DaySailer.org Forum

Hi,
I am looking to buy my first sailboat. The three boats I was considering were the o'day javelin, o'day daysailer, and a chrysler mutineer. There is also a local yacht club selling some of it's point jude 15's but I don't know as much about that boat.

I was hoping to trailer the boat. We have a boat ramp at the end of our street. I don't care about racing. I want a stable boat that is relatively dry. I would like to bring out my wife and a couple of friends. I am hoping someone here can steer me in the right direction.

thanks
john

I forgot to mention that we would be trailering the boat with a subaru crosstrek. I wasn't sure if the daysailer would be to big. We are not driving it 50 miles down the highway, just 4 houses down the street.

Hi, John.

The Daysailer will meet all your criteria although I've never had more than my wife and I in our boat. Cockpit stays pretty dry depending on conditions and how hard you push it. I think stability and forgive-ability are where the DS shines. Its also a wonderful vessel to learn to sail on.

But, the reason for my reply is that I haul our 1973 DS2 regularly with our Subaru Outback. Not sure how it compares to the Crosstrek. I think you have the same motor and symmetrical AWD as I have on my 2009. Anyway, just got back from a 400 mile round trip vacation to northern Michigan and the boat was pretty much un-noticeable behind the Outback. We hit four different lakes and some really slippery ramps that I had to back way into the water and the subie wasn't fazed a bit. No wheel slip whatsoever. In my opinion, the Subaru/Daysailer combination is outstanding. I averaged 21MPG on the freeway with the boat.

Best wishes.

Eric

The Daysailer weighs 575lbs if I am not mistaken (not including cargo). The trailer should be around 500-600lbs. You are probably looking at towing 1200lbs.

I have a Toyota Tundra, so I can not tell the difference between when I am towing the boat and not, but I imagine most vehicles could pull this load. The thing that I would watch out for is the type of tire you have on the towing vehicle? Boat ramps can be slippery.

Outside of that, I just bought my Daysailer a year ago. It is my first boat, and I am always learning. However, it is pretty forgiving boat. Where I live at, we typically see winds around 13-15mph on average, with gusts to 20mph (sometimes 20+mph). I have been watching the wind reports for a minute now None the less, the boat has a tendency to sail upwind on its own if you get overpowered, which will stall you out (good thing). I have had my boat heeled over on it's side with the rail dunked in the water, and once healed over enough, it will start shifting upwind on it's own to level back out (vs go over). I believe this is because the rudder stops making contact with the water, and the wind will slowly rotate the boat on the centerboard, shifting it to head upwind. I believe the term for this is "self righting".

Down wind is another story. There is not really an auto correct feature. I just make sure that I do not sail directly down wind, I usually keep some angle.

Like I said, I am relatively new to sailing, but my boat seems very stable. It is fun and easy to sail. +1 for the Daysailer

Hi John,

My 2 cents, I have a Buccaneer that is the big sister to the Mutineer and sailed a few so I know the breed. I've also sailed Javelins some. From your desires I think the Daysailer is the best option by far. It is more stable, roomier and drier than either of the other two. Mutineers are good boats and more stable than their reputation but the cockpits are cumbersome and less freeboard. It takes a more active crew. The Javelins I've sailed were OK for 2 adults and a kid but that's about it. To me they seemed more cramped but it was one of the newer models with molded cockpit, Javelin 2 I guess.

My Honda CRV that has approximately the same towing capacity does okay. For short trips you would be just fine, I'm sure. I did use my CRV to do one 4 hour trip at interstate speeds. It was definitely not as comfortable towing as my Dodge Grand Caravan for that situation. After that long trip my CRV transmission fluid was a little dark, so I had it changed. I think that the tranny probably got pretty hot.

Thanks for all the responses. Now I just need to find a good boat.

Do you guys think a class 1 hitch would be okay?

From the what I read about class 1 hitches, the limits sound right. For example, I've been towing my DS using a bumper mounted hitch. (Usually, short distances, admittedly).

I'm a little late to this discussion, sorry. But this I can speak to. The daysailer 2 and trailer are non existent behind my f150. I am currently using a ferris 0 turn mower to put it in on my ramp and have little problem with that. The hitch on the ferris is fairly lightweight. So if you have most any car with any typical frame hitch, I think you'll be fine.

Thanks guys. Picked up a DS1 and towed it home with my wife's Subaru. No issues at all.