Daysailer history - Sunfish and others

[Alan]

http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/sh ... p?t=159413

The link above contains a detailed history of various Daysailer models and their characteristics. There's a general history link elsewhere on the History forum, but it seems to have expired, so maybe this one can substitute for it.

[K.C. Walker]

Thanks Alan!

I was watching your conversation on the for sale thread. I suspect that the original poster was correct about the Sunfish part but not about the Alcort part of his description. I think it's more likely an SLI DaySailer.

That link you posted has very interesting history from someone that lives right in the neighborhood where they were built. I was pretty sure that CanAm built my boat but the parts are so identical to O'Day that I suspected they were left over moldings after the DS II went into production. Now it makes sense that the DSA not accepting the DS II as class legal at the time had O'Day subcontract to CanAm to assemble the boats and provided them with the hull and deck moldings for the DS I.

[jeadstx]

The DSII is class legal, the DSIII is not class legal. The DSIII is the one that had the hull modifications.

John

[rnlivingston]

Can-Am, located in Webster, MA, bought a number of DS 1 hulls from O'Day at the end of their production run. They kept the boat class legal, but set them up to be an ideal Daysailer racer. We still have one at the Webster Sailing Association that is in tough shape and still can beat us on the race course. If you own one of these, treasure it, because they are fast boats.

[K.C. Walker]

Roger,

Thank you for filling in that bit of information on Can-Am! There has been very little information available that I have found about this era DS 1.

[K.C. Walker]

John,

Yes, I realized that the DS II is class legal now and has been for some time. The link that Alan posted has a posting by Rod Johnson that gives a chronological DaySailer production history. He states that the DSA, at first, did not recognize the DS II as class legal. Is this the actual history? Is this a question for Rudy Nickerson? Is there a history to the rule changes archived somewhere?

[Alan]

K.C. I was thinking that Sunbird was Rod Johnson, who used to post here fairly often. Thanks for confirming it.

[chas5131]

What is the difference between a Daysailer I versus a Daysailer II?
Can not find it.

[GreenLake]

Briefly, the main difference is the cockpit. In the DSII, seats and cockpit floor are part of the same mold as the deck, making for a bilge space below the cockpit. Also, CB is controlled by line instead of lever. Other detail differences as well, but the surface the hull presents to the water is the same as is the deck from cuddy forward and the rig. That's the reason the DSII is considered class legal.

The DS1 has separate molds for the seats that are glued to the hull, loose floorboards and wood coamings, and a wider opening to the cuddy, which can flood on capsize.