Can anyone help identify this boat

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Apr 28, 2013
6
ODay 12.5 Lake Hopatcong
I bought and old project boat off of Craigslist. I am missing a few parts to assemble the mast/boom and am trying to figure out what model this might be. I am attaching a couple of pictures for reference. If I can figure out what it is, I would love to restore her. Any advice would be appreciated.

She is 12.5 feet long with an open cockpit and a drop keel. The handle on the drop keel says ODay. The mast is aluminum and oval shaped.
 

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Jul 8, 2012
144
Helms 25 indiana
if anything, I would say its a widget but Im not sure. that is just a guess. some of the wiser salts may know for sure.
 
Apr 28, 2013
6
ODay 12.5 Lake Hopatcong
The mast cut out doesn't match up with a Widgeon as far as I can tell. I would have guessed Woodpussy if it were one foot shorter. Anyone else have a guess?
 
May 17, 2011
76
Oday Daysailer II, Rhodes 19, Mariner 2+2 Dripping Springs
There was a little O'Day boat called an Interclub that was about 11.5 feet long. Doesn't quite look like it, but maybe similar. Handle may be a replacement from an O'Day boat. I have a 1952 Beetle Boat Swan that uses the same handle that was later used on O'Day boats.

John
 
Jun 2, 2004
1,950
Oday Day Sailer Wareham, MA
Nope, not a WIDGEON...... and as a former WIDGEON owner, I can be sure of that! However, I am fortunate to have had a couple of neighbors who owned what is called a "TECH DINGHY". What youy have is just that, a TECH, also known as an MIT TECH Dinghy since that was where the design originated. Built by several companies over the years, yours appears to be one of the ones made by BEETLE BOATS (New Bedford, MA) or American Boatbuilding Corp. (New Bedford, MA and Warwick, RI) in the 1950s and early 1960s. Do not confuse BEETLE BOATs with BEETLE CAT, same family, but different company (Father built wooden cats, son started company building fiberglass boats). American Boatbuilding was more or less the merged company formed between BEETLE and Marscot Plastics.

The boom shown in the picture is not for the TECH, the TECH has a loose-footed main, 72 sqft in area. The boat was cat-rigged (marconi or jib-headed sail), although there was an option of a sloop rig for a while. Several of the Beetle fiberglass boats used a centerboard lever very similar to the O'DAY centerboard lever, perhaps the original one on this boat broke or was lost and the replacement was bought from an O'DAY dealer? One other possibility, and that is due to the fact that Marscot Plastics built the O'DAYs from 1957-61 or so, perhaps they grabbed the "wrong" CB lever. <GRIN!>

I don't recognize your lake, so I don't know how far from Massachuestts you would be, but ZEPHYR Spars in Wareham, MA was, to the best of my knowledge, the supplier of masts and booms to BEETLE and Marscot and they should stil lhave the specs. I'd offer to measure the mast of one of my neighbors' boats.... but they've both sold their TECHs many years ago. Another neighbor has a newer (I think?) model of TECH, I might be able to measure his mast. The size of the extrusion should be the same as for a WIDGEON, but I think the TECH mast is a little shorter, though I doubt very much shorter. If not trying for absolute accuracy of rigging, I might buy a WIDGEON mast and mainsail (unless you have the TECH sail?). You will need to modify the standing rigging of the WIDGEON to match the TECH, but it would be a start! Widgeon mast is 18'6" and boom is 8'6".

I've attached a few pictures that may help. The drawing of the sailplan is a newer version than yours, and it appears the mast is a little taller and the boom a bit shorter than the ones of the vintage of yours, but you could still use that for an example. I have more, but many of them are of the sloop-rigged TECH, which may still help since the mast. boom, mainsail, and position of the mast were all the same for both versions. The centerboard trunk was moved forward to keep the proper balance in the rig. I just noticed that the pics of the TECH with the tan deck are of a sloop-rigged model, you will note that the CB trunk is further forward. However, it is still a good reference to the mast and boom proportions.
 

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Apr 28, 2013
6
ODay 12.5 Lake Hopatcong
Wow, that was really helpful. Thanks a ton! It is a perfect match.


My lake is in New Jersey, but my inlaws live in Onset and have roots in Wareham and New Bedford. I will have to check around. I think this is a total Frankenstein monster of a boat. I have sails for it, but I didn't look at them too much. I got an unbeatable deal on a Com Pac 16 just after getting this off Craigslist.

I might have to play with this as a project boat or restore enough to sell it. I bought it from a guy who was into power boats and had no clue how to sail. I had hopes of restoring it, but couldn't find enough information to get started.
 
Jun 2, 2004
1,950
Oday Day Sailer Wareham, MA
Well, look around Onset, you might spot another TECH that will help (I saw one of the sloop-rigged ones sailing there a few years ago), there used to be a sizeable fleet in Bourne Cove which is actually in Wareham, next to Little Harbor Beach (Town/public beach). I haven't seen any around there for a while, but those pictures of hte TECH with the tan deck were supposed to be a boat in Wareham, and I suspect it is one of the Bourne Cove fleet. I suspect the remaining boats of the fleet are in various backyards.
 
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