AMF Minifish Serial Numbers

 12 Aug 23:

AMF bought ALCORT in 1969 and introduced the Minifish around 1971. The Minifish is the 11' 9" little sister to the Sunfish, with a few significant differences. The mast was 9 feet vs 10, booms 2 feet shorter than the Sunfish. Hull weight advertised around 75 pounds. The deck, coaming and cockpit were one continuous mold versus three pieces, and the gunwale was the rolled edge style found on modern Sunfish vs the horizontal deck/hull flange used until 1989. There were holes in the gunwale for a bow line and bridle versus screws. No halyard pulley, just a cleat. Some Minifish had venturi bailers, some didn't. 

What most Minifish no longer have is their identifying Serial No. sticker, AMF thought a thin paper backed sticker on the deck would be sufficient vs a metal tag. We've found no record that ties serial numbers to specific model years, which leaves a 6 0r 7 year gap from the early 1970s until USCG mandated Hull ID Numbers (HIN) began showing up on AMF transoms. 

I rod tripped from Florida up to Tennessee for one Minifish and came home with two, SMOKY and BANDIT. They were fun little boats, small cockpits. Great option for kids or folks who want to lift as little weight as possible. The 65 square foot lateen offered plenty of fun. Skipper took me out for a cruise, I put us a few pounds over the advertised 300 pound crew weight, and the boat sailed fine.

One of many times that Skipper tries to run over the photo buoy boy Video: https://youtu.be/Gylr8IsRqos

We found that the Minifish still handled well when the breeze picked up, with the lower rig and smaller sail. A well balanced boat like the Sunfish, scaled down.

We passed the Minifish along to folks who were car toppers, because at the time we could beach launch any of our fleet from our back yard, and if we were going to rig a Fish, it was going to be a Sunfish. The Sunfish had more legroom and more cockpit lounging space on ghosting days. Maybe one day when 139 pounds on a dolly causes us to pause well look for another Mini.