O'Day Sailboats Unofficial Web Site
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Picture Of The Moment Archive - 2005
 
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    Your webmaster's 1976 O'Day 32, "Sloop Du Jour" is shown being blown around in the canal behind his house in Fort Lauderdale. Hurricane Katrina came ashore about 20 miles south of Fort Lauderdale as a Category 1 storm, and left eleven dead in south Florida. The Gulf Coast fared far worse.

    Wilma paid a visit to South Florida as a Category 2 hurricane, with the eye passing directly over us. Although we had trees and shrubbery blown down and the power was out for two weeks, Sloop Du Jour sustained no damage.

    Herb Parsons, an O'Day owner with a boat on Lake Ponchartrain, and Brad Mercer, his old college roommate, participated in some of the rescue operations in New Orleans. Brad wrote about the experience, and I've received permission to post some of his writings. This is an excerpt titled "What I Felt".
     
      Jim and Susan Miller's 1983 O'Day 34, "Second Wind" is shown in her slip in Whortonsville, North Carolina.
      Jim says: "My wife and I sail in Pamlico Sound. This boat still sails better in rough water than the Hunters and Beneteaus ."
       
        Carol Thorsten-Stein submitted this photo of her 1984 O'Day 222, "Underwater Options".
        Carol says: "This was taken during a Sunday sail on Lake Massabesic in Auburn, NH where we are members of the Massabesic Yacht Club. There are a number of O'Days in the club, ranging from Widgeons to 25s...the lake is too small to take anything much bigger."
         
          Here is a shot of a rare O'Day Firefly dinghy sent in by Stuart Cork in Canada.

          Stuart says: "I am the owner of a Firefly dinghy that was built in the late 1950's, and that I have owned since I rescued it when it was abandoned at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club in 1975 when I was 15 years old. They were very popular in Toronto in the 1950's, and 1960's, then fell out of favor when fiberglass boats became available. Fortunately my boat had been stored in doors for 5 years in a dinghy shed before I found it. However when I managed to track down the owner and purchase the boat, I remember seeing half a dozen other Fireflies being left outside to be destroyed by the elements at that time.

          My boat has been in storage for over 20 years, and is in pristine condition. I own three sets of sails for it (cotton & Dacron), as well as 3 centre boards. It is complete, original, and has not been modernized in any way."
           
            David Opheim's 1978 O'Day 27 "SlipAway" is shown tacking to the finish line for first place on corrected time in the OYC Rights of Spring race, Single-Handed Non-Spin Division on San Francisco Bay where there were reported sustained winds of 35-40 knots.
            David says: "I am on the leeward side, grinding in the jib during the tack. A wild but fun ride in the tall-short chop, and SlipAway beat all the other (and larger) boats to the windward mark, allowing only a 35 foot Erickson to finish in front. That was OK since I corrected out 8 minutes ahead of her."
             
              This photo shows O'Day 28 "Narayana", on its maiden voyage in September of 2004. Hardy Gillam, Rear Commodore of the Edenton Yacht Club, writes: "I am adult leader of Venturing Crew 156. We are the proud owners of an O'Day 28 shoal draft sailboat named the Narayana. We are currently racing in the Edenton Yacht Club races. The Crew's main focus is sailing, and is a co-ed group sponsored by the Edenton Yacht Club & St Anne's Catholic Church under the auspices of Boy Scouts of America. It is comprised of 4 adult leaders and approximately 9 boys and girls ages 14-21. We have been in existence since 2002, and also have restored a 78 McGregor Venture swing keel named the Barbwire & Roses."
               
                Steve Gleason sent in this picture of his 1977 O'Day 27, taken during the 2004 Figawi Race Weekend.

                Says Steve: "At first they weren't going to let us race our O'Day 27 because its PHRF rating was too high (231). They told me the limit was 221, and that it was too slow, so I sent them some old clippings that I found on the Internet on the O'Day 27. A few told about how Jim Hunt, the president of O'Day and an Olympic Gold medalist never lost a race in the O'Day 27, but they didn't want to hear it. I even tried to get Jim to sail with us as he is an old family friend, but he was not available. So I made the necessary changes and brought the rating down to get into the race. Not only did we finish sixth in our class of 15, we also finished 35th out of 103 overall.

                O'Day has been a part of my life for as long as long as I can remember. We moved to Freetown, MA, in 1972 when my father, Bernard Gleason started working for O'Day in Fall River, MA. He worked his way up the ladder, and was CFO, General Manager until around 1990. We would always have the newest O'Day every year, working up to the 27. Unfortunately our mother wasn't big on sailing with seven kids, so we stopped sailing around 1980. My brother Bob and I started sailing with a friend a few years ago and wished we had never stopped. When it came time to buy our own boat, there was no question it was going to be an O'Day. We now have two O'Days in the family, a 1977 27 and a 1980 28; both sail out of Fairhaven, MA."

                 
                  Doug Kilgore's 1968 Mariner, "The Windward Rail", is shown during an exhilirating sail last summer, on a beam reach and kicking up a wake.