At 25.7 feet overall, with a 21.58-foot waterline, she’s a compact monohull closely related to the O’Day 25. The two boats are difficult to tell apart at a glance, but the 26 combines practical accommodations with a shoal-draft centerboard arrangement intended for both coastal cruising and transport by road.
Design and Construction
The O’Day 26 is a recreational keelboat built primarily of fiberglass with wood trim. Its hull is solid fiberglass rather than a cored laminate. The profile includes a raked stem and reverse transom.
Below the waterline, a fixed stub keel houses a retractable centerboard. With the board raised, draft is 2.5 feet; lowering it increases draft to 6 feet. This gives the boat access to shallow water while providing additional draft under sail. Steering is by tiller through a transom-hung rudder.
The boat displaces 4,800 pounds and carries 1,850 pounds of lead ballast. Its ballast-displacement ratio is about 38.5 percent, placing it firmly in the cruiser camp rather than the lightweight-racer category. A calculated hull speed of 6.22 knots likewise points toward coastal cruising rather than outright speed.
Rig, Performance, and Handling
The O’Day 26 has a Bermuda rig with a masthead sloop sailplan. Its 33.67-foot mast carries 278 square feet of sail, producing a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 15.63. That’s enough sail to keep the boat moving in a breeze without leaving it overcanvased for short-handed cruising.
Its PHRF racing average handicap is 234, which places it among the slower-rated club-racing designs. Even so, Steve Henkel observed that the boat probably has a little more speed than its competitors. That assessment is consistent with its waterline, which is eleven inches longer than that of the closely related O’Day 25. The longer waterline, paired with the centerboard planing ability, is the likely source of the slight advantage Henkel noted, rather than any dramatic difference in the rig.
Accommodations
The interior sleeps five. There’s a double V-berth forward, two straight settee berths in the main cabin, and a single berth tucked beneath the cockpit. Headroom is 5 feet 6 inches.
The cabin and cockpit layouts are almost identical to those of the O’Day 25. An L-shaped galley sits to starboard beside the companionway ladder and includes a two-burner stove, an ice box, and a sink. The head is just aft of the bow cabin. It’s a compact but conventional arrangement for a boat of this length.
Power and Trailering
Buyers could choose either inboard or outboard power, allowing the boat to suit permanent mooring or occasional trailering.
The builder said the design was intended to maximize the concept of a boat suitable for coastwise ocean sailing while also being transportable over the road by a pleasure vehicle without special size permits. Its 6,900-pound trailering weight, however, invites some skepticism about that goal. Moving it by road requires a specially equipped SUV with extra engine power.
Verdict
The O’Day 26 packages C. Raymond Hunt and Associates’ pragmatic coastal-cruising design into a trailerable boat with genuine five-berth accommodations. Its stub keel and retractable centerboard expand the shallow waters in which it can gunkhole, while the choice of inboard or outboard power accommodates different styles of ownership.
The drawbacks are straightforward. Only 85 were built, so the boat can be difficult to find on the used market. Its close resemblance to the O’Day 25 also makes the two models easy to confuse, and its substantial trailering weight limits the practicality of regular road transport.
Pros
- Retractable centerboard provides a 2.5-foot shoal draft and a 6-foot draft with the board down under sail
- Five berths, an L-shaped galley, and 5 feet 6 inches of headroom in a 25.7-foot hull
- Choice of inboard or outboard power for moored or trailered use
- Slightly longer waterline than the O’Day 25 likely aids speed
Cons
- Only 85 boats built from 1983 through 1985; scarce and easily confused with the O’Day 25
- A 6,900-pound trailering weight works against easy over-the-road transport
- A PHRF handicap of 234 makes it a slow club racer, if racing is the goal
