# O'Day Tempest 23



## brett4733 (Sep 29, 2016)

Been around boats since I was a kid on a Sunfish, but its been a few years. Just took over ownership of a pretty little 1967 O'Day Tempest 23 on the Northern Neck of the Chesapeake. She has some rough edges, but so do I, and I am looking forward to getting her out and about. Would love to hear from others with experience on these boats, as I have not found a ton (what I do see seems to be quite glowing). And I am sure I will have a question or few as things move along. 

Cheers and fair winds,
Brett


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## mstern (May 26, 2002)

Congratulations, the Tempest is a great boat. I have always thought it to be a beautiful design; in many ways, it presaged the current crop of retro-looking daysailers like the Alerion and Morris. I thought about buying one many years ago, but could only find two examples: one was in such bad shape it wasn't even worth considering. The deck was rotting from the inside out, and so much water had gotten into the cabin that every piece of interior wood was either completely or mostly rotted away. The second boat looked better, but there was an inch of water on the cabin sole while it was on the hard!

Anyway, your boat is fifty years old, and I'm assuming you've checked and are dealing with the regular age-related issues (deck delamination, deck fixtures rebidding, new rigging, etc). In addition, there are a couple of other things I would address: the original Oday design had a rotating boom reefing system. I'd install a more conventional slab reefing system. Also, how is the outboard mounted now? The original design had a space in the lazarette to "permanently" mount an outboard out of sight. There are some pros to this configuration: the outboard is always in place, and you don't have an outboard hanging off the back of the boat spoiling those beautiful Philip Rhodes lines. The cons: the outboard is always in the water, creating drag. You also have to apply anti-fouling paint to the lower unit of the outboard, something that can be difficult to do and to maintain. And if the outboard is currently mounted in the lazarette and you want to move it to the transom, you will have to plug the big hole in the hull. Oday made a plug just for this, but since they are long out of business, I think you have two options: make a plug yourself/ permanently close the opening; or call Rudy at D&R Marine drmarine.com to see if he can help. Rudy used to work at Oday and has the molds for many of the old models. 

Congrats again. Great boat.


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## brett4733 (Sep 29, 2016)

She really is a beauty, at least if you squint your eyes. As I mentioned, there is work to do; however, she is in nice enough shape to enjoy her for the delicious fall sailing season on the Chesapeake before I spend the dreary months tackling a few pressing needs. 

Thank you mstern for the pointers. I am sure I will be relying heavily on this resource when it comes time to start getting into the nooks and crannies. 

I was contemplating the outboard issue. The PO left a really nice outboard in the well too long, and its almost a coral reef now. Was thinking how convenient it would be to have it on the transom, also opening up more storage in a sealed lazarette. 

Does anyone have a preference one way or another? Is there a difference in handling under power? A hundred years ago I had a Columbia 22 with an outboard in a cockpit well forward of the rudder, and she was a dream to maneuver with the kicker. You could turn her on a bottle top. In the Tempest, the outboard is aft of the rudder anyway, so I am not sure it will affect things if I moved it. 

With that said, I would hate to have a hiccup in those lines for the sake of a bit of maintenance. 

Appreciate any feedback. 

Cheers and fair winds,
Brett


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