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The Sunfish sailboat is a personal size, beach launched sailing dinghy utilizing a pontoon type hull carrying a lateen sail mounted to an un-stayed mast. Sunfish was developed by ''Alcort, Inc.'' and first appeared around 1952 as the "next generation" improvement on their original boat, the Sailfish. In contrast, the Sunfish has a wider beam for more stability, increased freeboard and the addition of a foot-well for a more comfortable sailing position. Sunfish began as a wood hull design and progressed to fiberglass construction just a few years after its introduction. Having a lateen sail with its simple two line rigging makes a Sunfish simple to learn sailing on and to set up. Upgrades can be added to enhance sail control for competitive sailing,〔(Sunfish Class Association )〕 making the boat attractive to both novice and experienced sailors alike. Due to the broad appeal of the Sunfish, in 1995 it was commended by The American Sailboat Hall of Fame for being "the most popular fiberglass boat ever designed, with a quarter million sold worldwide" (at that point in time).〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=American Sailboat Hall of Fame )〕 Today, the Sunfish brand-name has become so widely known it is often misapplied generically to refer to any brand board-style boat sporting the characteristic lateen sail.〔(Clonefish article ) – other brands of boats commonly misperceived of as Sunfish〕 Currently manufactured by Laser Performance. ==Design== The distinctive low-aspect ratio lateen sail gives the Sunfish an anachronistic appearance compared with today's more familiar high-aspect ratio Bermuda rig sailboats. However, this sail plan is not as old-world as it might first appear. Using a lateen rig for this style boat shifts the advantage toward better performance in lighter air (less than 4 on the Beaufort scale) and contributes to it having good down-wind characteristics. The hull’s very mild "V" bottom and hard chine make Sunfish a most stable boat for its size, along with enabling it to sail on a plane (hydroplane). Planing allows the boat to achieve a speed greater than theoretical hull speed based on length at waterline (LWL). Having a down-wind performance advantage helps the Sunfish to achieve a planing attitude at lower wind speeds than its high-aspect ratio sail plan counterparts. Designed as a water-tight, hollow-body pontoon, a hull like the Sunfish has is sometimes referred to as "self-rescuing" because the boat can be capsized and its cockpit swamped without threat of the boat sinking. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sunfish (sailboat)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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