TEST (daysailer-test.org) Day Sailer Forum

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I sailed keelboats when I was young (all kinds, from a Rhodes 19, to an 50' S&S Admirals Cupper) back when the boat I just bought still smelled of styrene. Now I'm hoping to get back to sailing both solo and with family poking around the Norwalk Islands.

When I was looking for just the right sailboat I read extensively on this forum, so I want to thank you all for contributing and pointing me to the 'right' boat. I couldn't decide between the DS1 and DS2: I really liked the openess and accessability of the 1, but it is hard to argue with unsinkability when your gonna sail solo. It turned out I only had to drive an hour away to get the boat and the price was well below expected.

I purchased Daysailer II #XDYD6 4080 0173 (sail #4980, oddly) and have had it out twice on lake Lillinonah/Housatonic river in CT. I would rather have sailed in Long Island Sound but still have to arrange for a non-resident permit to ramp launch in one of the seaside towns (there are some free state owned ramps but they are too far up river for my little Mini Kota. Sailing on the river was exasperating due the wind direction and strength constantly changing. Both times out it was a 12-15 kn puff followed by nothing, followed by 12-15 kn puff 90 deg header, etc., etc. etc.

The boat seemed slow in the light stuff, but easily made hull speed in moderate wind. I'm not sure how stretched the sails are, but the fairleads needed to be on the cabin top to catch rather than dump the wind, rather than the two existing ones midway on the coaming, and forward and inside the coaming. Has anybody moved their fairleads? Also, had some difficulty keeping the jib telltales parallel: They are positioned at 25%, 50%, 75% of luff, 10" behind the luff. Too far back?

As expected after reading this forum the boat was a cinch to trailer-launch-sail-retrieve. However, I am considering some modifications. Bending on the mainsail in a breeze sucks. I want to cut the mast about 16" above the deck and install a hinge/tabernackle there and will weatherize and leave the mast base in place all the time. This will allow me to keep the boom attached all the time and if I sew some hanks on the mainsail luff leave the mainsail hanked on all the time. Also, I have yet to find a comfortable place to sit, so I'm thinking of making a raised seating platform for the after 6' of cockpit which will make the bench seating a more normal height, and increase the depth from 12" to 15", and allow the use of 'stadium' seats (the front of the seat hooks on to the seat edge and it has a back support, and it is padded).

After each outing I found about 2 quarts of water in the bilge, is this average and should I assume this is all from the centerboard pivot?

Thanks jay

Jib: I have jib tracks on the coaming, but added barber inhauls. These are lines that pull sideways on the jib sheet, to bring it 9" from the centerline for going upwind. The key thing is that they are adjustable, and you let them out when going downwind.

Click on the thumbnail to see a picture. You can see the little clam cleats that hold the inhauls, but the other end, which has a block attached through which the jibsheet is lead is a bit hidden behind the cuddy cleat.
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Greenlake:

Just for my own personal edification.

That's a good shot of your running rigging for your main. The blue line is for your jiffy reefing, correct? How did you run that through the cringle?
Does is go through and back down to the boom, or do you use a stopper knot? How about on the luff?

I've got jiffy reefing blocks and cleats on both ends of my boom, but never could figure out the best way to set up my lines.

I've never reefed, although there are times I should and would have, had I known the correct procedure.

In those instances, I'd just head back to the dock and pout for the rest of the day.

Also, explain the red line, it's use, and how it's rigged.

Thanks in advance.

BTW, where's your boom vang? Gots to have a boom vang, no?

On the side of the boom, facing you in the picture, but outside the frame of the shot is a cleat.
A bowline goes over that cleat and the line goes up and through a cringle in the leech of the sail.
On coming down, it goes through a cheek block on the far side of the boom, runs along the
boom forward to a second cheek block. From there, it goes up to the cringle and emerges
where you can see it on the picture. It then goes through an eye and ends in a jam cleat.

By no means a perfect setup, but it works if I first pull the rear part of the line tight and then take
the slack out to tighten the front. The jam cleat is not a good choice in retrospect, as the line
pops out when not under tension. Some other kind of cleat.

Boom vang: you will see the hingled sleeve that surrounds the lower part of my mast above the
mast partners. That blocks the natural attachment point for a vang. Perhaps you know
alternatives - but then we should probably start a new thread to discuss this.

Boom vang attachment: What about a sturdy U-bolt, fitted through holes drilled in the lower part of the hinge?

I'll take the discussion of boom vangs to a separate thread in the DS1 sub-forum, so we can get back to answering some of jdoorly's questions here.

I don't know whether DSIIs are supposed to ship 2qts of water per trip. DS1's definitely don't unless something's leaking.

My grandfather recently gave me a DSII and I have been trying to do research to find out more about it because I plan to restore it. Anyways I have a question about the Hull/Class number. I have read the posts and cannot figure out the hull/sail number for my boat.

I searched my boat for the number, but the only ID number I could find is on the title. The title says my boat is a 1975 and the ID number is XDYD77000501. I have no idea how to decipher this, please help. The only other numbers I have is the register number and title number.

Can you please let me know what the hull # and Sail # is. Thank you so much and your help would be greatly appreciated.

The first four letters stand for "O'Day Day Sailer." The next four are usually the hull/sail number (7700), which seems right (I have a '73 #6546.) I'm confused by the last four, which are supposed to be the date of manufacture in mmyy format. I wonder if there was an error in recording the hull number. Which number, by the way should appear on the transom embossed into the gel coat below the rudder gudgeons. Has the boat been refinished in the past? Maybe the embossed number has been covered over or sanded away.