Hey guys,

So my fiance (and also myself) are looking into purchasing a used Sunfish. She's learning to sail, and I have some experience already. We've been perusing craigslist and other classifieds, but haven't really found any that have looked like a good enough value. I've read through some sailing forums, and a buyers guide or two, but honestly, it all seems really dense, and I really don't want to get burned when buying one.

Does anyone have words of advice, general tips, or things to look out for when buying one? Perhaps one you're willing to sell reasonably? (I don't want to turn this into a wanted ad, but I figured I'd ask anyway).

I appreciate the help!

-Max

Thanks for the words of advice. So we're definitely looking into the later fiberglass ones, however, I've read that sunfishes made by Pearson, indicated by a "P" prefix in the serial number (1989-1991?) were of horrendous quality. Incidentally, the last one we looked at was a pearson, and we passed on it.

For now, we'll be transporting it via cartop, but I plan on adding a hitch to my car for a trailer--but there's no hurry to do so. I'm not waterfront, but NJ has plentiful lakes where I live. We also plan on using it in some brackish or saltwater down in Wildwood Crest (not the ocean, but their bay/estuary).

I have a fairly large shed which should be able to handle something up to 14' long, no problem, so storage shouldn't be too much of an issue. I'd prefer not to go larger, though. Our price point is hovering around the $700 mark--but we're flexible for the proper deal.

How much of a dealbreaker is it if the owner doesn't have a title? It seems many of these sunfish are sold with that condition.

It looks like in New Jersey, anything over 12 feet in length must be registered, and anything that is titled, must also be registered.

Really, I don't think we'll be doing enough sailing in areas where we'll have law enforcement to worry about. At the end of the day, we're just looking for something that hasn't been beat, and has a fair amount of life in it. We have a yacht club down the road from us, maybe I'll see what types of resources they have.

Is there a price range on these types of sailboats? We've been flying by the seat of our pants, only comparing the prices to other local deals.

Thanks everyone. Since posting, I've been able to go out and check some out people were selling on CL. I've passed on all.

I ran into this one. There's no repairs that I can see, and it looks to be in fine condition for being built in 1981.

I'll attach a picture of the main part I'm concerned about. From my limited research and even more limited experience, I *think* they're cracks in what's called the gelcoat. Can anyone here confirm that? Is this something to be worried about?

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Thanks again.

I am thinking (and hoping) that this is the case as well. This particular sunfish was said to be stored outside, but fully covered. If a tree branch fell on it (or some other external means for the crazing), I feel like the cracking would be far deeper and more obvious. I'm going to check it out tomorrow afternoon, and make the guy an offer, but I really don't want to have to do any work to make the sunfish structurally sound. I just don't have the time or the skill set to do something like that right now.

At the moment, cosmetics are a non issue. I just want something that will require minimal work, and won't have leaks or structural issues.

That's the thing, more often than not, we'll be on small lakes. Seems like Sunfish are easier and cheaper to come by, although, admittedly, I haven't done nearly the amount of research on them compared to sunfish.

Finally found one local that seemed like a good deal. 1979 AMF Sunfish, complete. The guy even made some wooden mounts for the mast and sail that fit right on the hull when transporting. Paid $700, and it included the trailer and title with brand new wheels and bearings. The ONLY thing it's missing is the drain plug for the hull and the title for the boat itself. Not a big deal. Otherwise, everything has been garage kept for it's life, and looks to be in really fantastic condition for it's age.

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Thank you gentlemen!