Butterfly vs Sunfish

First Question of the week:

This question came from Amy in Dallas, Texas.


"I'm trying to purchase a beginner's sailboat that would be great for my ten year old daughter. My hopes are that she could sail this said boat in one of our yacht club's Jr. Fleets. I'm currently leaning towards either a Butterfly or a Sunfish. Do you have any sense of which one is better?"

In response to Amy's question:

Both Butterflies and Sunfishes are great boats to learn how to sail on. I personally learned how to sail at the age of eight, using an OPTI, then moved up to Butterflies around the age of ten. I have also sailed Sunfishes, but not until I was a little older (maybe twelve or thirteen?). I found that the Butterfly was a bit easier to manage, as it was very sturdy and the boom was very high (helps avoid brutal smacks in the head). It was also very easy to right the boat when I tipped it. I've also found that I can still sail my Butterfly today.

So, to answer your question, I think the Butterfly is a great choice. It is a bit larger than a Sunfish, but in my opinion, that doesn't make a lot of difference.

There are a large selection of Butterflies for sale nationwide, a used boat can range anywhere from 1,500.00 to 3,500.00, depending on the boat's age and what state it is in, and a new Butterfly is around 4,000.00. Sunfishes are slightly less expensive, with a new Sunfish costing about 3,550.00 and a used one costing up to 3,000.00.

One thing did just occur to me. You should do a little research and try to figure out if your yacht club has Butterfly and/or Sunfish fleets. If your hopes are for your daughter to sail in a "Jr. Fleet," you should check to make sure what kind of fleets are sailed. For example, if you bought a Butterfly and your yacht club did not have a Butterfly fleet, or vice versa, that would be bad. So just go online and do  a little research.

I hope my rambling explanation helped!

Meg 

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Welcome to So You Think You Can Sail, a sailing advice blog written by a Butterfly and MC sailor (that would be me!)
I'll answer five questions weekly about anything sailing-related that range from beginner to advanced inquires. Just email a question to soyouthinkyoucansail@gmail.com and I promise I will try to answer it to my best of knowledge!