Looking to buy first Sunfish

I'm going to look at an AMF Alcort sunfish. It has all the parts and a sail that was used only once. This seems to be an older Sunfish as it has the old style Rutter. it does have a hole where it was rubbed up against some rock. I'm ok with doing the fiber glass work to fix the hole. I could probably get it for about $175- $250. As they were selling the sail. mast and boom for $225. My question is. Is it worth purchasing for this amount?

Waterdog,

With the hole shown in the photo, water has leaked into the interior at some point and the interior foam may have soaked up water and become waterlogged - not good. Also the old style rudder system is inferior to the new style (post-1972) system.
A few hints when you go to look at the boat and gear: Weigh the hull. Just take a decent bathroom scale with you, put the scale on a solid surface and then balance the boat on its side on the scale and take a few readings. 130-140 lbs is great for an old hull
but over 150 lbs might be a deal breaker. Also, with the hull right side up, fill up the mast hole with water and see if it drains out (i.e. holes/cracks in the mast tube - another difficult fix.) Eyeball the entire hull and press down every few inches with your fingers to see if there are any soft spots, evidence of trauma that has caused the fiberglass skin to separate from the interior foam.

To be candid, the hull looks marginal unless is it very light. The sail is nice but I am guessing it has been used more than "..once" If you could get the entire package for under $200, you could keep the mast, booms and sail, landfill the hull (after removing the hardware), sell the old style rudder assembly and daggarboard here on the Forum and then look for a better post-1972 boat that needs a better sail.

Where are you located? Are other Sunfish readily available?

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY

Thank for the tip. I'm going to look at it tomorrow and report back. According to seller the hole happened a while ago and the boat has been sitting elevated off the ground for since then. I know I can get the sail, mast and boom for $200 as they have it advertised for $225. If it boat does not look good I may just pick up the sail. As for other boat around my area. I'm looking to give this to my 12 year old son as a project he and I could work on and fix up. I keep looking but most are over $1200 just not willing to send that. We all ready ahve a boat and several kayaks, so this would be addition to our fleet. As for more boats being in my area. You would think living on the largest lake in NJ there would be plenty. But thats not the case.

Waterdowg,
A quick craiglist search shows some promising sunfish leads not too far away. If you are willing to invest some time there is a free boat in the catskills of NY. Located at Livingston Manor. http://catskills.craigslist.org/boa/4691699262.html Others range from $100 to several thousand. Search Hudson Valley and North Jersey.
Good luck in the search
Glenn

Thanks for the link. I will have to start looking outside my area. I did and look at the one I posted pics of. I put it on the digital scale and got several different reading. 170, 225, 250, and 256. It was heavy after the 4th time it was getting hard to put on the scale. the hole in the front was only about 2 inches. I could not find a VIN plate. But looked to be a 72. I pressed on the deck and when I pressed over the the foam I press in and hear it squeak. I decided to pass on the hull, rudder and dagger. Although I could get it for FREE. They just wanted it gone.
I did purchase the sail. It look great and and included the storage bag. They claim it was only used once as they sailed the boat tipped it over and never used it again. They purchased the sail new in 1995. Now for only being used once the yellow on top is faded. either way used once more its in really great shape. I paid $150 for the sail, mast, boom, and bag and big coil of line.

Well I found another Sunfish for $275. It nice its still the old style rudder but it was in nice shape. I spoke to owner of the other boat that I showed above. I'm going to pick it up and strip it for parts. I'm thinking of sperating the hull to see what one looks like inside. I will post pictures when I have a chance.

Sounds like you found several good buys. The damaged hull would be good for its parts. Valuable parts would be the coaming, aluminum trim pieces, rudder hardware, deck hardware and perhaps the bailer if functioning. Sell these oarts should pay for oart if the second boat. You could also sell or give the hull away once stripped to someone looking to make a duck hunting boat.

Yes I got lucky with the boat I bought; the seller had several inquires for it. In fact, when I went to look at it there was some one else there.
As for the other boat. There were a few parts missing on the boat I got that the other boat has. So I will strip those off. Before I get rid of it I may cut some holes in it and put some moister absorbing bags inside and let a few months in the heated garage. After that I will see were it at and if the foam is still good. If not it will be given away or thrown away.

Here are the pictures of the sunfish I bought. Any help on figuring out the year would be great. It has the older style rudder but a has storage in the cockpit. It does not have HID number in the rear transom nor does it have an aluminum place near the splash rail.
I read the knowledge base on Hull identification and it just confused me. My guess is 72...

That is a 1971.

Thank you. If you don't mind me asking. What are the signs that make it a 71?

A couple things. The following year - 1972 - the boats had the new rudder , and the prior year, 1970 - the boats had only two stripes on the bow, not three. Also, the reason there is no metal plate by the splashrail was in 1971 they used a rectangular sticker where they used to put a plate. BB