Sunfish Conversion Question

Carl

Carl

Well-known member
Staff member
I've found a Sunfish for free, just have to pick it up from the sailing club.
If I get it and do a conversion, I plan to cut it down by about 1' and build a transom with motorboard.
My thought is to power it with a small (2.5 hp) portable outboard that I can easily take off/put on.
Put on a coaming, spray shield, oar locks and a slat floor/backrest.

My question: How heavy will the boat be when i am done?
With the motor off, can I slide it into the back of the truck/large SUV by myself?
Or do I really need a trailer?
 
If I had a Sunfish, I'd refinish it to sail. They're a blast, especially in a place you can be on the water 12 months. I've been in a few conversions to duck boats, and they are OK but nothing special. But a cartop/truck bed sailboat is a great toy.
 
Sorry Jeff, no interest at all in sailing. Plus they stripped the boat, no rudder, dagger, mast or rigging.
 
How strong are you? Back when I was about 50-55, I had a sailboat a little bigger than a Sunfish, and I could lift one end, slide it into truck just fine- I think I could still do it today, 20 years later. The challenge is they are so smooth there's no easy way to get a hold of them, so you'll want to put handles on the bow, especially, if you load bow first. And you'll have some abrasion on whichever end you choose to be the back end, as you manipulate the loading end into position.
 
Good morning, Carl~


I never did weigh the Sunfish I converted - but imagine sliding it up into a truck bed would be fairly easy. I had converted a (smaller) Sailfish previously - and hauled that on a roof rack with no problem.




View attachment McFeely Layout - cropped.jpg



I did not shorten either the Sailfish or the Sunfish - so you will be saving the weight of whatever portion you lop off the stern. You also remove weight when you excise the daggerboard trunk and its attendant deck.


View attachment Sunfish conversion notes - Page 1.jpg



Consider weight when you choose materials for anything you add - transom, motorboard, bulkheads, coamings....


View attachment Sunfish conversion notes - Page 2.jpg



I designed mine as a classic Long Island "grassboat" - full-length cockpit where gunner lays down to hide.



View attachment Sunfish conversion notes - Page 3.jpg



The factory bow handle is a nice design - and all you need to heft her onto your tailgate.



View attachment 50 Sea Trials - Hemlock Swamp 28 October 2010 - reduced.jpg



Hope this helps!


SJS


 
I once upon a time converted a "sailfish", the 10' version of a sunfish.
I removed the top deck, and trunk for the dagger board, and re-framed with pine for the deck, cockpit and gunnels, using 1/4" plywood for the decking. It was light enough to handle,. you could sit on the deck but not stand on it.
No motor as these boats really are not designed for it, and are not reinforced enough, and you mess up the trim. Rowing was good.
I installed the gunnels on the exterior to have something to grab on the sides when lifting, and had handles on the stern.
It was a nice compact "grass" boat like Steve said, but limited in decoy capacity. You need to add keelsons on the bottom at the stern to stabilize the boat when pulled out of the water or in real shallow water, otherwise the V bottom will rock back and forth.

When finished it looked almost like a small barnaget. It worked for me cause I towed it with a larger boat and rowed or walked it to the hunting spot.

I guess a really small motor would be ok, but reinforcing the transom will add some weight.
 
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