The O'Day 25 is an American trailerable

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

that was designed by C.R. Hunt & Associates.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 300.

International Marine S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

, 2010.

Production

The boat was built by

O'Day Corp. O'Day Corp. was a United States, America sailboat builder, located in Fall River, Massachusetts. History It was founded in 1958 by George O'Day, the American Olympic and World champion sailor. George O'Day sold the company to Bangor Punta Corpor ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with 2,898 completed between 1975 and 1984, when production ended. It was one of the company's most successful designs.

Design

The O'Day 25 is a small recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open wat ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

, with wood trim. It has a

masthead sloop A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast. The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig has larger and more headsails, a ...

rig, a transom-hung

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

and a fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

or centerboard. It displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel, while the centerboard-equipped version has a draft of with the centerboard down and with the centerboard up. The boat is usually fitted with a small

outboard motor An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method ...

, but a

Universal Atomic 4 The Universal Atomic 4 is a four-cylinder, gasoline engine produced by the Universal Motor Company between 1949 and 1984 for use as auxiliary power on sailboats. Both and versions of the engine were produced. Over 40,000 of the engines were pro ...

and later a Japanese

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, Heavy equipment, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasu ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

were available factory options. The design has a

PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages ...

racing average handicap of 234 and a

hull speed Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to-tro ...

of .

Variants

;O'Day 25 :Base model with a fixed fin keel with a draft of and standard height rig. ;O'Day 25 CB :Model with swing centerboard with a draft of . The majority of the production run was CB models. ;O'Day 25 CB TM :Model with swing centerboard with a draft of and a taller mast by about .

Operational history

In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "the O'Day 25 ... came in two variations: the keel-centerboarder ... and a deep fin keel version with 4' 6" draft, 20 square feet more sail area, two-foot higher mast, and 50 pounds less ballast. Outboard power on a stern bracket (or a small Atomic 2 gasoline engine of 7 hp) was the choice at one point; then diesels came in. Production of both types of O'Day 25s together totaled over 2,800 between 1975 and 1983, right at the peak of the Golden Age of sailboat sales in this size range. Best features: Here is a nice-looking, good (though not superb) quality boat, with plenty of owners with whom to fraternize if you like to socialize ... Worst features: The galley seems a bit skimpy to us ..."

References

External links