Family dingy, Lido 14 or O'Day 17?

[WildBilly]

Hi everyone!
I grew up on Sunfish and Snarks, and now want to get something to take my wife and 2 kids sailing. Kids are not yet teenagers, and mom is cautious at best.

I am looking for something very small, under 20' and light enough that I can set this up and go on a whim. Nothing fancy, sheltered waters, and above all, cheap (under $2K used).

I have 2 boat in mind now, one is a Lido 14, the other an O'Day Daysailer II. The O'Day is about $200 more.

Having sailed neither, which is better for quick jaunts and solos? Mobility is key, and my wife will not be into spending long hours on board. I like the look of the Lido, but the cuddy cabin on the O'Day is quite nice. Does the Lido get very wet?
Thanks!

 

[esterhazyinoz]

Hi
You should set your expectations correctly if you are considering a small. light boat like the Lido 14 or any of the 14/15 foot boats that are available (Catalina, Hunter,Precision and the many others that may not even be manufactured anymore). Quick and easy to pick up and go, setup, launch and retrieve means a light boat. Two adults and two kids will weigh more than the boat so expect it to be 'tippy'. A small boat will require "active and constant realigning of your human ballast" so if you buy an un-ballasted boat, be prepared. Even my old 20' daysailer, which had lead ballast, benefited from shifting the weight of the crew to achieve better balance. That boat had a small cuddy and my kids liked having a place to retreat to.
Whatever you ultimately buy, hope you have a great time!
Cheers

 

[CalebD]

Neither of these boats will be entirely dry when the wind pipes up a bit. While I have never sailed a Lido 14 I have sailed the O'Day Daysailor I 17' which would be my recommendation as the cockpit is pretty big, it is easy to set up and easy to sail in lighter winds.
Esterhazyinoz is correct about having to move your butt(s) around to keep the boat flatter which would be true of both of these boats. The Lido 14' appears to be more of a racer as it can sport a spinnaker which would make it quite a bit more challenging then the O'Day 17'. For younger kids and a cautious mom (Admiral) I would stick with the O'Day. There should not be any kind of complicated rigging on an O'Day 17' whereas a racing dinghy can all kinds of control lines that you may not use most of the time.
The O'Day 17' I sailed in Bermuda had a main sail and a small jib and was simplicity itself in terms of a basic sloop rigged sailboat. I'd consider the Lido 14' if I wanted to get into racing but not for non-stressful family outings.
Which Westford will be where you sail? MA or VT or ..?

 

[oldiesrocker2001]

I'm with Caleb on this one. I also started with a snark(and I was 60+ lbs heavier than the 200 that I am now). I had a Sailing star which is a near clone of the O'day 17. Beamy boat but centerboard rather than heavy keel means you're your own ballast. I'd sailed it in many situations - a few perhaps too rough for the Admiral - but was alwys pretty safe. If an Oday thats not been modified regarding mast step, you'll want to have it modified with a hinged mast or tabenacle as the original stepped thru the deck. With this one mod, My 17 went from the highway to launch ramp in about 1/2 hour. The only drawback was mine with an ordinary plywood sheet for cockpit deck which I went to great lengths to dry to protect between sails-very time consuming.

 

[WildBilly]

Thanks, gang, I appreciate the wisdom shared.

I think we're ok with a tender boat, we spend a lot of time on canoes and kayaks as a family. Having sailed Sunfish (even now), the big problem is that it's pretty much a solo sail, so a logical step up is something under 20'.

I think I can frame our sailing adventures as a wet sport akin to swimming really fast with a blanket, rather than a dry, champagne-sipping promenade...the kids will love that.

The thing I like about the Lido is that most time will be spent sailing solo or with 1 or 2 kids. The problem is, it looks very cramped compared to the Daysailer. I wonder if the Daysailer would be too big for smaller lakes. I would open us up to the larger bays like Casco and Cape Cod... Most of the waters close by are lakes, bays and rivers.

Question, how hard is it to single-handedly step the mast of a Daysailer?

So many nice boats, it's hard to decide...
Thanks!
Billy



Caleb, I'm in Westford MA.

 

[esterhazyinoz]

Re Stepping the mast solo

Have a look at this thread:
http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=118258
Especially the illustrated post by Bluerunner. I followed his advice about attaching a two fiddle block set up and to the trailers' mast post but use my main halyard as the boat side attachment, not a separate line.
I can slot the mast into the step and raise it solo. Once the mast is vertical I tighten the block set up (one of which has a cam cleat). That holds the mast up and brings it forward enough for me to attach my roller furling forstay to the boat.
Having said that I wouldn't want to do this with a mast any taller/heavier than that on a Hunter 170 (25.6 ft, 7.77 meters) as the weight of a heavier mast would be difficult to stabilise in high cross winds.

 

[sailnaway]

I'd go with the larger O'Day 17. I had a Hobie 16 that I sold last year and just rented a Catalina 14.5 with fixed keel last week. I put 4 adults in it (plenty of ballast) and had a blast out on Mission Bay San Diego. I've had 4 on the Hobie 16, but it was crowded and took a lot of scrambling, and we could almost sink one pontoon by lifting the other. Bad things happen then. The Catalina had none of those issues and the cockpit was fairly roomy, but the cuddy was almost non-existent (just a 2 x 2 x 2 box). Therefore, even though the Catalina was great fun, I'd recommend the larger O'Day (or similar) with a cuddy. The kids will love it and mom will have more sun bathing room.