy a new Laser every 1-3 years (I used to joke by saying I needed a new sail and it came with a boat). There's very, very low depreciation. By buying a new boat you are keeping the manufacturer and dealer in business and if you turn over a good boat periodically you are adding another competitive boat to your fleet or region. Everyone wins.

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Good luck to you,

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Mark Kastel

La Crosse Sailing Club

La Crosse, Wisconsin

Sunfish 7500

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From: sunfish_sailor@... [mailto:sunfish_sailor@...]
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2019 9:04 AM
To: sunfish_sailor@...
Subject: [sunfish_sailor] Re: new sunfish

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The biggest competition for a New fish is... a quality used fish. Kinda the same thing as Harleys. If it looks and sails the same, why spend more? They last a very long time with any kind of care at all.

Which suggests to me a question; is there an official appraisal/rating system for used Sunfish, kind of like the quality rating systems for comic books and such?? Or the concours ratings on classic restored cars? I've never heard of one.

Seems like it would be pretty subjective, but an objective format might be based on some easy criteria like:

Age of the hull
Hull weight over factory spec.
Number of non-factory-original holes made in it.
OEM parts percentage regarding the rigging, rudder, daggerboard.
Condition of mast and spars from like-new to "some scuffs" to "looks ok? from the dockside".? Any bends or kinks would take points off.
Quality of the gelcoat in terms of cracks, scratches, goug es, breaks: none, minor spiderwebs, major cracks, repaired and refinished damage.
overall finish: Original, refinished, repainted.

A points system associated with each category gives you an overall number that could roughly describe the boat's value relative to factory-new.? But it also might give you a? checklist, a way to assess the value of a used boat in relative dollars to fix it up, compared to the price of a brand new boat.? A 100-dollar boat is a great value, ...unless you need to spend 2-300 dollars (and shipping) on a new mast and spars, 100 for a new sail,? 80-100 for a new block, 100 for cam cleats, 80 for ropes and lines, 100 for a daggerboard or a rudder,? 80-150 for a tiller or a tiller extension, 50-150 on fiberglass and refinishing supplies... see where I'm going with this?? I got a used boat for basically 20 bucks.? I've got probably 300, spent in little batches, into it now, to restore it. It's a ctually worth more, parted-out, than at the dock, ready to sail...

... or you could just jump in the damn thing and go sail:-) We don't do this for money, we do it for love. But money helps make it all happen.
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