Sailfish Guts

23 Sep 24:

One of our friends asked about the interior of the Alcort Super Sailfish MKII, the fiberglass, flat deck skinny sister to the Sunfish.  The interior is mostly hollow but has structural extruded polystyrene foam blocks that are glued in with marine grade, closed cell flotation foam. 2 long foam blocks down either side and a shorter block up front. These blocks provide rigidity to the deck and hull and supplemental flotation, but the design flotation is the pontoon hull itself, consider it "sealed." If a hull does leak, it is important to find and fix the leak. Do NOT let water sit inside the hull for days(+), even closed cell foam will absorb water over time, just like wood, and water weight is 8+ pounds per gallon. Saturated blacks are the reason for bloated, nasty Sailfish guts.

There are also little wooden blocks glued underneath the deck where there are fasteners above, like the bow handle screws, handrail screws, halyard block, bridle eyestraps etc...and the rudder fittings. These blocks can either fall off, or get wet and rot, so it is another great reason to drain any water from the bilge and find and fix any leaks.

Image Credit: Unknown