New Blog 2: Daysailer

Daysailer

A daysailer, day sailer, or dayboat is a small sailboat with or without sleeping accommodations but which is larger than a dinghy. Dayboats can be monohull or multihull, and are typically trailer-able. Many dayboats have a small cabin or "cuddy" for storage and to provide shelter, or for sleeping in, but which is not always large enough to stand erect in. Dayboats' greater stability also distinguishes them from dinghies, and are generally sailed more like a small yacht than a dinghy. For example, although crew weight may well be shifted to increase performance, this is not crucial to stability, as it is in a dinghy. The distinction between keelboats and day sailers is not always clear; generally the former term indicates a large boat (over 27 feet (8.2m) and usually, though not always, not trailer-able) used for longer trips, whereas daysailers, as the name implies, are used for trips less than 48 hours, and often only a single day.The Day Sailer Association is an association for a specific type of daysailer, namely the Day Sailer designed by Uffa Fox and George O'Day in 1958.From 1957-1977 the O'Dav company built first the Day Sailer 1, and then the Day Sailer 2. With six builders since 1977, the deck mould has gone through changes, but in all that time, and roughly six thousand Day Sailers later, the original, classic, Uffa Fox planing hull has remained unchanged and intact.With fleets throughout the continental United States and Brazil, the Day Sailer Association is ranked eighth in membership (500) among centreboard boats in Sailing World's 1997 one-design survey.