by SUNBIRD » Tue May 10, 2016 4:29 pm
Glad you liked that brochure scan, I have the brochures for most years of the DS II (except 1971, 80, 84) and some of the DS I years (I have 1964, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70) And 1886 and 87 for the DS III.
The Day Sailer III was basically the same as the Day Sailer II, but with more freeboard in the stern, an updated style to the cockpit (seats seem a bit deeper, that is wider from side to side) the molded-in ice box was eliminated, and the jib sheet tracks were moved up on top of the now lower coamings. The cuddy does not seal any batter than on the DS II, and the teak hatches are the same as for the DS II. From a "daysailing" point of view, the DS III was a better design than the DS II. The rudder had been changed on the DS II in 1983, using a non-class spec shape to the blade (why O'Day did that is unknown, because it strained an already bad relationship with the DSA) Again, from the standpoint of a daysailing owner like me, the deeper rudder might be a good thing, but it was wrong given that it did not match the clearly specified DSA Class measurements. That rudder was OK on the Non-class-legal DS III.
The increased freeboard in the stern was clearly an alteration of the hull, and thus obviously resulted in the DS III not being "one-design" with the DS I and DS II. I understand somewhat why O'DAY created the DS III, from a small boat marketing angle, the design was close to 30 years old and the new management at O'DAY probably wanted to "refresh" the design. However, if they had introduced this as a "new" 17' design, maybe called her the "O'DAY 17-II" (there was a previous O'DAY 17 in the 1960's that was basically a DS I without the cuddy, think of a larger JAVELIN) instead of the DS III, it might have worked as long as the DS II was still built, or if they worked with the DSA to find a new builder for the DS II, but since O'DAY had "burned" the DSA back In 1971 when they introduced the DS II without consulting the DSA...... they were not going to get away with it again! I think the fact that the DS III was not class-legal may have affected sales, but O'DAY was also on "shaky ground" financially by that time, after Bangor Punta sold the company to Lear-Siegler in around 1985, and then LS sold the company to a group of investers in about 1987 (financed by future sales?)..... By that time, O'DAY was no longer building the boats that built the company (daysailers under 20', except for the DS III) and the new designed were more Euro-style than the traditional O'DAYs before. O'DAY was "dying". It is too bad that some form of the DS III could not have been re-introduced without using the Day Sailer class name, as I say, maybe call her the O'DAY 17? But, at the time of the DS III production, the price was around $4,000 and there were other similar-size boats offering more features for the same price range (Capri 16 for one). When Pearson Yachts bought most of O'DAY at auction after the 1989 bankruptcy, the DS III was stil lin the line-up, but I don't think many if any were built. At the same time, Pearson (who was also on shaky $$$ ground) also bought the remnants of AMF Alcort and formed the PEARSON SMALL BOATS Division to build the Sunfish and other Alcort boats along with the LASER, the DS III temporarily moved the that division, but when Pearson Small Boats was sold off and became SUNFISH-LASER in 1991, the DS III faded away (I think that PSB tried to get the DSA to accept the boat as class-legal, but without major changes it could never be class-legal as a DAY SAILER (a fact I certainly do not dispute!). That was when SLI (Sunfish-Laser Inc) developed, with DSA help, the Day Sailer IV (aka current Day Sailer). that boat is what the DS II could have, and maybe should have been. The cuddy can be sealed tight to trap air for flotation ,and the cockpit is sealed to allow self-rescue if you capsize. This is the boat now built (since 1995) by Cape Cod Shipbuilding in Wareham, MA (my homeport!).
Still, for my use, I'd rather have my DS II or a DS III instead of the new DS IV...... but that doesn't mean that I do not thoroughly admire those new boats! I like all of the Day Sailer versions, but like the prices a lot better on the older used boats, rather than the $17K+ for a new recreational DS or $22K+ for the racing one! Right there is one BIG reason that small sailboats like the Day Sailer are rare on the new boat market. Builders can not compete against their ow nused boats, fiberglass doesn't rot away like wood did.
So, long story short (too LATE!) that is the basic history of the DS III from what I've heard. (Did you know that O'DAY was thus related to LEAR JET for a while?)
Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD"
1979 DS II, # 10201