In 1951 Alcort added a Dri-deck coaming and Barfair processed colored sails to the Standard Sailfish 12 lineup and called it the Sailfish Deluxe 12. A new 14 foot Sailfish was added, the Sailfish 14, and it also had a Sailfish Deluxe 14 model. There were three models factory built plus kits for the Sailfish 12 and the Sailfish 14. The names changed again around 1960 when the fiberglass model was introduced. The coaming was dropped and the 3 models offered were the wooden Standard Sailfish (11' 7"), the wooden Super Sailfish (13' 7") and the fiberglass Super Sailfish MK II.
Our Sailfish Deluxe 14, her new name is TRACKER.
Dri-deck coaming and toe rail.
Hardware refinement, fancy shiny bow handle from Wilcox and Crittenden that wraps the stem. Previous handles were similar to current handles and had a satin finish.
A chrome quarter round keel strip starts underneath the handle and continues underneath for 16 inches. Sorry that those screws have unclocked themselves, we have found that the wood backs them off a bit.
Rub rail makes a nice hand hold when boarding after capsize, we found it easier to board at the stern because we could reach across and and grab the rail. Too far to reach across amidships plus you have to hoist yourself over a handrail.
The Barfair process dyed the sails to different colors, old advertisements list the sail choice colors as Red, White, Blue and Yellow that went with color matched hulls. It also added water repellency and mildew proofing.
This is how Alcort shows the excess halyard being secured. That is a good plan to keep it form floating around with other lines after a capsize.
Skipper and I were having a discussin about capsizing the Sailfish and being able to get back on, part of our exercise program objectives. There is some trickery and finesse involved to get back on without using a lot of muscle. So we decided to take ZSA ZSA out and play capsize for a while. We also decided to change ZSA ZSA's name, it never really fit her.
I was doing good getting the boat ready, just need to pick it up a notch.
Skipper went out first on ZSA ZSA to sail her backwards and wash the old name off of the transom.
We splashed water on the bow and christened the boat TRACKER, named after Capn Jack's favorite Navy airplane, the Grumman S-2F Tracker.
Found out a few things while messing about off and on boats, Learning Lessons for Sailfish Capsize recovery. I capsized TRACKER in shallow water by grabbing the halyard while I was in the water and slowly pulling the boat over. Made sure the sheet was clear, Skipper suggests throwing the sheet over to the recovery side so you have it in hand as needed. Made sure the daggerboard was in and swam up to the bow to pull her into the wind (See Addendum below about installing a daggerboard retaining line to keep the board nearby). Had limited success with turning her but the wind was light. Once she started righting I could grab the close handrail.
Tried to swim her into the wind again.
Success.
Midships boarding was no go for me, she rolled back over. Someone more fit may be able to hook a foot and scamble back on quick.
Skipper's next suggestion, grab the mast and pull aboard that way. That worked.
Feet and legs make good sea anchors if you need to slow things down a bit.
This is a good sailing spot for me, at 200 pounds of movable ballast, bow up, stern slightly depressed.
Another favorite sailing position. Sailfish are fun to lounge on and ghost around, they need very little wind.
I rested a few minutes and reboarded from the stern one more time, that time I pushed the tiller out of the way for a better grip on the rubrail.
Here is another option, I could sail back to shore hanging on to the stern. I read an article where a sailor had done that who had a medical event while attempting to reboard his dinghy, held on to the rudder and sheet and got back to shore safely. It works and it is fun.
The daggerboard on the Sunfish and Sailfish is an important element of capsize recovery, after a capsize the first thing to do is make sure the sheet is clear and then check that the daggerboard is fully inserted. A retaining line was added to the Alcort Fish in the mid 1960s so that folks don't have to go swimming after the daggerboard, it was a small diameter line that tied through a 1/4 inch hole on one of the daggerboard cleats and secured at the other end to an eyestrap on the deck just forward of the daggerboard trunk.
We added a line to PHOENIX, used 1/8th inch diameter Dacron cord from New England Ropes, sold by West Marine in 50 foot packs back near their line wall. Tied with a bowline on each end.
