As a newbie to the list, allow me to introduce myself along with a
relatively simple question.
I'm a rookie Sunfish owner living in Houston, TX. I recently acquired
two 1980s vintage fish in excellent condition. As a father of four
and an avid Sunfish sailor in my youth (ages 12-19) I am ecstatic. I
have one racing sail and one stock sail, and the boats are both
rigged for racing as near as I can tell (wire traveller with a center
loop, mainssheet cam cleats center deck, racing flag interpretation
decal, etc.).
The boats are trailered in a "bunk bed" configuration: the bottom
boat rests hull down on a conventional boat trailer setup equipped
with one roller and a set of pulpits aft, while the upper boat is
flipped over and rides on its deck on foam pipe insulation as a
buffer.
My dilemma: there is no space engineered on the trailer to carry the
sails and masts comfortably. The previous owner wrapped the two
lateen rigs and their masts in a canvas boat cover and lashed the
whole miserable lump to one side of the trailer. While this is
functional to a point, it requires unwrapping EVERYTHING just to get
to one set of sails. It is also cumbersome and time consuming,
especially with my limited repertoire of knots {grin}.
I'm thinking of installing two PVC pipes, one in each of the upper
corners of the trailer rack (underneath the tubes the top boat rests
on) - one pipe for each sail/mast combination. In my mind, a threaded
cap on the aft end will make stowing and retrieval much less of a
frustration. My only worry is that the repetitive friction of sail
against PVC during stowing and retrieval will cause some trouble I
don't want down the road. (For the record, I currently wrap the
mainsail around the boom, secure it with the sheet line, leaving the
mast free.) Any input on this particular idea would be greatly
appreciated.
ALSO, any problems/liabilities to storing and transporting boats
topside down?
Fair winds,
Nolan Habegger
Houston, TX
