Unknown HID Daysailer

[oday414]

Greetings and salutations. Recently purchased a lovely Daysailer and was told that it was a "1980" DS1. As I'm heading to the title bureau today I realize the title says "1960". Is it possible that it's a 1980, that got fat fingered at the BMV into a 1960? Absolutely. That being said, I wanna try to figure out what I can. I've looked her over, stem to stern and can find no markings of any type whatsoever. Thoughts? A free 6 of the finest ale from Cleveland's renowned Great Lakes Brewery to the man or woman who comes up swinging on this lady. Thanks in advance.

James

 

[Sunbird22358]

Well, if she is a Day Sailer I, then a 1980 model will not be one built by O'DAY, they built their last one in around 1977 and the molds were taken by the Day Sailer Association to a new builder. A 1980 model would most likely be built by Rebel or Spindrift and would have a hull ID molded into the outside of the transom, it will be 12-digits starting with "RRR". An O'DAY boat built after Nov. 1, 1972 will have a 12-digit HIN molded into the outside of the transom starting with "XDY".
O'DAY boats built prior to 11/1/1972 wil lhave a small metal plate located on the wood trim piece across the aft end of the cockpit that displays 2 numbers, a HULL# and a CLASS#. Hull# refered to how many total O'DAY boats had been built, Class# refered to how many of that class (Day Sailer in this case). That metal plate is often lost if it falls off on older boats.

The O'DAY built boats (DS I) had wooden seats until about 1961, then the seats were molded fiberglass and served as flotation chambers. The 1961 and newer DS I had 2 wood braces between the CB trunk and the seats, earlier boats had a seat across the boat connecting the CB trunk to the side seats.
The Rebel-Spindrift boats had seats that were fiberglass, molded as part of the deck and there were 2 cut-out sections of the seats that were covered with teak slats to provide some stowage.

The fact that you can't find a HIN on the outside of the transom sounds to me like this boat is a 1960's model O'DAY DS I, not a 1980. Could you post a few pictures? That might help.

If you move your cursor over each pic below the title of the pic will show, I have included pics of a 1980 Rebel DS I and a few 1960's O'DAY DS Is.

 

[oday414]

Here is a photo. I swear on all that is holy, she will never be this scuzzy again. Mr. UPS man assures me he'll be here today by 5pm with the new sails, some odds and ends, and most importantly the COVER for her.

 

[berner73]

Looks like one of the original DSI's to me. Great boats.

Couple of links you may want to check out as you bring her back to life

http://www.drmarine.com/categories.asp?cat=64

http://forum.daysailer.org/forum/

 

[oday414]

Thanks Berner. I've actually been all through drmarine.....the tabernacle should be here shortly as well. I hate to do it, but I can't step that mast on my own. Anyhow, will definitely cruise through everything I can read on her. That being said, do you, or anyone, know how I would be able to ascertain the hull/class numbers? I would like to make her as legit as possible, if possible.

 

[Sunbird22358]

Definitely not a 1980, and i'd agree she looks like a 1960 or older model.
As to finding hte Hulll and Class Numbers, I'd suggest that you post a question on hte Day Sailer Association Web Forum (www.daysailer.org) you do not need to be a member of the DSA to post on that forum, although you will need to sign up for a (FREE) user name and password.
Someone on hte DSA forums should have some clues as to locating hte Hull and Class numbers, although I have a feeling if the original plate is missing..... you may have trouble finding those numbers. BUT, who knows? If the seats are original, O'DAY might have marked them with the Class# at least. This boat looks old enough to be one of the ones built by MARSCOT PLASTICS for O'DAY, before George O'Day started his own factory for boatbuilding. Marscot Plastics sort of faded away at that time.

So, contact the DSA and I suspect you wil lget plenty of helpful hints!

 

[oday414]

update

Okay, here's what I have so far.

HIN-OHZ41423H760

OHZ is "Ohio homemade boats", right?

The "760" I believe (possibly incorrectly) is to allude to the fact of a July 1960 build.

The rest is scatter. I find some websites saying one thing, others saying another. Help me out folks. Whats the thought? Much obliged.

P.S. She went on the water yesterday. First time in close to a decade. Not much for wind, and it was more of a shakedown run, but she was still beautiful. I'll post a photo of her in her grandeur shortly. She's about 90% back together though. Great boat.

 

[Brian D]

Although I can't help, I would like to know where you found the HIN? Was it stamped someplace else other than the back of the transom?

 

[oday414]

Greetings Brian D. I found the HIN on the title actually (which doesn't speak well of my sleuthing skills, ha). That being said though, this is clearly not a homemade boat, so my newest fear is that the "real" HIN is lost to the sands of time, and this was just the # that was applied for, after there was none to reference? Thoughts, everyone?

 

[Sunbird22358]

Actually, in addition to that format being used for "homemade" boats, it is also used on boats built prior to the November 1972 USCG required HIN. If you see a HIN that has a "Z" as the 3rd character, it indicates the HIN is State-Issued, not Manufacturer issued. Some staes do use a date in the HIN based on the original; build date of the boat, others use the year that the HIN was assigned to the boat.

Since 1989 an official HIN has been required by all States in order to officially sell/buy any boat and it is definitely needed when registering the boat with the State. The State-issued HIN is SUPPOSED to be "permanently" marked on the outside of the transom, near the starboard side, and also in an additional "hidden" location known only to the owner (or builder). That said, not all boatowners actually do mark the HIN on the boat, but should as it could mean a lot of help identifying the boat if the boat were ever lost or stolen.

Original Hull Identification Number definitely was NOT ever lost "to the sands of time", since htere never was an original HIN on this boat. O'DAY ID'd every boat built prior to the 1972 HIN Requirement with 2 numbers on a little metal plate (and it does appear that that little metal plate may have been lost?) Anyway, those 2 numbers (as pictured in my original reply) would be a "HULL#" and a "CLASS#", Hull# refered to the total number of boats built by O'DAY up to that time, and Class# refers to the total number of that class, in this case Day Sailer. As an example: my old Widgeon was Hull# 22698 and Class# 1791. That means she was the 22698th O'DAY built and the 1791st Widgeon. (Somehow, when I registered my Widgeon in December 1988 I was able to use 226981791 as the HIN, should not have worked, but it did!)
So, yes, this State-issued HIN was assigned to the boat due to there not being an original HIN, but it is the OFFICIAL HIN now.

 

[oday414]

Couldn't agree with you more, Sunbird, with it being the official HIN now. But sadly that doesn't, (I believe) help me try to ascertain which number she WAS, originally, off the line. I would like to call her #738 or whatever the "correct" number would be. That's all. I mean, she's titled, and all that good stuff, I just feel like she's calling me a lazy shmuck if I don't try my darnedest to get her 100% again.

 

[Sunbird22358]

Well, the only thought I still have is to post this question on the Day Sailer Class Association web forum. You still may never be able to pin down her exact Class#, but it is still worth a try! www.daysailer.org

Hopefully, O'DAY (or I guess in this case, Marscot Plastics) marked the Class# somewhere inside the boat in addition to on that little metal plate. On that forum there are LOTs of owners of DS I boats, and since many of them race, knowing (or finding out) the Actual Class# would be important to them, so they may know something that I don't. The CLASS NUMBER is going to be more important than the HULL#, since the Class# refers to Day Sailers and will be how to better be certain of the year.

 

[oday414]

Well Sunbird I have taken your advice and ran with it. The mystery is posted on there as well, and I hope to have an update soon. I will post here with anything I find. Stay tuned, all.


James