Minifish

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barney1

New Member
I am thinking of buying a minifish but the owner says the centerboard is a little hard to get in; should this be a major concern? thanks
 
No, could be too thick or too wide in which case you could refinish it making sure it fits. If too thick you can get it planed down to fit by a wood shop. Could also be that the board is warped which would mean planing it down as well. Or replace with a newer daggerboard. Any Sunfish daggerboard should work.
 
I agree with Sailcrafti, the board that comes with the boat is probably too, wide, thick or warped or all of the above. The proper board for a Minifish is a 3/4" thick mahogany "Shadow" (i.e. tapered) board (see photo) that the builder (Alcort, Inc.) used for the Sunfish and the Minifish when the Mini came into production. It is possible that the board you have with the Mini is aftermarket or from another design and simply off sized. Measure the board and see if that is the problem.

It is also possible that somebody did some repair work to the inside of the Mini dagger board trunk and did not grind/sand the trunk back to the 3/4" (+) spec. To check the thickness, get a 3/4" thick strip of wood, insert it into the trunk, move it around and see if it hangs up anywhere. I re-glassed the inside a Sunfish trunk once and sure enough, the board didn't fit. I put a 3/4" dia. sanding drum on an extension shaft, chucked it into a drill and sanded away the offending humps, a 10 minute, easy fix.

It is true that any true Sunfish board will fit in the Mini but the tapered board will probably work best - the others may be a bit too large. I have a genuine Alcort Shadow board like the one shown in the photo is for sale if you need one.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 

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thank you both for the info; as it is I think we are going to continue to look for a different minifish
 
barney1 said:
thank you both for the info; as it is I think we are going to continue to look for a different minifish
Click to expand...

I bought a minifish that had that problem, maybe. The first time I launched it I assumed the board I use regularly in another minifish would fit. I shoved off without checking the fit til i got out a bit, and ended up paddling back. I tried a few boards and the problem was the 'length'of the slot and not the width (thickness). And it wasn't the whole trunk but just the deck lip over the trunk that was flanged out a bit excessively. The trunk itself was recessed and plenty wide. It just needed to be ground down some, with no structural impact, and smoothed out. I might suggest looking at the boat if it wasn't too far away and if that's the fit problem, make a deal, then do the easy fix.

One side note on this subject. I had a busted sunfish plastic racing board that I didn't figure I could repair satisfactorily, but got new life reshaped a bit with this minifish.
 
this minifish I am still thinking of buying, the owner tells me the tiller extension arm keeps giving him trouble. he can makeshift fix it and it will last for a while then break again. anyone know where I would get a good working one of these?
 
For just the tiller extension go to Intensity sails. Look under the Daysailor category for a 36 in extension for $23.

The one under the Sunfish catsgory is 48 in long which may be too long for your minifish.
 
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