O'Day Artifacts

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CaptainCr3ative

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Apr 11, 2024
15
O’Day 23, 25 Duck Creek, New Bern, NC
A year or so ago I picked up this large, metal O'Day sign...
A few nights ago, I was looking through a stack of O'Day brochures/catalogs I'd recently purchased, flipped to the back of the 1975 Gold Medal Fleet catalog, and immediately said, "No way..." when I saw, my bright orange, metal sign hanging from the exterior of their Costa Mesa plant.

I've become rather obsessed with O'Day. I've scoured the internet for information. I've purchased brochures, fleet catalogs, old ads... read through the company's bankruptcy proceedings, dug through old publication archives like NYT for every article I could find from the 50's, 60's, and 70's about O'Day Corp when they revealed a new model at the international boat shows... but the thing that amazes me is, as BIG as this company's reach was, and as many boats as they produced during their years of production, it's almost impossible to find anything more than brochures and catalogs out there.

I think the impact this company had on sailing, globally, was immense and the community of sailors and enthusiasts (both old and new) that are keeping the name (and the boats) alive today is amazing. I'd love to know what else is out there.

Do you have any interesting pieces of O'Day history you'd be willing to share? Order forms, company communications, sportswear, newsletters, photos, stories you heard... anything.
 

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CaptainCr3ative

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Apr 11, 2024
15
O’Day 23, 25 Duck Creek, New Bern, NC
Timm R Oday25 said:
Now that is pretty cool. I would hang that with pride .
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Honestly, I haven’t totally wrapped my head around it. Part of me wants to find some proof they had more than one of these signs made and there are others out there on some barn wall somewhere… but I’ve never seen another one. Because if this is THE sign, it feels kinda priceless (to me) within the context of O’Day sailboats and the broader fiberglass sailboat history.
 
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CaptainCr3ative

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Apr 11, 2024
15
O’Day 23, 25 Duck Creek, New Bern, NC
Indysailor said:
There's an image on my profile that I always thought would be very cool to put on a t shirt. Check it out.
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Yep! I remember finding that image on, maybe, an auction site (?) a few years ago when I bought my first boat; my O’Day 23.

Based on the lineup of boats on that sign and the logo which was on a lot of their 1960s catalogs and in their ads, I’m guessing that red one may have been the predecessor to mine which is likely from ~1974 when Jensen/Cal moved to a new, larger building and facility a block away which is now, I’ve JUST discovered, the Orange County Department of Education Complex. I found the address and reference to the new building in some Jensen material and a quick Google street view and it’s definitely the same building.

A number of O’Day models were being manufactured in the same plant as Jensen/Cal boats in Costa Mesa as it was all owned by Bangor Punta at that time. One big, happy, boat-building conglomerate. My guess is, O’Day also had an “office” in the building.
 

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Project_Mayhem

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Sep 24, 2018
4,590
Catalina 30 MKIII Chicago
CaptainCr3ative said:
I couldn’t agree more. What boat did you have?
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I had a 1978 25. It definitely wasn't the fastest but it was great at heavy weather sailing. It really stiffened up once it hit 25 degrees of heel. The motion of that boat riding over the waves could be really enjoyable. My Catalina 30 feels sterile in comparison
 
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