DaySailer.org Forum

Hello everyone....I'm new to this site and to sailing. I just bought this 17' O'Day Day Sailor from a buddy of mine for $100. I have sailed it a few times on my lake and am getting better. The boat is in pretty rough shape but still sails pretty good. Sail #1084. I do plan on fixing it up. I wanted to get on this site to try to gain some knowledge about my boat to do so. So if you have any don't be affraid to let me know.

Actually from the pictures it doesn't look bad at all. A little sanding, paint, wood refinishing, etc and you can sail with pride and work on the issues that actually make it sail better like sails, foils, controls and rigging.

Congratulations, Duck Hunter. You will never get a better deal for your $100, and can now look forward to many years of delight as a daysailor.
Welcome to the site and let us know how you progress with fixing your boat up.
Fair winds
Felix

The damage only looks cosmetic from my perspective, heck, it floats, has sails, rudder ... what more could you want!

$100 ??? I'll give you $200 and be right down to pick it up !!

I thought I got a deal at $500. Brad

Fear not! I bought hull nummber 3395 lasst spring and it was in much worse shape. When I have a chance I will give you more detail on my restoration

My DS 847 had the wire traveler, and I decided to update it with Phill's arrangement. Phill describes it here: http://forum.daysailer.org/tech_rigguide.php

My before and after pics:




I'm not sure how your mainsheet is rigged now, but you should have a CB trunk mounted block and cam-cleat where that back horn-cleat is. Your boat is the first that I've seen that is rounded in that area like mine. The others have a "pedestal" molded in for mounting the main block. My setup is working for now, but that's on my list of bits to improve this winter.

Interestingly, mine has a mast jack, yours doesn't, while yours has thwarts (the wood "seats"/supports on either side of the centerboard trunk) and mine doesn't.

Your coamings (the wood trim that lines the inside of the cockpit) have gone AWOL. Some guys trim the coamings down to the deckline for better hiking anyway, and I think they are more cosmetic than structural. That said, if you wanted to replace them you could probably get a pattern from someone.

To refinish the woodwork, I used this guide:

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/41.htm

It might seem like overkill, but it really didn't take too long. I did, however, stop after 5 or 6 coats. I completely stripped the old finish before I started with the new, on the coamings and the floorboards. It looks like your floorboards are under water. You should make sure that they are good and dry before you attempt to varnish.

I'd be a bit wary of hanging a motor off the wooden motormount - that looks like it has seen better days. Mine came with a spring-loaded mount, which has worked out very well.



Last but not least, if I can offer this advice: pace yourself The work doesn't have to get done at once. Took me a while to learn that lesson. It's great that you're already sailing, and the improvements will just make the experience better. Just about any question you may have has probably already been answered here, and people are always willing to clarify or offer additional advice or info.

Cheers and good luck...

Mr Plywood mentioned that your don't have a mast jack. So I checked the first photo....Is that a Rhodes Mast? You have a diamond on top. (upper spreaders) which I believe is found on Rhodes 19....which is quite interesting...kinda like adding Cubic Inches to an engine...

The Day Sailer originally had diamond stays on the mast. The stays have proved to be unnecessary, because having some bend in the mast allows the rig to depower in gusts.

Something I still don't understand is why O'Day Co. originally built them into the masts, considering the extra weight aloft and the effect of making the boat more tender. One more reason to go with a tapered mast - You can get the benefits of a deck-stepped mast (control of the mast bend and therefore better sail shape) and they are much, much easier to step and unstep than the untapered version.

The combings are not merely cosmetic. They provide a good deal of structural support, and that's why they are required by the class rules. (applicable to racers only, I know) but I'd put some sort of combing in there to reenforce the hull. I've seen old hulls where the wooden support under the gunwale has rotted away, and someone apparently sat out on the gunwale and tore the old fiberglass a few inches because the wooden stringer underneath had rotted through also.

That's one of the first places I'd recommend working on. Look for those rotted gunwale stringers and use git rot or something similar to try to restore the strength, and definitely put some combings in!

Best of luck with the boat, I think you got a great deal for $100!

I too have the diamond stays on Truelove, hull #3395, and will replace them this year. They may be unnecessary, but I like the way they look. I agree they may reduce mast bend, but I doubt will bend all that much to depower in gusts.

I race aboard a Capri 22, which is rigged with an adjustable backstay for exactly that purpose: in a gust the backstay is tensioned, bending the mast back and depowering the main. Since the DS lacks a backstay, I don't think all that much mast bend is induced during gusts. I could be wrong.

As for the coaming, I entirely endorse Bob's suggestion of replacing them on your boat. If someone could provide you with a template, they could be cut from 3/8 stock.

Wow I LOVE this site...learn something new everyday...at least! Thanks!

kokko, It may just be semantics but perhaps I am misunderstanding mast bend... When you induce mast bent (say on the capri 22) by tightening the backstay, the middle part of the mast bows forward while the top bends back, although I understand that this is somewhat limited on a fractional rig. In spite of that limitation however, with the mast middle bowing forward the luff of the sail is pulled forward whch has the effect of flattening the draft if I understand it correctly, this would power UP the sail, not power down. Am I missing something?

I figured I'd get "clarified" on the coamings.

I read the rule a while ago before I was fully aware of the differences between models. My stringers seem to be extra beefy and they're in great shape, and I really didn't notice any difference when the coamings were off. That said, I agree with Bob that it's a good idea to replace them. It's interesting, though, that it's OK to cut them down, when you'd think that guys that race put more stress on their boats than casual sailors and would need the extra support.

Anyway, since my boat looks very similar to yours, I could get you a set of tracings if you're interested. Let me know.

It has the effect of spilling a lot of wind from the sail when close-hauled.

The bending of the mast in a gust makes a lot of difference. When I replaced the original deck stepped mast with a tapered Proctor on Surprise, she became a lot less tender. Gusts that came along were not nearly as prone to make her heel over as much. The mast would bend above the hounds in response to the gust, and depower the sail. Another reason a tapered mast is nice to have: the thinner cross section aloft allows it to bend more easily and depower the main in gusts.

With a keel stepped mast, you can also set the the pre bend of the mast, allowing you to tune the power of the sail for the conditions you are sailing in.
The prebend is affected by a lot of variables:
-The location of the mast butt in the step(assuming an adjustable position step)
-The length of the forestay
-The length of the shrouds
-The length and angle of the spreaders.

These also affect the rake of the mast, which is different from prebend, but is related to the behavior of the boat.

Regarding cutting the combings down - the main reason is to make hiking endurable. If I wanted to hike out on on something as narrow as the widths of the combing wood, I'd sail a Thistle Granted, there is a little bit of reduction in the support provided by the combings.

McLaughlin added aluminum tubes that acted as support posts to their boats to reinforce the gunwales. These posts go vertically from the seat tanks to the underside of the gunwales.

Theses posts also take the load off the knees in O'Day boats that are glassed in to the hull just aft of the where the break of the cuddy is.

This was a recommendation that Jim Fisher in the Annapolis fleet made to McLaughlin. He didn't invent them, but nevertheless, I like to call such supports "Fisher posts"...