Be careful offshore
Matt, With your O'Day 25 shoaldraft/CB, perhaps you've heard a "clunk....clunk....clunk" going downwind with a board that's not pulled up. That's your centerboard working back and forth in the trunk. Beating or reaching you won't hear it because lateral forces keep it pushed against the leeward side of the trunk. Now think of what would happen in a real blow offshore, with a heavy sea. Falling off waves, as will happen, is going to put some heavy, impulsive forces on that centerboard. It and its mounting hardware just is not made to stand up to such forces for long. For good reason passage-making boats were built (at least in the good old days of safe, seaworthy boats) with full, deep keels and attached rudders. Such boats could take a beating for days on end. I have a shoaldraft/CB O'Day 25 and would not think of taking it far offshore. If the weather forecasts are good and, otherwise, your boat is in good shape, going 20 miles or so offshore to, say, a Block Island or a Nantucket, is fine, and it's a lot of fun. You're not that far from a safe harbor if it turns gnarly. Don't think of going to Bermuda in it, though. Out in the blue water you're not going to find a safe harbor when it blows up. Peter
