How easy is it to tip DaySailer

[David Lee]

I recently purchased a DaySailer and I'm looking forward to practicing as soon as possible. I'd like to go out in the beginning of May, but I'm concerned about how easy it may be to tip the DaySailer. I have relatively no experience (except for a few hours of lessons), so should I start practicing without the jib?

 

[Debi]

Tip the Daysailer??????

I also have a Daysailer and really tried to tip it over to learn the experience. Needless to say I have yet felt that experience. That is a safe, fun boat to learn with. What year is yours? Enjoy yourself and don't worry about tipping...... I learned how to handle the boat with an experienced sailor. You may want to start there to learn how to do it right the first time.......

 

[Richard]

It Took Me 40 Years

It took me 40 years to tip over a DaySailor.We four adults were sailing on a lake with three "on the high side" and one on the "low side" but quite a lot of wind.We were blanketed by the trees on shore, the "high side" became the "low side" and than quickly the "under water side".We took down the main and jib and righted the boat without too much trouble.

 

[Justin - O'day Owners' Web]

Tipping a DS

David -It can be done but its hard. The problem really is not that the boat is easy to tip but that once over some of them a a bear to recover. I put my rail in the water a number of times taking on scarey amounts of water but I never dumped the boat. What year is your boat? Who built it? (Several manufacturers have had the molds for the DS) When? These will help assess what you need to do to ensure that the boat is easy to right. Which ever boat you have a few simple tricks and you'll be safe.Justin - O'day Owners' Web

 

[Ken Cobb]

Tips

Always hold the mainsheet lead in your hand, so you can yank it out of the cleat and ease out the sail quickly if you are overpowered.Have a reef point put in your mainsail, and use it when winds are above 15 mph. Don't try to sail when winds are much above 20 mph. If higher, and you have a motor, drop sails and motor in.Have water tight doors installed on your cuddy, if your cuddy opening is small enough to permit that. The boat is much easier to right after a spill if the cuddy hasn't filled with water.Daysailors sail very poorly without the jib, and won't tack at all without a jib. Consider buying a storm jib for windy days.

 

[Rod Johnson]

With care you shouldn't tip over

I always sail using the techniques of keeping the mainsheet in my hand (the camcleat holds the tension) this way it can easily be released spilling the wind in a puff. I also have a set of reefpoints in the mainsail (best $67 I ever spent!) and use them often. However, I disagree that the Day Sailer will not sail without the jib! Perhaps if the mast is leaning too far aft, but I find that like all small O'Days, the DS sails GREAT without the jib, and this is my "first reef", if the wind is still too much I reef the mainsail. I have owned my DS II for 6 years, previously owned a 12' O'Day Widgeon, I have never come close to capsizing either boat. Water has flooded over the side a few times every season, but by releasing the mainsheet the boat comes right back up. I sail singlehanded on Buzzards Bay, in Massachusetts. The afternoon seabreeze is usually 10-15 knots, sometimes higher. I have found that using a tiller extension allows me to sit on the side deck and this helps to keep the boat upright. A Day Sailer can capsize, especially while racing, however...they do not have to capsize. Someone said that capsizing is less likely on a lake than the "ocean", but what I hear about lake sailing suggests that the opposite is true. On the Bay the wind is fairly constant, lake winds seem to come and go (sometimes with gusto!). So, my plan has always been to be prepared for going over.....but doing everything possible to NOT go over! So far it has worked.