Just bought a $100 craigslist sunfish

Curtis ex Navy submariner

Curtis ex Navy submariner

New Member
I Just bought a $100 craigslist sunfish
It's going to run me a total of about $300 more to get the thing fixed up real good including the trailer fully rehabbed with LED lights and everything this meaning I'm doing everything myself. So I'm trying to keep it under $400 for everything.
It is a 1966 I'm going to try to invent a mechanism to convert the old rudder into a kick up rudder using a hinge and some springs
It is missing the brackets to hold the rudder except for the very bottom one on the bottom of the hull. If I could get any additional ideas on how to modify the original rudder into a kick up rudder that would be great thanks
Here's some pics, my daughter and I did a custom brush paint job ( common exterior high-gloss house paint no basecoat minimal sanding) with the deck, it looks pretty good! image.jpgimage.jpeg
 
It does look pretty sharp! A new meaning to "Custom"! ;)

That rearmost inspection port—what do you see when you open it? :confused:

You're going to need a bow handle. :(

What are you doing—being up and awake at this hour? ;)
 
Cheap solution:
You could sort of copy the "gudgeon" rudder mount system used in other boats

The Laser gudgeons to bolt onto the hull are cheap Then side plates and straps similar to the way my Vagabond's rudder mount/pivot is made (of course resized to go with the Sunfish)

VStt2mx.jpg


Then due to not having the spring and taper/slotted hinge pin you'd use a light bungee to hold the rudder hinge pins in the gudgeons
(hinge pins made from appx 5/16 stainless bolts... measure the holes in the gudgeons)

You'll need an inspection port further aft in the deck (or very long, thin arms) to install the backing block to properly secure the gudgeons to the hull and prevent ripping out holes in the transom

*************

If you can actually look at a Laser rudder or another similar to the one in the picture it would help you see how its done. The big aluminum side plates won't match the available transom on the Sunfish.
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Expensive solutions include finding another hull that is in bad shape to scavenge rudder hardware (and other spare parts) or buying new modern Sunfish rudder hardware.
 
Ah ok thanks for the response
I'll try a gate hinge on top first( cheap diy fix)
The gate hinge would be about 6 inches long for each hinged piece . What I will do is simply bolt the other piece of the hinge to the vertical part of the rudder plate. Springs on each side going from the wooden part of the rudder down to the lower piece of metal that is strapped to the bottom of the hull. The rudder will pivot it up and down on the hinge
Backing block is still good on top rear
I can reach through I cut a notch in the stringer foam block
I installed inspection ports myself I should've put the other one further aft
I have already been drying out the boat for several weeks it's very light now I think
Most of the foam blocks are still properly glued into position with a very small piece in the bow that might need to be slid into position with a broom handle or something
I am not going to race this boat it's just a daysailor
 
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I know that if I try the gate hinge I will have to rotate the rudder on its side in order for it to flip it up onto the back of the boat without breaking the tiller
The rudder has a nice flat piece of metal about 6 inches long and the bottom of that flat piece of metal clicks into position on that lower metal strap that's attached to the bottom of the boat
So I figure with two fairly strong springs and if I can find the balance point on the wooden part of the rudder, the tension on the springs would either hold the rudder down while sailing with the bottom piece of metal clicked into position or hold the rudder up in the folded flipped up position. The springs would have to go from each side of the rudder down to the bottom of that strap
The daggerboard, sail and spars look pretty good
The trailer is very well-designed and does not hold any standing water, every single part of the trailer can drain including all the way up through the tongue.
It is much better than the Snipe trailer I used to have. I plan to wire brush the trailer and then use a rust converter and then go over that with black spray paint rustoleum. The metal on the trailer is very thick and intact under a small layer of rust. I guess all of these trailers have all of the weight on the tongue? My old Snipe trailer was beautifully balanced, it even had a handle so you could just use it to roll it over grass and stuff by hand. This trailer I had to add on that telescoping wheel because all of the weight is on the tongue. Because of the quality of construction I believe that this trailer will last many many years
 
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You got a nice buy.

For safety, I would invest in a correct rudder and hardware as well as a coaming. Wave are going to roll over and fill up the cockpit. There are some significant loads on a rudder in windy conditions. Putting the right parts on will make the boat more reliable, fun and safe.
 
Anyway, if I don't get a better ultra cheap idea I will go ahead and proceed with the crazy idea about the hinge. I am willing to be shamed and fall flat on my face on this board, I'm OK with admitting that I hosed up when things don't turn out correctly
 
Demon said:
You got a nice buy.

For safety, I would invest in a correct rudder and hardware as well as a coaming. Wave are going to roll over and fill up the cockpit. There are some significant loads on a rudder in windy conditions. Putting the right parts on will make the boat more reliable, fun and safe.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks I will definitely consider.
fhhuber said:
Cheap solution:
You could sort of copy the "gudgeon" rudder mount system used in other boats

The Laser gudgeons to bolt onto the hull are cheap Then side plates and straps similar to the way my Vagabond's rudder mount/pivot is made (of course resized to go with the Sunfish)

VStt2mx.jpg


Then due to not having the spring and taper/slotted hinge pin you'd use a light bungee to hold the rudder hinge pins in the gudgeons
(hinge pins made from appx 5/16 stainless bolts... measure the holes in the gudgeons)

You'll need an inspection port further aft in the deck (or very long, thin arms) to install the backing block to properly secure the gudgeons to the hull and prevent ripping out holes in the transom

*************

If you can actually look at a Laser rudder or another similar to the one in the picture it would help you see how its done. The big aluminum side plates won't match the available transom on the Sunfish.
************************************************

Expensive solutions include finding another hull that is in bad shape to scavenge rudder hardware (and other spare parts) or buying new modern Sunfish rudder hardware.
Click to expand...
yeah that's a nice design for your kick up rudder
I will definitely study that photograph thanks for taking the time to respond
 
For a temporary combing... You can get a couple of pieces of 3 inch wide 1/4 inch thick poplar 3 ft long at Lowes or Home Depot (appx $4 each). Use pieces of 1/32 X 1 inch aluminum bar stock 3 inches long to make mounting brackets (appx $4 for 3 ft). You'll be able to use the original mounting holes. Stainless steel wood screws into the boat. 6-32 stainless nuts, bolts and washers to attach to the wood. Bend the mount straps appx 30 deg appx 1 inch from one end, The short part get one hole for the deck the long part gets 1 hole for the wood. These holes are appx 1/2 inch from the ends
Hard part is cutting the place the pieces of wood meet because its a compound angle.
Bolt the straps to the boat, then wood on top and bolted to the straps.
Cut off the wood for pleasing shape at the ends
You end up with a small gap between wood and hull... but this will deflect most of the water.

Treat the wood with: 2 parts mineral spirits, 1 part boiled linseed oil, 1 part spar varnish and it will last for years. Let the wood soak as much as it will take, reapplying every time it doesn't look wet any more.
Note that mix is good for refinishing/preserving the wood rudder and daggerboard after sanding too.
 
I will trade you a genuine Sunfish stainless steel rudder gudgeon bracket and internal aluminum back-up plate for the bronze keel plate you said was still attached to the keel; we ech payt postage to ship our part (USPS Flat Rate at about $6 would suffice.) Interested? E-mail me at: [email protected]

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
Demon said:
You got a nice buy.

For safety, I would invest in a correct rudder and hardware as well as a coaming. Wave are going to roll over and fill up the cockpit. There are some significant loads on a rudder in windy conditions. Putting the right parts on will make the boat more reliable, fun and safe.
Click to expand...
Good piece of advice regarding the rudder, IMHO. I'm going to go back, and him a thumbzup. :)
 
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