I just got hold of a BH sunburst built in 1985. It has homemade thwarts and gunwales made of wood and I believe everything has been tucked in a little. This is a project boat and I’m redoing everything on it. I would like to know the original widths of the thwarts from bow to stern, if anyone out there has an old one sitting around. I have seen the Sunburst before with aluminum guwales and thwarts, but, I’m replacing with wood. Thanks in advance for any info, including rocker and when BH came out with Sunburst II,although I’m pretty sure this is a Sunburst I. I paddled it a couple of times before I tore it down, sweet boat, 14.5 feet maybe a couple of inches of rocker, shame they quit making them. Thanks
Try asking on cboats.net
Some guy who worked for Blue Hole may be on there, or someone may have the old specs.
I would say that you should let the hull tell you whether the gunwale spread should be wider. Also, it depends on you. If you have the reach for wider gunwales and would like more flare for dryness or for more secondary stability, then go for it. Beyond a certain point, widening the gunwales will increase rocker. That might be a good thing for you, or not.
I was boat inspector at the race on the Nantahala when Steve Scarborough brought his prototype woodstrip Sunburst. (Don’t know what he called it.) If memory serves me correctly, the prototype was larger than the Sunburst that Blue Hole later marketed. In fact, the prototype was probably intermediate in size between the Sunburst and the later tandem Starburst. Length was about 15’, the legal length for a “medium” slalom boat. The boat was raced in tandem slalom as well as solo.
I have one!
e-mail me and we can get down to dimensions, pictures, and stuff. You will like this boat.