on the wings of a Sunfish

I found a woodworking and sailing creator named Mark on Instagram that has been experimenting with building a wing foil for his Sunfish.

photo by Mark Palmquist

The wing is designed to skim over the water like a horizontal water ski. If it dives, the wing will still have a lifting force due to its curved upper trailing edge. The speed record for a sunfish is around 11 knots in 20 knots of wind. Beyond that bow gets too bouncy and your live ballast can no long keep the hull flat. The wing creates lift on the leeward side forward of the center of effort lifting the hull. Hopefully the wing won’t come loose. It’s basically clamped on.

photo by Mark Palmquist

Mark has two videos posted with the wing foil attached to his Sunfish – the first was very light winds, so not really a good test, but the video below was higher wind. (click thru to watch the video on Instagram…)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mark Palmquist (@mark.palmquist)

Results: a hydroplaning wing works much better on a skinnier, faster hull. The current wing shape is not ideal. Fluid separated on the upper surface. It needs to be optimized for underwater lift, which means having the foil lower and changing the profile shape. Hydroplaning only works well at speeds above 11 knots and that’s the speed limit of the sunfish. Therefore a sunfish would benefit more from a hydrofoil since they work at 8 knots.

sounds like mixed results, so I’ll be curious to see if Mark goes back to the drawing board to tweak the foil shape… or if he maybe has moved on to tweaking his ideas on a sailboat that is a little sleeker than an ol’ Sunfish.

red fish, blue fish, Sunfish, Moonfish

saw this beautiful wooden sailboat posted on Wooden Boat Magazine’s Instagram the other day.

Looking at Michael Shenker’s new boat, you may think you’re seeing a ubiquitous Alcort Sunfish, but this boat is a Moonfish 14 designed by Jacques Mertens-Gooddens (https://bateau.com) and built by Michael over the winter of 2018-19. The marine plywood hull is sheathed in fiberglass set in epoxy. Michael sails on the lakes near his new jersey home.⠀

a little googling found a little more information about this wooden boat:

https://www.boatbuildercentral.com/proddetail.php?prod=MF14

https://bateau.com/studyplans/MF14_study.php?prod=MF14#list

and the inspiration for the blog post title is of course from Dr. Seuss!

[sailing] anarchy in the UK

trying to ignore the drama and politics that has been going on in the last few months (years?) between both the Sunfish and Laser classes and the official builder, Laser Performance, and instead focus on the positive: Sunfish production has begun in the UK.  hopefully this will improve quality and help with new model and parts availability for the Sunfish sailing class.

here are pictures (all photos by Laser Performance, shared on Twitter and Instagram):

a nice glimpse at the construction process and inner workings of a Sunfish.

a healthy dose of fiberglass and gelcoat.

not sure of the significance – but no sign of the foam flotation blocks.  are they truly being phased out? or just not shown in any of these selected photos?

post title is a mashup of the Sailing Anarchy forum and the song by the Sex Pistols.

the D’yer Mak’er

saw this photo posted on the Dinghy Shop Instagram account and had to wonder:

how can this boat builder not be called the D’yer Mak’er?

When I read the letter you sent me, it made me mad mad mad
When I read the news that it brought me, it made me sad sad sad
But I still love you so
And I can’t let you go
I love you
Oh, baby I love you, oh

bow-shackle pen by Oceanus Brass

for those looking for a something with a nautical theme for the sailor in your life, this may be a perfect new gift idea.  it is the bow-shackle pen from Oceanus Brass.  soft polished brash, clean lines, with a small brass bow shackle attached to the top of the pen.  brass is always a common theme with nautical gifts, and while a nice compass and sextant set looks nice on an office desk, they are usually not very practical.

the pen is a conversation starter for sure: I had tucked into my shirt pocket the other day, and everyone who saw it asked about it. the pen has a nice heft to it, and is comfortable in your hand as you write with it.  the length of the pen is probably a tad too short for the size of my hands for any amount of long-term writing, but is perfectly functional for writing a quick note, or penning a card to a loved one.

the craftsmanship of the pen is quite stunning – there are two joints in the pen that are almost imperceptible.  smooth threaded joints allow you to spin off the upper part of the pen to reveal the pen tip for writing, and the 2nd threaded joint unscrews to allow you to change the pen ink refill.

the pen certainly bucks the trend these days to have everything disposable, made from cheap plastics that can be used briefly and then easily discarded.  at $100, it certainly isn’t in the price range of a box of cheap Bic ball point pens, but it’s a bargain compared to a Montblanc.  the solid brass construction is nearly indestructible, so for the cost of pen ink refill every couple of years, this pen will likely last forever.  Oceanus Brass currently has a kickstarter campaign to help fund a re-tool to their pen design to now include a Fisher Space cartridge, details here: Bow-Shackle Pen + Fisher Space Cartridge.  if you support the current kickstarter by Oceanus Brass, you can get one of the new pens for a nice discount.

you can also purchase a Bow-Shackle pen or other nautical inspired gifts (lots of brass!) from their website.  you can follow Oceanus Brass on Twitter and Instagram.

full disclosure: I received this pen as a gift in exchange for writing an unbiased review.

old school hiking out

sail it flat.

h/t: @tackandcross on Instagram