Oday Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Oday DaySailer by Mark Hanson

Year built	1975
Location of boat	Des Moines, IA
The boat is sailed on	Lakes
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	10-15 knots
Average size of crew	2-4
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	1975
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Yes. Excellent boat for family with youngsters. Stable and not prone to capsizing - unlike the cat's. Had good times on it.
Gear that's been added	No.
Structural or complex improvements	Some how poked a 2x4 tip through the hull when making turn too close to shore in shallow water, so needed to cut the deck inside the cuddy to gain access to the hole. It repaired okay and has been water tight.
The boat's best features	Stability. But it can really hum when the wind is right. I love solo sailing and getting it to keel over and get the stays humming. Never had trouble taking on water as long as I had forward momentum. When I ran against cats, they beat me on the runs as you would expect, but if I was close at a turn, I gained significant distance on the turn. The Daysailer can turn on a dime.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Capsized once because was dead in water and an unexpected gust came up and pitched me over before I realized what was happening. The turn over was slow motion though, unlike cat's which pitch the sailers off. Shallow lake and stuck mast tip into mud bottom and bent it. Put it in crook of a tree to push on it to straighten it.
Sailing characterisitcs	See above
Motoring characterisitcs	don't motor
Liveability	n/a
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	[builder]
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	30 years ago and that dealer is no longer in business.
Other comments	I am out of sailing now, but still own it. I've offered it to my daughter and her fiance who live in downtown Chicago, and having a place to keep a sailboat is a budget item they aren't prepared to take on yet. He sails Rhodes 19's through the Chicago Sailboat Club. It is still a good boat but needs some TLC. And when they start a family it would be a good boat for second generation youngsters.

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