1959 "Marscott" Daysailer Proto?

[VIDEOEDDIE]

I have a 1959 boat that looks like a centerboard Daysailer 17 but I was told that it was a "Marscott when I bought it. When exactly did Cape Cod SHip Building take over from Marscott Plastics? Anyone know?

[jpclowes]

My understanding is that Marscott built the "O'Day" boats until about 1960-something. Then O'Day started building their own. If I'm correct, the boat is officially a DS.

Beautiful looking boat!

[jeadstx]

Early O'Day boats were built by Marscott. I have a small catboat the was built by the Beetle Boat Company which was bought by Marscott in the mid 1950's. The little catboat has the same centerboard lever as the DS1's. It also has an outboard mount that was used on early O'Day boats.

John

[VIDEOEDDIE]

My understanding is that Marscott built the "O'Day" boats until about 1960-something. Then O'Day started building their own. If I'm correct, the boat is officially a DS.

Beautiful looking boat!

Thanks. Sails were made by Ullman sails in Ventura ca. The mast is something we found at the boat junk yard and is 24 ft long. We didn't know what we were doing at thee time. We reduced the weight of the mast by drilling spaced disks along the length above deck. Then we added an extension on back for an aft stay.

Thing is fast with oversized sails but plenty stable since the hull is about an inch thick. I guess they didn't trust fiberglass back then.

[navahoIII]

That's right, back in the fifties when fiberglass was new they had no idea how durable it was so they 'laid it on thick'. Our DS is a '61 and it, too, is thick. Fifty plus years later she's still going strong! I wonder if the old bare hulls weigh more than the new ones...they must!

By the way, adding a backstay to the DS is not common. Usually it's just a forestay and two sidestays (led a bit aft).

I agree that yours is a nice looking boat.

[VIDEOEDDIE]

The aft stay was used because we figured the sails were a bit oversized not having information on the boat at the time. It was made from two glassed in fiberglass poles that were sanded, painted and attached to the hull. A small stainless steel wire also helps to reinforce this. Here is a better pic to see how it was done.



Yes, the dang thing is heavy. It's our only savior with the over sized sails. And Yes, that rope in the back corner is for a spinnaker that matches the paint job.

The Pacifico wasn't being properly deployed in this picture in Ventura Harbor but rest assured, it was properly utilized after we get past the breakwater. Nice sunny weekend three weeks ago.

[jeadstx]

It's hard for me to think how your main would be much bigger than a standard DS main sail, unless your mast or boom are longer than standard.

John

[navahoIII]

Isn't the DS main 100 sq ft? What is it on yours?

[VIDEOEDDIE]

If you look at the first pic, you can see that the boom is too low. Also the boom is at an angle in the first pic, but you can see it extends to the back of the boat in the second pic. This mast and boom is what we had on the boat when the sails were made so the mainsail ended up bigger than it should be. The mast is longer than the boat above deck. I guess I could use a ruler on the computer screen to calculate the mailsail area if I tried since I know the boat is 17ft long ? I'm calculating 30 to 50% larger than normal.

[GreenLake]

Interesting rig.

A keel stepped mast on a DS is about 24-25' long, so yours seems to be in range, unless you stepped yours on the deck. The stock boom is about 10' long and the sail has a bit of positive roach. With a backstay, I would expect your leech to be ore of a straight line, although I do see three battens in your sail. Lowering the boom by even a foot would, of course, disproportionately add to the sail area. Backstay or not, with 30% or 50% extra area in the mainsail I would expect you to be overpowered rather soon. I can't imagine the weight difference to later DSs to have been significant, and class rules do prescribe a minimum weight that is quite a bit higher than truly modern designs would have at that size.

I see that your roller-furled jib is a masthead jib, not a fractional one. That must add significant sail area. Are you able to get neutral/weather helm with these sails?

Also, I'd be curious at what wind speeds you need to furl the jib or otherwise dump power.

[jeadstx]

I noticed that the mast does not appear to have spreaders, or I just can't see them in the picture. The boom should be 10'-4" long.

John

[VIDEOEDDIE]

Neutral Weather Helm?

I'm not much of a sailor, electronics guy. But from what I can tell by looking up the term, Yes I think so. Check out the second photo. The rudder is straight. But I guess I thought the sails were oversized and maybe not by so much ? I was calculating from the screen photo and known boat length.

The Jib got put on the roller furler because we saw a small used one at the marine store and thought it was cool.

I think it is quickly over powered in any real wind because we roll that jib in pretty quick if the wind picks up. We have been out in some pretty rough stuff in this boat without any problems though.

"leech to be ore of a straight line" ??? I can't figure that one out.

[VIDEOEDDIE]

I noticed that the mast does not appear to have spreaders, or I just can't see them in the picture. The boom should be 10'-4" long.

John

No, no spreaders. that does limit the swing on the mainsail a bit but it's no problem. The Aft stay is likely a good idea?

[jeadstx]

Since the Day Sailer is a one design boat, I would suspect that when your boat was built it was rigged the same way that other DS1's were rigged, with the fractional rig on the headstay and with the spreaders and the jumper stays on the upper part of the mast. I think most boats that had jumper stays have removed them. It originally would not have had a backstay. I've added a topping lift on my boat to keep the boom up when not sailing.

John

[GreenLake]

John,

he got a mast from some other boat. Hence the unconventional setup. Seems to work, so why not.