Carolina State Parks Step-by-Step Instructions for Rigging a Sunfish Securing the Drain Plugs Attaching the Rudder Attach and Hoist the Mainsail Rigging the Mainsheet Rigging the Daggerboard
Great video. I've sailed a Sunfish for a number of years successfully without a lot the extra rigging you used to secure the sail to the mast. Just my thoughts. Thanks again.
Did you miss the tip about tying the halyard to the sail, so when sailing downwind you get extra leverage? I’ve watched a lot of Sunfish videos and never saw that before. Kudos, great video!
Starboard side on mast ring. Put a cleat on mast and tie it off there 1st. and then down to deck, less stress on deck hardware. They also have a stainless steel round plate to go into bottom of mast cavity.
Good video, I appreciate the instruction. But what if it's really windy on that dock? No way you could hoist that sail if the wind is kickin on that dock.
Thank you for the comment. If it's so windy that it would be too difficult to hoist the sail then you probably shouldn't be going out in a small boat like the Sunfish. That said, if it was actually windier than the conditions that we recorded in, all you need to do is be sure to point the bow of the boat into the direction of the wind and it should be no more difficult to hoist the sail at that point. As mentioned in the video, pulling up on the goose neck while hoisting with the halyard is a good way to overcome any resistance that you might face.
+The StarboardTack Lake Norman Community Sailing has member passes, which includes the use of their sunfish. www.lnsailing.org/Default.aspx?tabid=602052
Funny story...I was out the other day on a sunfish and apparently I did not tie off the cleat correctly. Long story short the sail fell and I started to drift into a "No Boat Zone". I had to make a quick judgement call to jump off the boat and swim it out. This goes to show you how important it is to tie the cleat correctly :) Thank you for the comment!
It's one of those things that requires a good dose of repetition. I've been involved in rescue for 6+ years and rope work is a low frequency--high risk activity. If you don't do it often, or struggle to remember them, you might try the family of Figure 8 Knots. They are harder to mess up because they are much easier to recognize. I have a figure 8 video if you are interested.
