1989 Oday 272 Review (1 Year)

[MaritimeTees]

This is my one year review of my 272 I purchased exactly one year ago. My experience as a sailor is about 30 years and I have owned numerous boats the biggest being an Ericson 30+.

I sail her about 3 to 4 times a week year round since I am in Ventura, California. The boat came to me in Great condition. She almost was never sailed because the original sails were in like new condition and no reefing system was ever set-up or a boom vang. The headliner had no effects of mildew or dirt. All I needed to do was add my electronics and cosmetic stuff and set the sails up to my specs.

The interior is roomy for overnight weekend romps to the Channel Islands. 3 people are safe but any more could be possibly be a little tight.

The sailing characteristics of this boat are very interesting. This boat is by far the fastest I have ever owned. This boat moves like no other I have owned. We had a little race this weekend with about 6 boats ranging from 25 Catalina to a Catalina 30 and Hunter 31. This boat won the entire race without corrected time. The winds started at 10k and ended at 18k. A lot of the other boats thought someone had done something to the bottom of the boat because the PHRF rating for this boat is high. I highly doubt that because I recently painted it and did not see anything abnormal. I had to reef this boat at 15k because it was heeling excessively. Tender because of the light ballast. This coming year 2016 I will race her weekly and see how she does. Spinnaker Assym being added to the inventory. Have no idea how she will respond to this. Maybe someone has some input on this.

Added fridge 12V/110
bimini
no dodger because I want to race it.
added rope clutches for jib sheets (excellent buy)
rope clutch for jib furler

The Oday 272 is a nice boat. The only negative of this boat is the lightness, but if your planning on cruising you wouldn't buy this boat anyway.

Any input to this would be great.

 

[agprice22]

I agree with the idea that this boat is tender and fast. I have to reef above 12 knots winds, partly to keep the admiral happy, and partly to keep her fast. My boat seems quick. I regularly keep up with a Newport 30, C30, and H31 in our lake. I find she points better and balances better with the genoa reefed down to 80 - 100 %. At 150, the genoa gives too much weather helm. We enjoy the interior space. We are slowly refitting the boat inside and out.

We replaced our traveler system with a Garhauer flat traveler with end controls. I built risers for it to clear the sliding hatch. We also replaced the mainsheet blocks with a fiddle block system. Both changes work really well.

One thing I enjoy about the boat is the ability to trailer it home at the end of the season.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[MaritimeTees]

Andrew did you put that 150 on? I can't imagine having that on where we sail on the Pacific Ocean. I sort of like the traveler Oday put on but i can see replacing it with what you did so you have more control.

 

[Jackdaw]

Welcome to racing!

A boat's PHRF rating is largely a function of how well it sails to weather (straight into the wind) and downwind (straight down). The 272 is not a great boat at all sailing to weather, and that's why its PHRF rating is high relative to its length.

The good news that in reaching races, which most point-to-point races are, the boat will do rather well, both on rating and boat speed due to its relative light weight for a 27 footer.

Its a good looking boat. If I were going to race it, the first thing I would do is get a real traveler and a real mainsheet. Those set-and-forget gizmos that Oday used are not designed for optimized sailing.

Any spinnaker will transform your boat, in particular when sailing with a jib in lighter airs. Once the apparent wind direction goes behind the beam the apparent wind speed slows down, the boats small sailplan cannot generate enough power to keep the speed up.

 

[MaritimeTees]

Jackdaw thanks so much for the information. So much to learn. You hit it right on the head. The reaching races I have been on always finished 1st or 2nd. The mainsheet system I upgraded but not the traveler. That is something I will look into. The spinnaker is mandatory for me. I need that downwind push.

I raced one season on a J35 in Santa Barbara and it was a blast. The skipper was not very good, but I had a good time and learned a bunch.

Thanks again

 

[MaritimeTees]

If anybody put a different traveler system on their 272 could you post some pics of it. Thank you so much

 

[MaritimeTees]

Andrew I saw your set-up from another post on your traveler. What did that cost? Also contact info for ordering? Looks great.

 

[agprice22]

Yes. I put the 150 on. We sail in light air a lot here, so we grab all we can. When the wind gets to 10 kts, it is time to start reefing, or the admiral's smile starts to depart! I want us to both have fun sailing!

She does scoot on a beam reach! In 11-14 knots of wind the other day, I recorded 7.8 mph on my GPS on a reach. Both main and headsail were reefed. We had about a 40% reef in the 150. The main only has one reef, but that is enough for around here.

I like to adjust the traveler, and the original O'day 272 traveler drove me to distraction. I installed the Garhauer MT 2 on it, built some stainless risers to bolt onto the fiberglass risers in the boat, and it is a joy to sail! I handle the mainsheet and traveler while tacking, and my wife handles the genoa sheets. We make it look pretty smooth, sometimes...

One question for you... Did you set up a reefing line? How did you do yours? I orginally ran mine through the boom, but the angle at the leech cringle was wrong to pull the sail down, and the line got bound in the forward end of the boom, so I made it external this weekend. It works great now. I have it run through a block in the luff cringle to a cheek block at the forward end, through two strap eyelets, and up through a cheek block through the leech cringle and tied around the boom. It runs smooth now.

I wonder if anyone has ever used a hook on the outhaul, so it could be moved from the clew to the leech cringle when reefing? This would allow adjusting the draft better when reefing. Also, another cringle on the luff would allow a cunningham above the reef point. Hmmm.

Maybe Jackdaw will chime in?

In the meantime... Change that traveler!!! You will really enjoy the controls.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[MaritimeTees]

Andrew my reefing system is outside. Way better. Yes working on that traveler as I write this. Yes mine has only 1 reef also. That's all we really need. Small main anyway. I will take a pic of my reefing system so you can see what I did. Around Channel Islands have to reef often.

 

[agprice22]

Andrew I saw your set-up from another post on your traveler. What did that cost? Also contact info for ordering? Looks great.

The traveler cost $500. The risers just cost about $25 each from the local fab shop. I can send more pics if you like.

Contact Guido at Garhauer. I used a 60" flat track. You could probably go as high as 64" with no problem. Get the heavy duty setup. He recommended it to me. I think it is the MT-2TP. He will manufacture the whole thing from scratch. Takes a month. It is a good off-season upgrade... oh, we have an off-season here!









Thanks,

Andrew

 

[MaritimeTees]

Awesome thanks for your time Andrew. Will call him today..

 

[agprice22]

Awesome thanks for your time Andrew. Will call him today..

You are welcome! Shucks, like most sailors, I just love to talk about my boat!

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[Jackdaw]

I wonder if anyone has ever used a hook on the outhaul, so it could be moved from the clew to the leech cringle when reefing? This would allow adjusting the draft better when reefing. Also, another cringle on the luff would allow a cunningham above the reef point. Hmmm.

Maybe Jackdaw will chime in?

Nice idea... on both our boats the cunningham line is long enough to reach up to the reefing eye. It allows us to pull the sail down from both tack and clew. Shorthanded its a nice trick to do from the cockpit, and while racing it means we can reef our main while sailing downwind under spinnaker.

Once you are reefed, you really don't need a cunningham. The reefed mainsail is shaped to be flat, and you're out of tweaking mode for max power. You have the the power you need. If you really feel like moving the draft forward while reefed, use the halyard.

 

[AUDIS BROW]

I need a new outboard on my Oday 272......it currently has a 15hp (that has left me dead in the harbor twice now).....MaritimeTees, I think you have mentioned this before but, do I really need the 15 hp or can I downgrade with the new outboard.......I'm in Dana Point and will be making trips to Catalina/Mexico/Channel Islands eventually

 

[MaritimeTees]

I have the Honda 8hp it never fails. Plenty of juice, rarely ever go over half throttle. I am a 4 stroke guy because of the quietness. Plus it charges your batteries at the islands if needed. I also added a throttle extension so it makes it really easy. No need for a throttle in the cockpit.

A couple pics of the set-up. Hauled and painted this summer. Give O'day this. Not one blister.

 

[Pat]

Interesting review. I pretty much agree with everything but with some caveats...we have sailed our 272 LE in some pretty stiff breezes.......really stiff in a few cases and she has performed very well...surprisingly well....we have tried to be smart and reefed ahead of going out, but sometimes it's easier to reef just heading straight into the wind on the lake vs.at the slip...the traveler drove me crazy so we rebuilt it...so too the main sheet. had it redesigned completely by our club's best racer and now it is a dream... I think the boat is tippy at the slip but not out sailing. Overall, I think the 272 wing keel was well designed by Roger Marshall And I do agree the that it's best point of sail is a beam reach..beating is not. I have all my sheets and control lines long enough that I can control most of them while at the helm. We love our boat and have since late 1986. Even after 9 trips to the BVI's she is still good to come home to.

 

[MaritimeTees]

Pat it seems so far that the sailors that commented changed out the traveler system and I have been wanting to also. I just wanted to get comfortable with the boat. I have this weird thing of changing boats way to often. Fixing them up and selling them.

I sailed solo to Hawaii on my Ericson 27 1971 in 2006 and had a seller already lined up. Couldn't get the extra time off of work to sail back. That would have taken 45 days. I think I put in 25k in this boat to set this goal of mine.

When I mention tender I always compare to sailing off shore because it's my nature. I have owned 3-27's. Newport, Ericson and ths O'day. I regularly sail on a Cal 2-27 and an Oday 27 (my friends). Of all the boats I like the Oday 272 best because of two factors, speed and comfort below. None compares to any of these in my opinion. There was only 1 boat that I would have considered buying because of the roomy interior and that was a newer Catalina 270. Just couldn't find one to sail before I bought the Oday 272.

You are completely right about being stout under sail, plows through the waves with no problems. Reefing is the key.

Not a lot of 272's out in California probably because they were built back East.

One note: When I hauled my boat had several sailors come over and check out the keel. They were not use to seeing such a shallow keel plus it was winged. LOL

Picture of the 1971 Ericson I sailed solo to hawaii. Plowed the money into this one. Had everything. Wanted to make sure i made it home.

 

[GregL564]

Andrew--
Interested to see how you installed the block on your leech cringle for the reefing line. I also have a single line reefing system running through a cringle at the leech, and would like to install a block there to reduce friction. From my initial research, though, all I've seen are very nice but custom arrangements where the block was custom-sewed in to the leech, with elaborate coverings to limit the possibility of excess wear from a loose block. I don't think I need anything elaborate, but wondering how you set yours up. Thanks!

 

[agprice22]

I have the reefing line run up through the eye at the leech. It runs up from a turning block on the boom, through the eye, and back down to the boom where it is tied.
My luff eye has a cloth strap through it, and there is a metal loop sewn to each end of that strap. The loop would normally hook to a reefing hook at the gooseneck. I attached a carbo block to the metal loop on the side where my reefing line is. I used a soft shackle to attach the block.

Thanks
Andrew

 

[GregL564]

Got it. Thanks!