I recently purchased a 1981 Spindrift Day Sailor I made by Rebel Industries, and similar to the O'day version. It is 16.' and a few inches. The guy I purchased this from, bought it at auction and didn't know the boat's history. Here is the issue. The boat came with a broken wooden swing keel that is relatively light, and a well made fiberglass over metal one that is very aerodynamic. The latter one weighs about 85 pounds. I would like to use it, but wasn't sure if the fiberglass structure of the keel housing will support the weight without damage. I don't think this is the original, and don't know what the original manufacturers model weighed. Keep in mind, I will not be racing and will be trailering the boat. I appreciate your help if anyone knows. Thanks
Spindrift Day Sailor I Swing Keel
- Thread starter ranger60
- Start date
This sounds strange to me. Are you sure the "broken wooden swing keel" is not, in fact, a rudder?
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Well, first thing is that you are refering to the CENTERBOARD, a Day Sailer does NOT have a "swing-keel", she has a CENTERBOARD.
The wooden centerboard is obviously a replacement by the sound of it, being lightweight is not in itself a "bad" thing, as long as the friction on the CB lever mechanism can still hold it down, but if the Cb weighs less than 25# or so, I'd add a bit of ballast to it near the tip to help it stay down (just don't excede 25-30# total weight for the Cb or you will have an unaceptable Cb under Day Sailer Class Rules.).
If the other Cb really weighs about 85#, I'd worry about how you will raise it using the lever. As I say, the CB should weigh more like 25-30# and be just heavy enough to not float easily. The basic structure of the Centerboard trunk (housing) wil lmost likely not be overstressed by that excessively heavy CB, but I'm not sure the lever that moves the Centerboard will be able to raise the CB.
That 85# centerboard would more or less qualify as a "swing-keel" since it would contribute a major amount of stablising force, but the DS was desgned to be a centerboard boat and I'm not sure that replacing hte normal (and class-legal) centerboard with a very heavy swing-keel is a good idea without adding strength to the centerboard trunk, adding a winch to raise/lower the heavy CB, add extra flotation to compensate for the added weight, and really ending up with a Day Sailer that is no longer a "Day Sailer Class" boat. Even if you don't plan on racing, any modifications that are not "class-legal" wil laffect the resale value of the boat. The DS I is the more popular DS version with racers, so I wouldnt do anything that would prevent an easy return to class-legal condition.
The DS is pretty stable as she was designed no need for added ballast as long as you sail her like the centerboard boat she is, the biggest thing is to ALWAYS keep the mainsheet i nhand while sailing. Let the mainsheet camcleat hold the tension, but keep the sheet in hand so that if a gust of wind hits, yo ucan instantly release hte sheet to spill the wind and bring the boat back on her feet. Sail without the jib if it is windy (just raise the Cb a bit to keep the center of resistance lined up with hte center of the sail area.) If the boat isn't set up for reefing hte mainsail, consider having a sailmaker add a reef. That allows yo uto reduce sail further than just lowering hte jib and will futher help on windy days.
All Day Sailers must conform to the Class Specs no matter which builder produced the boat.
Length: 16'9"
Beam: 6'3"
Draft: 7" CB up / 3'9" CB down
Weight: 575#
Spindrift/Rebel became the builder after O'DAY stopped building hte DS I around 1977 and continued until around 1990. O'day stil lbuilt the DS II until 1985 then switched to the DS III (not class-accepted) from 1985-89, Pearson Yachts, Small-Boat division built the DS III for a couple more years after buying hte molds when O'DAY went bankrupt. Sunfish-Laser built a new version of the DS I (DS IV) from 1992-94, then the Day Sailer Class Association moved production to Cape Cod Shipbuilding, the current builder.
The wooden centerboard is obviously a replacement by the sound of it, being lightweight is not in itself a "bad" thing, as long as the friction on the CB lever mechanism can still hold it down, but if the Cb weighs less than 25# or so, I'd add a bit of ballast to it near the tip to help it stay down (just don't excede 25-30# total weight for the Cb or you will have an unaceptable Cb under Day Sailer Class Rules.).
If the other Cb really weighs about 85#, I'd worry about how you will raise it using the lever. As I say, the CB should weigh more like 25-30# and be just heavy enough to not float easily. The basic structure of the Centerboard trunk (housing) wil lmost likely not be overstressed by that excessively heavy CB, but I'm not sure the lever that moves the Centerboard will be able to raise the CB.
That 85# centerboard would more or less qualify as a "swing-keel" since it would contribute a major amount of stablising force, but the DS was desgned to be a centerboard boat and I'm not sure that replacing hte normal (and class-legal) centerboard with a very heavy swing-keel is a good idea without adding strength to the centerboard trunk, adding a winch to raise/lower the heavy CB, add extra flotation to compensate for the added weight, and really ending up with a Day Sailer that is no longer a "Day Sailer Class" boat. Even if you don't plan on racing, any modifications that are not "class-legal" wil laffect the resale value of the boat. The DS I is the more popular DS version with racers, so I wouldnt do anything that would prevent an easy return to class-legal condition.
The DS is pretty stable as she was designed no need for added ballast as long as you sail her like the centerboard boat she is, the biggest thing is to ALWAYS keep the mainsheet i nhand while sailing. Let the mainsheet camcleat hold the tension, but keep the sheet in hand so that if a gust of wind hits, yo ucan instantly release hte sheet to spill the wind and bring the boat back on her feet. Sail without the jib if it is windy (just raise the Cb a bit to keep the center of resistance lined up with hte center of the sail area.) If the boat isn't set up for reefing hte mainsail, consider having a sailmaker add a reef. That allows yo uto reduce sail further than just lowering hte jib and will futher help on windy days.
All Day Sailers must conform to the Class Specs no matter which builder produced the boat.
Length: 16'9"
Beam: 6'3"
Draft: 7" CB up / 3'9" CB down
Weight: 575#
Spindrift/Rebel became the builder after O'DAY stopped building hte DS I around 1977 and continued until around 1990. O'day stil lbuilt the DS II until 1985 then switched to the DS III (not class-accepted) from 1985-89, Pearson Yachts, Small-Boat division built the DS III for a couple more years after buying hte molds when O'DAY went bankrupt. Sunfish-Laser built a new version of the DS I (DS IV) from 1992-94, then the Day Sailer Class Association moved production to Cape Cod Shipbuilding, the current builder.
PRECISION BOAT WORKS continued to build the Daysailer I during the mid and late 1980s. Not sure when they stopped.
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Not true. I made the mistake of making that remark to the guys at PRECISION. They did share their designer however, as Jim Taylor designed boats for both of them, as well as many others.
I stand corrected. I guess what actually happened was that the DSA must have switched builders for a few years (between Rebel/Spindrift and SLI) and Precision was that in-between builder. The DSA is pretty tough on various builders and as I recall my DSA history...... Rebel/Spindrift was unable to meet those tough requirements (including building a boat more suitable for racing than simply "daysailing", George O'Day must be rolling over in his grave over that since he developed the DS as a family daysailing boat)