I got a FREE BOAT! Uhh, what is it?

[eMKay]

This morning I was browsing all the local Craigslists as usual, and came across a 10 minute old ad for a "Free Sunfish!" So I immediately email them back saying "I'll take it!" and await a reply. The owner replies and I go out and get it, it's laying in a garden half covered with dirt, looks to have been there at least 10 years. I flip it over and immediately thing, this isn't a sunfish, but I'll take it anyway because all the rest of the hardware looks good, and I want to build a Puddle Duck Racer, you all know what that is right? No? Well, here you go...

PDRacer.com - Easiest one design sailboat to build and race

Anyway, the ad says it's "20 years old" but it has a registration sticker on it from 1974 (my birth year, woohoo!) more like maybe they had it 20 years, and that's how long it was in the garden, if it were really a 20 year old Sunfish I would have fixed it up good, and sold it for a decent amount of money. Anyway, we cleaned it up and the hull isn't terrible, there is some stuff rolling around in it, some crappy repairs done, it's pretty much worthless, but the rest of the stuff is perfect for a PDR.

The sail dimensions equal a Sunfish, but the hull is definitely not. it's the right length, but only 36" wide, and no cockpit (Sunfish is 49" wide), so WTF is it?

Picking it up, I lost my trailer plate on the way it was a 50 mile round trip, so of course it wasn't free. 100 miles at 20mpgx$3.50 a gallon = $17.50 boat plus a new plate, not sure if they will charge me for that.


Looks like a Sunfish sail...


There was a logo shadow, but this is not a Sunfish logo, it's not fat enough...


This is a Sunfish logo


Wife helping


Rudder and daggerboard


Hull...


Deck, no cockpit...


It says Alcort, so...

[PorFin]

I'm not certain, but if memory serves it could be a Sailfish. It was also built by Alcort, but was a bit smaller than the Sunfish. It had grabrails and a daggerboard.

I wouldn't bet the house on my guess 'tho. Been waaay too many years since I was out bopping around on either a Sunfish or a Sailfish.

Cheers,
PF

[chucklesR]

Don't know what it is, but I'll gladly off you 3x what you 'paid' for a nice day sail kind of boat.
Wonderful deal, and frankly, could not have happened to a better guy.

[Stillraining]

Maybe what you have there is the origional prototype of the Sun Fish..

[JSL3]

Looks like a sailfish to me too.

[PierreMundo]

When you google a little bit and search for "alcort pat 2675775" you end up with information to the Alcort Sailfish. Good luck and enjoy it!

[eMKay]

I think you guys must be right, I found some info, it looks like I have a "Super Sailfish"...

SAILING, SAILFISH, SUPER SAILFISH, SUNFISH, SAILBOAT

"The original name of the company was Alcort. The company name could have been Cortal, but Alcort listed first in the telephone book, so it was selected.

About 1941 Al and Cort, while still in school, started building and selling Skeeter class iceboats. The skeeters were built in a barn. They carried 752 ft of sail. This sail size was used on later sailboat designs. To provide year round work a summer product was needed, so the Sailfish sailboat was created.

The first Sailfish design was 14 ft long, but 14 ft long sheets of plywood were not available, so the boat was redesigned to be 12 ft long.

Production of the Sailfish began about June of 1945 with both kits and completed boats being made available.

The Sailfish was featured in a Life Magazine article and production increased from a[Sailfish Kit] few boats a year to where a factory was needed to keep up with the orders.

The Sailfish and Super Sailfish did not have a cockpit, so the sailor had to sit on top the decking with legs stretched out in front. This configuration was not comfortable, especially for long periods of time. This was the impetus for the Sunfish design and development.

And in fiberglass...

In 1959 Joe Schmit of Naugatuck Chemical Company convinced Alcort to try fiberglass. The Super Sailfish was produced in fiberglass in 1959 and the Sunfish manufacturing process was changed over to fiberglass in 1960. Several changes to the design came with the fiberglass. One change was that the fiberglass hulls weighted more than the wooden hulls. For the first couple of years the wooden and fiberglass hulls were nearly equally competitive. Later the fiberglass boats were faster than the wooden ones.

The Sailfish was phased out in 1962, but the Super Sailfish stayed in production for several more years with 100 to 200 hulls a year being built and sold.

Alcort stopped marketing kits in the mid-60s."

[eMKay]

Originally Posted by PierreMundo

When you google a little bit and search for "alcort pat 2675775" you end up with information to the Alcort Sailfish. Good luck and enjoy it!

Thanks, I found it by trying "sailfish", your idea brought up a link with pictures though, and yup, this is it...
http://www.sunfishforum.com/alcort-s...9.html?p=10014

[eherlihy]

So, it's not a 20 year old sunfish? I think that you should return it, and get your money back!

It looks great after the cleaning! Enjoy!!

[merlin2375]

very nice find! In excellent condition for its age and past life