Difference between 1977 and 1978 oday 20

rwilliams125 · Mar 18, 2013

Hey, I too have a 1977 O'day with a Hobie 16 mast on it! Just brought it home a few weeks ago. What a small world.
What kind of mast step do you have? Did you retrofit the Hobie 16 mast yourself? My mast does not have spreaders and needs a proper mast step, but I've been having a hard time finding a tabernacle or hinge that will work. I'd love to learn more about your rigging. I haven't even had my mast up yet! I've been looking to replace my mast too, but it seems more financially reasonable to just sail it.
As far as the difference between the fractional and masthead rig, I do know the shroud plates are set further aft of the mast on the fractional than on the masthead rig. The Fractional also had a longer 9' boom; the masthead had a roughly 8' boom. And if you have Fractional sails then they won't fit the masthead rig.

Joe11688 · Mar 19, 2013

Hey guys,
I really don't know too much about the O'Day 20. One of our past YC members owned one years ago. I never had the opportunity to really check it out that close.
With that said, a 27' mast seems to be too long for a 20' keel/centerboard sloop. A higher mast means more sail area and unless the boat has a full keel, I would stick with the shorter version. My 1986 O'Day 222 keel/centerboard has a 27' mast and my keel weighs 800 lbs.
I'm not sure if you guys can find a mast plug or casting that will fit in your mast in order to mount a stainless steel Dwyer hinged tabernacle. It really depends on what is available out there from the spar manufacturer. My mast was built by Z-Spar and I couldn't find a mast plug for it a couple of years ago,- but ya know what? I made one. It works great. You can do the same thing I did if you can't find a casting that will fit in your mast. The casting or mast plug is held in place with screws going into the side of the mast. I used four long stainless steel bolts to attach the hinge plate to the plug. I originally started out with two bolts and added two more. You can read about it in my picture album.
http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/album.php?albumid=372&page=3

Years ago when I replaced my mast, the rigger told me to mount the tabernacle on a 1'' Teak board on the cabin to make up the difference between my old tabernacle and my new on in relation to some of my existing stays. I replaced the Teak board with a piece of 1" thick Trex about a year ago and used Butyl Tape to caulk it.
The reason I mention this is because,-- that 1" height allows my mast to lay a lot lower in my rear mast crutch when I'm getting ready to raise my mast with my Gin Pole. I really never took advantage of this until I started using a Gin Pole to raise and lower my mast. Naturally, if you're raising a mast on your boat by hand, you want to set the crutch as high as possible. With a Gin Pole in use, the mast can be laying horizontal and go up nice and easy with a set of blocks or a small boat winch mounted on the Gin Pole. The Gin Pole provides the angle needed to lift the mast.

If you need to cut your mast you can cut it with an ordinary crosscut power saw with a carbide blade like I did. This is what they generally use in rigging shops and spar manufacturers also use them. Just make sure you get a straight cut.

Good Luck guys!
Joe

rwilliams125 · Mar 19, 2013

I love the idea of using the 'Trex' material, and how you built up the base. Is there any reason you used the PVC trim boards under the aluminum instead of more Trex?

Joe11688 · Mar 20, 2013

rwilliams125 said:
I love the idea of using the 'Trex' material, and how you built up the base. Is there any reason you used the PVC trim boards under the aluminum instead of more Trex?

Yes. The PVC Trim board isn't exactly 1" thick and I needed exactly 2" and wound up having to make up the difference by cutting the PVC and gluing it with PVC cement which you can't do with Trex.
Also, PVC Trim board can be spray painted with Krylon. I don't think Trex can be glued or painted.
The PVC board is lighter in weight than the Trex. When I first Mickey Moused my mast extrusion using just the Trex to get me by for the rest of the sailing season, it worked OK but it looked fugly and it was very heavy at the end of my mast when I trailered my boat to the club that year. However, it got me by for the season.
This newer mast extrusion is lighter in weight, it looks presentable, and it works. The weight of the mast is sitting on a 1/4'' Aluminum plate and the stainless steel bolts and screws are insulated from the Aluminum with Never-Seize. I also used nylon washers for the SS screws going through the mast.

Joe11688 · Mar 20, 2013

Sastevenson said:
Joe,

Do you also use trex for your handrails and hatch channel boards? I'm thinking of doing this and want your opinion on look and functionality as well as projected durability.

Scott

I haven't as of yet used Trex for anything else other than the mast extrusion plug and the mast step.

Personally, I think that Trex would work out great for handrails, hatch slider moldings, and toe rails. It may be a little too heavy for companionway hatch boards though.
Some guys are making them out of StarBoard. I need to replace mine and I haven't really decided on what to use as of yet.
Right now I have a medical problem that needs addressing and I've decided to put my mods on the back burner for a while and play it by ear.

Just recently, one of the guys on the forum "Merlinuxo" used Azek to make hand rails for his boat and they came out looking great. Here's the link. http://www.azek.com/azek-deck/colors/

Ahoy Merlin!
Maybe you can chime in on this one!
Joe

Sunbird22358 · Mar 21, 2013

Virtualy no difference in rigging between 1977 and 1978 O'DAY 20. Ditto for the 22, HOWEVER.... the 1979 model was the last year for the masthead rig 22 and 1980 was the first model year for the fractional rig 22. 1979 22 was first year for the K/CB version of the 22 (1'3"/4'3" draft instead of the original 1'11" fixed keel).

O'DAY 20 rig was changed for 1976 model. The 1973 to 1975 models had the masthead rig, 1976-78 models had hte fractional rig. The interior layout was also updated for 1976, going from the original layout that pretty closely matched the interior of the 22 with a bulkhead between the V-Berth and the main cabin to the more open layout of a pair of galley counters with space between for the head.
1978 was the last year for the 20.

Joe, 27' is not unusual for the length of the mast on a 20' boat. the CAL 20 and the CAL 21 both had a 26' mast.

Joe11688 · Mar 23, 2013

Joe, 27' is not unusual for the length of the mast on a 20' boat. the CAL 20 and the CAL 21 both had a 26' mast.

As always, I stand corrected. Thanks Rod.

Sunbird22358 · Mar 23, 2013

No matter what, if I have a 222 question..... I'll always go to Joe!
(and I guess, he always comes to me with Day Sailer II questions?)

Joe11688 · Mar 24, 2013

Thanks guys. I'll try to keep my thinking cap on. I only wish that my guitar picking was as good as some of my sailboat mod ideas.

Merlin Clark · Mar 24, 2013

Trinkka said:
I haven't as of yet used Trex for anything else other than the mast extrusion plug and the mast step.

Personally, I think that Trex would work out great for handrails, hatch slider moldings, and toe rails. It may be a little too heavy for companionway hatch boards though.
Some guys are making them out of StarBoard. I need to replace mine and I haven't really decided on what to use as of yet.
Right now I have a medical problem that needs addressing and I've decided to put my mods on the back burner for a while and play it by ear.

Just recently, one of the guys on the forum "Merlinuxo" used Azek to make hand rails for his boat and they came out looking great. Here's the link. http://www.azek.com/azek-deck/colors/

Ahoy Merlin!
Maybe you can chime in on this one!
Joe

I must have heard the shout Joe!
I'm happy with the Azek. The only drawback some might have with it is that it is a PVC dense foam so the cuts aren't real smooth. I recently came across a new one, "Endeck" that looks good and is also 100% PVC but unlike Azek has wood grain on both sides. I'd suggest that anyone thinking about using any of the synthethic lumbers check out the samples first. They should be available at any lumber yard that sells the product.
I still need to make new companionway boards and am thinking of frames out of Azek and centers of plexi glass. All the rest of my woodwork, except the tiller, is Azek (no rot, no varnishing

and about 10-15% of what teak would cost in materials

).
There are some pics on my "work on Cygne" album.

Joe11688 · Mar 26, 2013

Ahoy there, Merlin,
A guy in the Carolinas told me about Trex and he said that you can apply heat to the sawed portion of this material and it will smooth right out. I really don't know. I've never tried it but it's worth experimenting with. If it works with Trex or Azek, it will probably work with PVC trim board. Of course, you'd probably want to do this outside or do it in a well ventilated area with a canister type respirator mask on.

Merlin Clark · Mar 26, 2013

Thanks Joe, I'll try it.
I do all this stuff outside. Problem right now would be too much ventilation!

Joe11688 · Mar 27, 2013

My friend Wayne used StarBoard to construct his hand rails and the stuff split on him at the screw holes. He then made up a new rail and used cup washers for the screws. So far it's been working. The StarBoard doesn't seem to be as strong as Trex or Azek. It's a very light weight material too.

rwilliams125 · Apr 12, 2013

Okay experts, can you tell what year an O'day 20 was based solely on the sail number?
I'm trying to find out what year sail number '621' was.

My '20 is a 1976 (thought it was a '77 but I checked again) and I'm #922
so I figure 300 boats earlier has to put it in '74 or '75? Prior to the fractional rig being introduced? I'm just guessing though.

I know the Mariner class has a table of years and sail number ranges, but I've never seen one for the '20.
Thanks guys.

Sunbird22358 said:
Virtualy no difference in rigging between 1977 and 1978 O'DAY 20. Ditto for the 22, HOWEVER.... the 1979 model was the last year for the masthead rig 22 and 1980 was the first model year for the fractional rig 22. 1979 22 was first year for the K/CB version of the 22 (1'3"/4'3" draft instead of the original 1'11" fixed keel).

O'DAY 20 rig was changed for 1976 model. The 1973 to 1975 models had the masthead rig, 1976-78 models had hte fractional rig. The interior layout was also updated for 1976, going from the original layout that pretty closely matched the interior of the 22 with a bulkhead between the V-Berth and the main cabin to the more open layout of a pair of galley counters with space between for the head.
1978 was the last year for the 20.

Joe, 27' is not unusual for the length of the mast on a 20' boat. the CAL 20 and the CAL 21 both had a 26' mast.

Difference between 1977 and 1978 oday 20

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