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Day Sailer III Numbers and Racing

PostPosted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:36 pm
by Signalcharlie
Howdy

Does anyone know how many Day Sailer IIIs were made, and if they race as their own class?

Thanks
Kent

Re: Day Sailer III Numbers and Racing

PostPosted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 6:22 pm
by GreenLake
All I know is that the DSIII is not class-legal from the perspective of the DSA. As far as I know, there's no organization that has defined the DSIII as its own class.

That said, there are many local races that are held under rules that allow some flexibility on what boats can attend. On some level, I tend to prefer those kinds of races, even the extreme "no handicap" form of them. Even if its the same boats of faster constructions that win the races each time, I still get to have a course, a set time, and can have a private race with someone in a similar boat.

And I save myself the hassle of getting my boat measured, or having to make changes because something is nominally out of measurement.

I've seen a number of other DSs around the country, but haven't yet personally encountered a DSIII. So I suspect that the numbers are low. According to the hull number index they were built for about six years from 1985 to 1990, while all the other models have been in production (altogether) for 60 years (and for some years both DS1 and DSII were in production simultaneously). Now, the build-rates were surely variable over the entire period and somehow I don't think those 6 years for the DSIII represented peak production.

Therefore, any estimate below 10% of total, perhaps even 5% or less would be a good estimate. From the number of forum postings, the percentage would seem lower, but DSIII owners may not have always felt welcome here.

DSIIIs may have appealed (or been marketed to) people primarily interested in cruising and daysailing, which could further explain why nobody lobbied to set up a separate class for them.

Some races for multiple boat classes will admit groups of like boats as their own class for a particular event, with a minimum number of usually five, sometimes three. So there may be opportunities for you to race a DSIII in a limited way (limited in that nobody would put on a regional or national championship).

Perhaps some other members here may know something more definite.

Re: Day Sailer III Numbers and Racing

PostPosted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 6:32 pm
by Signalcharlie
Thanks for the thoughts GL. We are working on an article for Small Boats 2020 and wanted to see if we could find the answers, to go along with the information on the DS I and II.

Re: Day Sailer III Numbers and Racing

PostPosted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 9:43 pm
by GreenLake
So, it's a "historic" question. I think I'll move it to the History section then.