"When did O'day ever build a boat known to be a good racer?"
I admit all the following are raced "One-Design", but they are all O'DAYs that are raced by their owners.
Well, from 1958-85, they built an awful lot of Day Sailers, a VERY active RACING CLASS! (Later DS III was never accepted by the DSA)
From 1959-77 they built quite a few RHODES 19s, another VERY active Racing Class.
From 1963-86 they built a lot of Widgeons, a very active racing class for a while in many Yacht Club Junior fleets.
The Mariner (1962-78) was and still is actively raced as a class (gee, O'Day introduced that as a "Family Cruiser" version of the Rhodes 19, but owner still race?)
O'Day built the International Tempest (not to be confused with the O'DAY Tempest cruiser, different boat). The Tempest Class was an Olympic class.
Around 1969-73, O'Day also was the US builder of the YNGLING, a 21' "mini-Soling" that is still an active racing class.
Those are some of the "CLASS" boats that O'DAY has built for racing, but several owners of larger O'DAYs have been active in racing, I recall that the Marion to Bermuda Race has been won at least once (maybe 2X) by a 1984 O'DAY 34. Many owners of various O'DAYs race in local Yacht Club races, maybe not as highly rated as CALs, C&C, S2, or Ericsons. But, they still have fun out there and have been known to collect awards. OK, so a typical O'DAy is no J24...... but owners DO race!
Just wanted to get this back to sailing O'DAYs...... <GRIN!>
I admit all the following are raced "One-Design", but they are all O'DAYs that are raced by their owners.
Well, from 1958-85, they built an awful lot of Day Sailers, a VERY active RACING CLASS! (Later DS III was never accepted by the DSA)
From 1959-77 they built quite a few RHODES 19s, another VERY active Racing Class.
From 1963-86 they built a lot of Widgeons, a very active racing class for a while in many Yacht Club Junior fleets.
The Mariner (1962-78) was and still is actively raced as a class (gee, O'Day introduced that as a "Family Cruiser" version of the Rhodes 19, but owner still race?)
O'Day built the International Tempest (not to be confused with the O'DAY Tempest cruiser, different boat). The Tempest Class was an Olympic class.
Around 1969-73, O'Day also was the US builder of the YNGLING, a 21' "mini-Soling" that is still an active racing class.
Those are some of the "CLASS" boats that O'DAY has built for racing, but several owners of larger O'DAYs have been active in racing, I recall that the Marion to Bermuda Race has been won at least once (maybe 2X) by a 1984 O'DAY 34. Many owners of various O'DAYs race in local Yacht Club races, maybe not as highly rated as CALs, C&C, S2, or Ericsons. But, they still have fun out there and have been known to collect awards. OK, so a typical O'DAy is no J24...... but owners DO race!
Just wanted to get this back to sailing O'DAYs...... <GRIN!>