Alcort Catfish sailboat vintage ads

here’s another odd sailboat that was produced for a while by Alcort, in addition to their Sailfish and Sunfish lines.  it looks like the date shown on this first picture is 1965.  that is about how old I figure my green Sunfish is, so there’s a good chance that someone has one of these in their garage or at a cottage on a lake and might even still be using it.

Wayne (he’s since passed away) posted about this little sailboat on the Sunfish Forum:

Pre-dates the production HobieCat. Designed by George W. Patterson, built and sold by Alcort, Inc. from about 1964 to 1969 at which time Alcort sold its whole sailboat business to AMF. AMF dropped the Catfish in favor of the more Hobie-like Trac Cat (Windrush) licensed from an Austrailian builder.

thanks again to blackbelair for sharing these vintage ads with me.

I also previously posted these vintage ads:

AMF/Alcort vintage sailboat ads

AMF/Alcort Hilu sailboat vintage ads

albacore sailing video

this is a pretty sweet video of albacore sailboats racing on what looks like Lake Ontario near Toronto judging by the skyline.  the video is produced by the Canadian Albacore Association.

AMF/Alcort Hilu sailboat vintage ads

hey Joe! here’s another couple vintage ads for that AMF Hilu sailboat with the outrigger.

it looks like it shares similar parts to the Sunfish (and probably several of the other models offered by AMF/Alcort).  the sail area is 65 square feet so probably the same sail as the Minifish, and slightly smaller than the Sunfish sail at 75 square feet.  more information and additional pictures can be found at this site: AMF Hilu.

thanks again to blackbelair for posting the brochures and specifications over at the Yahoo Sunfish Sailor Group.

AMF/Alcort vintage sailboat ads

here are some pretty cool brochures from 1973 showing off the Sunfish sailboat, as well as some of it’s siblings that were offered at the time by the manufacturer AMF Alcort.  there is the slightly smaller Minifish and Sailfish, as well as the Puffer, Force 5, and Flying Fish, and 2 oddballs – the Hilu and the SeaMoth II. (click on the pictures for larger versions of each picture.)

thanks to blackbelair from over at the Yahoo Sunfish Sailor Group for permission to post these vintage brochures.  I think that the Sunfish is the only one of these sailboats still in production (although now being manufactured by Laser Performance).  and the current price is $4220, just a bit more than the 1973 price of $599.

pre-1930 stand up paddling

stand-up paddling back in the old days.

pre-1930 if the notes on Flickr are to be believed.

using 2 missile-looking things instead of a SUP board.

and an extremely long paddle.

wearing your best blouse and long skirt.

this is SUP long before it was the hip cool thing to do.

logic of a child

after dinner this evening, my youngest son (3 1/2 yrs old) was full of energy and started jumping on the couch in the living room.

I did the dadly thing and strongly said: “stop jumping on my furniture!”

he innocently asked me, “not even if I have my cape on?”

sesachacha sunfish

I found this video the other day of a pretty relaxing looking sail on a Sunfish on Sesachacha Pond near Nantucket, Massachusetts.

I really like the graphic of an American flag that he has between the daggerboard slot and the splashguard.  that’s right where I put an inspection port on my old Sunfish, though.

Norwegian geese

this is for the sailing blogmaster tillerman – I need to boost my Norwegian goose hits on The Google (just one post and you’ve stolen my niche market).  but I should clarify that my goose (may she rest in peace) was not Norwegian, but quite likely an Embden goose.  she could at times be a vicious old goose, but she and I both share a fondness for my old Sunfish.

now on the other hand, a more Norwegian goose would probably be the Scania goose (or South Sweden goose).  I’m not sure – maybe they have fondness for Lasers.  or Kirbys.  or whatever that sailboat is called these days.

 

sailing is the ultimate escape

I got this really cool card from my parents for my birthday a few months ago.

…sailboats represent the ultimate escape…

(sailboat hand-painted by Julie Ross)

 

wizards in winter

these light shows are getting more and more popular these days. this one is from a few years ago, and is very well done, set to the song “Wizards in Winter” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.