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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Doctor I have this friend.....

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Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2030 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/27/2004 : 12:59:38

Now all you have to do to get the primate cage here screaming and swinging from the vines is say "Hunter" or "McGregor".....One of the "lesser" brands I have not seen villified here is O'day....is that because they are so bad it's not even worth getting mad about or what? Any experience/opinions out there?

Oscar
Catalina 250WB#618 Currently FOR SALE:
http:www.woodenshoemusic.com/C250WB

Lady Kay IV, Dragonfly 25 # 54 Former C30#618-C250WB#618-C42#76

Edited by - Oscar on 05/27/2004 13:31:56

HGraham
Deckhand

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USA
21 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 13:18:40

Oscar;

A good friend of mine bought a 1985 35 ft ODay new and kept it in NJ for four years, then sailed it down to St Thomas in '89 after Hugo wiped out the majority of the charter boats. His idea was to put it in with a charter company since the demand would be high. Unfortunately the charter business tanked in the Virgins for the next couple of years. He finally moved it to the BVI where it was in charter for 10 years. As you may know, the owner gets 4 or 6 weeks free use of the boat during each year. During the 10 years we went down there 15 times to live on the boat and enjoy the sailing capital of the world. The boat sailed beautifully and proved to be quite sturdy.
While down there I noticed a few ODay 39's, center cockpit. The 39 certainly looked a lot more roomy and comfortable than the 35, and since then I've watched the listings, and they are priced right if you can do most of the work yourself.
In my opinion ODay made a good, middle-of-the-class boat.
Give them a look.

Good luck, Harry

Edited by - on

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 16:29:18

Oscar, I am afraid we will need to give both your friend any you the same tetracyclin injection. HMMM

I've both raced and cruised on an O'day 30 for a few years. We still take her out for the occasional cruise. I find it to be an enjoyable boat, and much sturdier than any Catalina I've been on. It is actually on the list of possible 5footitis boats. I don't believe they made a 25, but the 26 looks to be a nice boat as well.
2 problem areas - Cabin windows are worse than the Catalina 25's and the deck /hull joint has been known to be a problem in some models.

One other note - for all you guys who hate the hunter - its better than no boat at all....As for the mcGregor - that might be worse than not having a boat.

Edited by - Champipple on 05/27/2004 16:33:16

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 17:00:33

I kinda like the looks of the Oday 28, but there is an Oday 40 at my storage yard that really catches the eye.

One other note on Oday's...of the ones I've seen, even the somewhat older hulls have a mirror like shine to them!

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5902 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2004 : 17:08:05

Ignore the knee jerk opinions based on name brands. Some Cherubini-designed Hunters are good sailers that are well-designed and built. Some models of the old Buccaneers were good sailers and well-built coastal cruisers. Some McGregors are fast little lake sailers. I agree with Harry that O Days are decent mid-priced boats. Some of the more highly-touted bluewater boats aren't aging all that well, with leaky ports, hull-deck joints, soft spots in the decks, blisters, etc. Those things can happen to any boat. What really matters is to find a boat that is designed for your intended use, and that has been well-maintained and upgraded. I'm starting to search for my "retirement" boat, and am making a list of all the different makes and models of boats that will meet my needs, and then I'll buy the one that I find that is the best-equipped and in the best condition. The name brand isn't important if the boat meets your needs.

Edited by - on

oldsalt
Admiral

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USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2004 : 20:19:24

A friend had an O Day 28 and it oilcanned like mad when going to weather. I had never experienced it before and it was a more than a little unsettling to watch the settees very noticably pump in and out as well as make a dull thunking sound. O Day did make a nice 25, it is well built and has a lot more hull volume than our C 25s.

Edited by - on

triley
Captain

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USA
251 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2004 : 21:31:08

Wait a minute--It oil canned. Must have had a rough life. We made it through a fairly bad hurricane in a well built Cheoy Lee. It took upm the oil canning after that. Turned out she was pretty badly sprung-- I don't know where. I would bet that the O'Day had had a tough life and had some interior problems as well as maybe being sailed tauter than a bowstring for more seasons than she could take.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2004 : 22:20:54

An O'Day 28 on stands next to mine a few years ago had substantially oil-canned at one of the stands, but I attributed that to the yard guys adjusting the stand to take too much of the weight. Otherwise, I've been reasonably impressed with every O'Day I've been on, starting with my 17' Daysailer. A few of their last designs don't appeal to my eye, but that was when O'Day was desparately trying to stay afloat--and eventually didn't (along with many others in the industry, including Cape Dory

Edited by - on

PZell
Admiral

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USA
548 Posts

Response Posted - 05/30/2004 : 10:16:50

I had an O'Day 22 for a few years. Sailed Puget Sound and
took it to the San Juans. Hauled it to California and sailed
the South Bay San Francisco and even lived aboard for a year.
It was a good little boat for the way I used it. Would have made
a nice lake boat. Major drawbacks were hull to deck construction.
It was just screwed on. That model had roller reefing which was
worthless. It was a toy compared to the Catalina 25, but served
its purpose.

Edited by - on

John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 05/31/2004 : 17:46:07

I keep an Oday daysailer II for fun. It's a nice little boat and a lot of fun to sail on a nearby lake. I tried an Oday 25 on lake Erie about 9 years ago. It sailed very nice, but I didn't think it would be right for my needs as it had a single lower shroud that connected to the same chainplate as the upper. when compared with the C25 I found the oday's standing rigging a little lite.

will be towing to Lake Superior in about 3 weeks for the Isle Royal cruise then about 4-5 weeks on the North Channel. I finally convinced the Admiral to come along for a week.

Edited by - on

Raskal
Navigator

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USA
162 Posts

Response Posted - 06/04/2004 : 12:29:47

I can't speak to the construction part on the O'Day 28 because I haven't sailed on one, but I noticed that Irwins from the late 70's/80's showed oilcanning on the hard when I looked at them and the owners on an Irwin forum seemed to come to the conclusion that thin walls were a style of building at the time and no one had experienced hull failures from it.

I was very impressed with the value of the O'Day 28's out there when I was looking for my present "new" boat, a 1987 Cal 28. The O'Day 28's had roomy, attractive cabins (with a clever shower set up in the head passageway) and cockpits configured with wheel steering and travelers across the companionway entrance for about $17k-$19k. If you've done any boat shopping lately you'll know how hard it is to get something reasonably modern in that size/price mix.

There's an article in the first issue of the new "Boat Works" magazine put out by the editors of Sail where they do some through-hull patching on an O'Day 25 of the same period; the hull on that model was quite thick and unlikely to flex.

Rich Kokoska

Edited by - on

oldsalt
Admiral

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USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 06/04/2004 : 15:30:23

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by triley
 Wait a minute--It oil canned. Must have had a rough life. We made it through a fairly bad hurricane in a well built Cheoy Lee. It took upm the oil canning after that. Turned out she was pretty badly sprung-- I don't know where. I would bet that the O'Day had had a tough life and had some interior problems as well as maybe being sailed tauter than a bowstring for more seasons than she could take.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Actually the boat was in bristol condition and never sailed in really heavy weather or bad seas. The oil canning is apparantly due to the vessels scantlings. That being said she was a beautiful, nicely sailing boat built for protected waters and after getting used to the movement of the interior and the accompanying thudding sounds I felt secure on her. This was one of the traditional looking O'Days built in the late 80s before their modern styled line came out.
My first experience with O'Day was with a 22 or 23 footer which I chartered in the keys back in 1981 and it was a nice little boat somewhat along the lines of the Catalina 22. Their 25s appear to have more heavily built hulls than the 28, or maybe the same layup schedule as their 28 which is stiff for a 25 but somewhat flexible for a 28, but as was noted elsewhere, the rigging is a little too lightly set up for a salt water boat.
However I do have a serious beef with O'Days. One day a photgrapher with several gorgeous models in tow showed up at my slip and asked me for permission to use Silver Girl for a bikini/topless calendar shoot which of course I agreed to after seriously considering the proposition for about 3 seconds. It took them quite a while to set up with metallic umbrella reflectors and the like.
After my friend Barney pulled in with his O'Day 28 the "Lois O", they jumped ship and did the shoot aboard his O'Day 28 since the interior was larger and better suited for the topless interior photo shoot. I've disliked O'Days ever since, and never really forgave Barney.

Edited by - on

Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2030 Posts

Response Posted - 06/04/2004 : 15:49:53

Dissed by the Swedish Bikini Team....oh man.....

OK. I looked at a JeannO'day. The O'day 39 and 40 are a Philippe Briand designed Jeanneau 40 Sun Fizz built under liscence by O'day. They are identical hulls. The 39 is a three cabin, the 40 a two. The PHRF comes in around 114.

1985 examples can be had relatively cheaply, and for much less than a "real" Jeanneau. Of course the fit and finish is nowhere near that of the Jeanneau. Also, I suspect that the solidity is lacking. There was considerable spider cracking in high stress areas on deck.

Finally, and most importantly: Design is compromise. Most boats with three cabins in the low 40's (feet) have little on deck storage. The O'day has two large lazarettes in the cockpit benches. Thus, the aft cabins are compressed, and the aft head is in fact part of the starboard cabin with the creative use of some folding doors, and a hinged sink. Also, the master berth was a not too large V.

The Admiral would not be happy. The hunt continues.

Oscar
Catalina 250WB#618 Currently FOR SALE:
http:www.woodenshoemusic.com/C250WB

Edited by - on

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