O'Day Sailboats is a popular and widely respected name in the yachting world that has been around for half a century. George O'Day designed his first sailboat in 1956 and over the next 50 years or so, the company built many different sizes and designs from 12' to 40'. Production of the O'Day 23, our boat, started in 1972 and continued for about 13 years until the mid 80's. In all, about 1,700 O'Day 23's were built, and are highly prized by their owners worldwide, especially the 1980's models. Here's an original brochure from the 70's.

The O'Day 23 LOA is 22'9" with an 8' beam... the boat is roomy and comfortable. It handles particularly well and is exceptionally stable with a 1200 pound shoal draft keel which draws about 2'3", and as such is easily trailerable. It also features a retractable fiberglass centerboard for a total draft of 5'4" in the down position, providing enhanced upwind performance.

On April 26, 2010, we had the golden opportunity to acquire a 1982 O'Day 23, the perfect sailboat for our Texas lifestyle, and which we have named the Angelina. It is in absolutely superb condition for a 25 year old boat... a true classic. This builds out our fleet with a fitting sailboat in Texas to compare with our lovely Catalina 22, the Anne Marie, in Oregon. A high performance mid range trailer cruiser, the Angelina came fitted with multiple sails, as well as a 4 hp Evinrude outboard which propels the boat along nicely at up to 5 kts in and out of the marina. It will be berthed this summer (2010) at Canyon Lake Marina in Central Texas' Hill Country.

This gorgeous boat came with a long list of options and was meticulously maintained by the former owner. I had taken a slip in the Canyon Lake Marina for the spring months with my little Precision 165. I had been admiring the boat in the neighboring slip for several weeks, the attention to detail and beauty of the boat had captivated me. So imagine my glee when it turned up one day with a 'for sale' sign... I jumped on it. A dream come true! Sold my Precision two days later to the first person who looked at it!

I spent the next couple weeks sailing my new dream boat as often as possible, and the rest of the time detailing the boat. Buffing, polishing and waxing restored the topside to a creamy high gloss finish. Within two weeks everyone walking down the dock felt compelled to comment. The owner of a beautiful almost new Seaward 26 across the way commented that the Angelina was the nicest looking boat in the marina... not really accurate perhaps, but a nice compliment nonetheless. Other tweaks added since purchase include a roller furling 135 genoa jib sail from Banks Sails in Portland, OR, a solar powered cabin exhaust fan, and a new compass to replace the old weathered one... with more to come! When I am finished, people will be wondering if O'Day has started building new 23's again!

The cabin of the O'Day 23 is comfortable and spacious while still leaving a generous 6' 4" long cockpit area with lots of storage aft underneath the benches. The area below decks is roomy enough for a full v-berth area forward as well as a central cabin area with dual facing convertible settees; the port side one slides out to a generous twin bed width. The cabin features a folding dining or chart table, and a separate compartment for the portapotti. Click on the photo at the right for an enlarged photo of the cabin.

As a windsurfer for 25 years and a sailor for most of my life, I have long held the sentiment that the wind is the "breath of God", and for me, there is no more spiritually satisfying place to be than at one with the wind. In support of this, it is well documented that the ancient languages, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, all used the same word for wind, for breath, and for soul. My wife shares this sentiment and as we begin what is sure to be a long love affair with this fine vessel, the Angelina should provide a great way to enjoy the wonderful Central Texas weather.

Sunset at Canyon Lake... doesn't get much better than this! Click on the image at the right to see an enlarged photo. Here are more sailing pics from Canyon Lake. And here are some sailing photos with friends.  And here's an exciting action video of regatta sailing in Texas.