O'day 23, Stability?

[Bill Jones]

I'm new to Day Sailers. My sailing experience has been in much larger vessels. (Prewvious vwesswel was a 45' Yawl.) I would appreciate some advice about Ocean sailing in the 23. I notice the 23 is very tender to the wind and I'm able to pinch up to about 50 degrees to the wind (without the dagger board-- (daggerboard is missing.) On the lack of daggerboard, it seems that it is not needed and Blue water sailing would be better without it. The amount of heeling and point of capsize relative to Wind velocity and Ocean swell height has me a bit skeptical about off shore sailing. From my home port to anywwere outside is over 50 miles. My O'Day 23 is well equipped with Safety and Nav-Com equipment, but all would go down with the boat upon a capsize. Panama City has a great set of connecting bays and sounds, perfect for daysailing, But to get beyond the bays means miles of motoring in the intercoastal waterway with no wind. So, what I need is some sage responses from those who have Blue Water sailing experience in the O'day daysailers, especially the O'day 23. Bill Jones

 

[bruce cornell]

capsize/comfort

the comfort value is 17.61 which is not that friendly, the capsize value is 2.05 which makes it a fair weather boat. offshore capsize numbers are more in the 1.6 to 1.8, but all are below 2.0. contessa 26, cape dory 25 etc are all below 1.8. just be more careful when off shore, expect others will disagree but keep it in mind...

 

[bruce cornell]

p.s....

get the dagger bd in before going off shore, it is there for a reason and expect the cap ratio to be even higher without it. you could pick up some CV if replaced with a heavier board than stock.

 

[Bill Jones]

O'day 23 Stability

Thanks Bruce. ("offshore capsize numbers are more in the 1.6 to 1.8") I'm not familiar with Capsize Rating, but I intrepet this and your other comments to mean that the safe operating conditions of the Oday 23 are max winds of about 20 KTS and seas 4 to 6 feet, which confirms my seafaring estimation for dinghys this size. (Even less for comfortable sailing.) Fortunately, we have such mild conditions here about 75% of the year in our Horse Lattitude except for squalls. Now to look for an O'day 23 wreck to buy its swing keel. Bill Jones

 

[HukilauMike]

Ted Brewer says.....

I have an Oday 23 and have never done any bluewater sailing in her. Nor would I, but that's just me. However, famous yacht designer Ted Brewer does a regular column in Good Old Boat magazine, and in one feature he did a comparison of the design of three similarly-sized boats. Since one of the boats was my own Oday 23, I took notice. I can't remember what he said exactly, but to paraphrase, he said that he was sure that some nut probably has tried to sail one of the boats to Hawaii, but you wouldn't catch him taking one of these offshore.It doesn't sound like you have that kind of voyage in mind, but be forewarned: this is not a boat that has a comfortable motion in a sea (that I can tell you from experience). Also, if you intend to do a lot of motoring, remember that you are dealing with an outboard powered boat. Even with a long-shaft engine, the prop will come out of the water frequently in any kind of seaway. If your prior experience is with true auxilliaries that have their props safely underwater, this will be a new thing for you. Try running your 23 under power through a couple of big wakes; you'll see what I mean.

 

[Bill Jones]

O'day 23 Stability

Hey Mike-What I have in mind are occasional day sails 5 miles outside in the Gulf of Mexico to the next port, some 50 miles- Destin to the East or Apalachicola (80) to the West (12-18 hours). I wouldn't think of anything more adventurous. We have fairly good weather forecasting now-a-days and we can usually see squalls ahead and avoid by sailing upwind of their drift.You are right about outboards coming out of the water in seas, also the entire motor can swamp during following swells. Just the word "daysailer" carries a warning to avoid anything more than moderate seas.I've already discovered that the O'day is very tender and requires constant and close attention to the tiller, so a voyage of even 50 miles needs a buddy to swap off with. This is far different from my 45' Yawl that sailed for steady for hours hands off with an occasional slight trim of the mizzen. Hawaii? Unthinkable with the Oday 23! But the Carib Islands might be a choice. We get immigrants coming from there via inner tubes. Bill Jones

 

[Bill Jones]

O'Day 23 Stability

Yesterday's experimental jaunt into the Gulf of Mexico in my O'Day 23:Departed solo abt 0900 winds 12 kts shifting 090-120 in the bay. Nice sailing the 12 miles to the Gulf inlet (abt 2 hours riding a falling tide.) Transited the Gulf inlet into 3-4 feet swells with steady wind of abt 16 kts from the East. The Oday 23 handled well on downwind reach to 3 miles offshore while I checked out newly installed VHF and Garmin 168 combo GPS & Depth Sounder. Swells increased to 4-5 feet offshore. Was sailing with main and roller genoa out on a heading of 340. GPS reported a steady 6 kts. Roll and pitch was fairly comfortable but had to mind the tiller closely. Occasional flutter spilling of genoa as pitch changed in rolling sea. Turned to heading of about 015 and experimented with starboard wind. Close haul limit was about 020 degrees 70 degrees off wind). Heeling was not extreme. Tried a come about into the wind but couldn't make it through. Fell back and dropped down the 8.5 outboard motor. It cranked easily and was then able to come through the wind with it running at about 1/3 power. Shut down the motor and sailed 160 degrees for a while. Next about was a downwind jibe around to 015 degrees heading back to the inlet. She sailed well and fairly comfortable making 4.2 kts (according to the GPS). Next, I furled the Jib and was able to come about into the wind with main alone. But the vessel lost headway and the wind took over until headway was regained.The return to home base was uneventfulLearned: 1. Solo handling of the ODay 23, even in light seas is a tender and busy job. Coming about into the wind is difficult and heading control is compromised by the distraction while getting the motor in operation. (The problem is magnified by my lack of extended keel (I think.) 2. To do anything on deck, like tending a stuck jib roller, would require letting the vessel flounder. Moving from cockpit to the deck is dangerous at sea. 3. The bungee I installed to hold the rudder centered helped. Ship rudder is more effective than turning the motor handle. Need to tighten the motor so it binds and does not move on its own. 4. A similiar Jibe about in higher wind would need the genoa to be furled and the main close hauled when in irons on the way through. 4. I need to rig a Mainsail down haul line to the cockpit. Problem: The added friction of a block does not allow the weight of the sail to pull it down. Anyone have a solution for this? All in all, it was a learning experience. Bill Jones

 

[HukilauMike]

That's some day sail!

50 miles in the 23 is quite a day sail! When I bought my boat, I had to sail her about 40 miles in Long Island Sound to her new home. It was blowing about 20-25 knots and the seas were about 4 feet. We got knocked around pretty good. It was fun for me at the time, but now I try to avoid that kind of amusement. I did learn that the 23 is put together pretty good for an aged trailer sailer. You sound like you have the situation in hand. Have fun.

 

[Kevin]

seaworthy?

I read a quote in Small Boat Journal many years ago that went something like this: "The seaworthiness of a vessel depends more on the skill of her captain than her size". Many long voyages have been completed succesfully on boats smaller than the Oday 23. However, 50 miles in a day is pretty ambitious, especially if you are single handing. Do you have autopilot? I've done 25 miles singlehanding with gusty winds. I was pretty tired at the end of the day.

 

[Russ20666]

Seaworthiness

in my mind is more a function of the skipper not so much the boat. If the weather and sea state are good then I would have no problem taking my 23 out into coastal waters. Now I will very quickly point out that taking a boat out into blue water means that you have taken ALL precautions and verified that your boat and equipment is in top condition. Safety and planning are paramount. Several times a year the coasties have to go search for somebody that went out and got into trouble with no planning in place for contingency. Mother ocean can be a very harsh teacher.Russ