I am looking at buying a 1988 O'day 302 and am wondering what anyone who has owned one or has one thinks about the vessel.
- Status
Have One
Hey Karin, I have an O'Day 302. I don't spend a lot of time on the forums so feel free to email me express898@hotmail.com if you have questions. Put 302 in the subject line and I will be happy to lend a hand. Joe
Hey Karin, I have an O'Day 302. I don't spend a lot of time on the forums so feel free to email me express898@hotmail.com if you have questions. Put 302 in the subject line and I will be happy to lend a hand. Joe
302
Thanks! I am looking at a 1988 302 and was just wondering people's thoughts on them...any problems with this year o'day?
Thanks! I am looking at a 1988 302 and was just wondering people's thoughts on them...any problems with this year o'day?
Bad Reviews?
As stated, I don't spend a lot of time at this site, but I don't recall reading a bad review of the 302. I have sailed mine hundreds of miles in Lake Michigan and never had anything break. Trust me. Lake Michigan can test any boat. Most negative comments you will hear about the boat are from people who have never sailed one or can't afford one. Or the crazy crap about keels falling off! Give me a break! Keel bolts need to be checked and tightened if needed - enough said. Are there better boats? Sure. The sky is the limit on how much you can spend. I have found the boat to be comfortable, safe and enjoyable. This is not an Island Packet, check out the price difference between the two for the reason why. The O'Day company did not fail because of the O'day "2" series. Many good boat builders suffered from the economic concerns of the day and could not remain in business. Best of luck to you
As stated, I don't spend a lot of time at this site, but I don't recall reading a bad review of the 302. I have sailed mine hundreds of miles in Lake Michigan and never had anything break. Trust me. Lake Michigan can test any boat. Most negative comments you will hear about the boat are from people who have never sailed one or can't afford one. Or the crazy crap about keels falling off! Give me a break! Keel bolts need to be checked and tightened if needed - enough said. Are there better boats? Sure. The sky is the limit on how much you can spend. I have found the boat to be comfortable, safe and enjoyable. This is not an Island Packet, check out the price difference between the two for the reason why. The O'Day company did not fail because of the O'day "2" series. Many good boat builders suffered from the economic concerns of the day and could not remain in business. Best of luck to you
Karin
I take exception to frmreilly's 50/50 comments. O’Day’s were a production boat. It was company that for those of us who understand boat construction, boat building produced a good boat. Different boats will be in different condition, so some will have issues. It depends on the individual boat, that is what surveyors are for. On the average the boats will be 20 years old and older. Just like cars, things wear out and have to be replaced. O'Day's were competently designed and built. They were not designed to go to the Antarctic, but as coastal cruisers and big lake boats. For those purposes they were very well designed for their time. They were built O.K., and better than many of their competitors. When you are dealing with boats, unless it is less than three years old there will be maintenance. That is the nature of boats. The reasons it went out of business were not overall quality or design of its boats. It had become a conglomerate spread over several locations. It had deaths, health issues in key management, and the management of conglomerates in hard economic conditions requires different talents and management skills that were just not available. O’Day was a good company, made good boats for the production boat market and had many very good people. Ed K O’Day 26
I take exception to frmreilly's 50/50 comments. O’Day’s were a production boat. It was company that for those of us who understand boat construction, boat building produced a good boat. Different boats will be in different condition, so some will have issues. It depends on the individual boat, that is what surveyors are for. On the average the boats will be 20 years old and older. Just like cars, things wear out and have to be replaced. O'Day's were competently designed and built. They were not designed to go to the Antarctic, but as coastal cruisers and big lake boats. For those purposes they were very well designed for their time. They were built O.K., and better than many of their competitors. When you are dealing with boats, unless it is less than three years old there will be maintenance. That is the nature of boats. The reasons it went out of business were not overall quality or design of its boats. It had become a conglomerate spread over several locations. It had deaths, health issues in key management, and the management of conglomerates in hard economic conditions requires different talents and management skills that were just not available. O’Day was a good company, made good boats for the production boat market and had many very good people. Ed K O’Day 26
How about a leveraged buyout
The two series boats referred to here were the best selling boats generally in O'Day's history....aside from the daysailors. O'Day was leveraged to the hilt with projected sales more than it had ever had in a year....and everyone I think used it as a mortgage source for borrowing against.......the banks didn't do their due diligence or would have never lended money using the projected sales for collareral. the O'Day 302 is a great boat for the money....sails really well, is stable, and trustworth in a Kansas storm... I would buy one if I were in the market for a bigger boat than my 272.
The two series boats referred to here were the best selling boats generally in O'Day's history....aside from the daysailors. O'Day was leveraged to the hilt with projected sales more than it had ever had in a year....and everyone I think used it as a mortgage source for borrowing against.......the banks didn't do their due diligence or would have never lended money using the projected sales for collareral. the O'Day 302 is a great boat for the money....sails really well, is stable, and trustworth in a Kansas storm... I would buy one if I were in the market for a bigger boat than my 272.
- Status