Info on the O'Day Outlaw??

NewburyportWags · #1 (**permalink**) 03-19-2007

I am looking into buying a 1969 O'Day Outlaw, but have had a really hard time finding much info online. Has anyone had any experience with the Outlaw that they would care to share? I am looking for anything from basic specs to personal experiences (good and bad) to known issues that I should be aware of. Thanks.

-Mark

schwech · #2 (**permalink**) 04-02-2007

I have a outlaw and I have a friend who also has one. They are great boats that handle well and are surprizingly fast. We also both had the same problem with water in the aft compartments. In the storage area under the seats. He would find quite a bit of water after a sail and I found it all the time. I moored my boat in rougher conditions so it might of splashed in from the motor well. We also think the water may come in through the rudder post but never quite fiqured it out. The next biggest problem is the motor well. Any outboard you put in the get splashed constintly. My outboard age 10 years in one summer. It's a pain to put it in and take it out and it is a tight fit. The largest outboard I could squeeze in at the time I bought the boat was a 5 hp. A little underpowered fo a boat that size. I love the boat but I would try to put a mount off the transom for your outboard.

Scurvysailor · #3 (**permalink**) 12-19-2008

Kick down with more reports about your incredible Outlaw. I want one so bad I may end up moving to the east coast from California. MORE! MORE!

Scurvysailor · #4 (**permalink**) 12-24-2008

Every known picture on the internet of the Outlaw are now posted in "The Outlaw Files" photo file on the Oday Owners Yahoo Group.

We're looking for MORE pictures, MORE information, and MORE OUTLAW enthusiasts! So head on over there and post YOUR pictures in "The Outlaw Files"!

More than that, WE NEED AN OUTLAW WEBSITE! Anyone enthusiastic AND web savvy enough to want to spearhead that? Come on over to the Oday Owners Yahoo Group or contact me directly.

I'm still actively looking to buy an OUTLAW on the west coast... that, assuming there is even one over here. Any leads of a west coast OUTLAW, please, please contact me. Almost any condition is ok. As well, if you own one over on the east coast, I might be coerced into building a trailer out there and towing one back. Let me know one way or another, but I'm NOT rich, so a derelict example is likely all I'll be able to afford.

Thanks, Brian
707 477-7740

Taslawmed · #5 (**permalink**) 12-27-2009

I have a 69 outlaw and I have not had any of the difficulties mentioned by others. i have had no water in the after compartments and, indeed, no water anywhere -- not even after the boat sits in the water all winter (uncovered). I check on it once every two weeks, start the outboard, open the cabin (empty the cockpit of snow if there is any) and it's always ready to sail in the Spring.

Regarding the outboard and well: I have a 9.9 hp with 25" shaft in the well. When I first acquired the boat (in 1994), I saw that the shaft of an outboard that size would not fit through the bottom of the well and could not, therefore, be used. I had the opening widened (for about $600 as I recall) and the motor now easily fits in the well. I don't experience much splashing except when the wind is 20 knots or more. Even then, the engine always starts; the water doesn't "bother" it.

As others have said, the boat sails very well and I have an easy time handling it alone (although some say that's never a good idea). Its large cockpit makes it comfortable, even, with seven adults on board. (The reciprocal "downside" is that the cabin does not offer standing room; an adult must always "scrunch" over when in the cabin). The other disadvantage is that the boat (mine anyway) does not have an enclosed head. Rather, as in smaller boats, the head sits under the forward V-birth, facing aft. One can "enclose" it, however, by simply closing the cabin and for those not too attached to the privacies of land-life, that does provide, in its way, an enclosed head. (I've not yet met the woman, however, who is willing to use the head, even with the cabin closed. Men and children are a little less demanding in that regard.)

Now I have a question: Does anyone know anything about installing an inboard engine in the outlaw? I know that the boat, when new, offered an optional inboard. I hate outboards (even though they've generally served me pretty well). Moreover, I deplore carrying gasoline aboard a boat. I've been doing it for forty years and it always gives me the "willies."

Any information or thoughts that anyone has on the installation of a diesel outboard in an outlaw would be welcome.

Sincerely,

TAS

Taslawmed · #6 (**permalink**) 01-17-2010

Hi;

If you're still looking for an Outlaw, I have a 1969 Outlaw for sale. It is in oldish but good condition. The wood needs sanding and varnishing.

It carries a 9.9 Evinrude in its outboard well electric start, with key, throttle, and shift controls in the cockpit.

phone: 631-630-6274

nogin · #7 (**permalink**) 04-23-2010

I am considering grabbing a 1968 Outlaw that is in shambles and rebuild her. She is actually #2 behind a very nice '74 Seafarer 24 that I am 2nd in line for. this Outlaw has been very neglected and allowed inches worth of standing water to sit in the salon. Needless-to-say, she is in very bad shape but something about her style draws me to her!

BTW - The above mentioned Outlaw is no longer for sale. Taslawmed decided to keep her!!

calden · #8 (**permalink**) 05-22-2010

Hey all:

I'm in the market for boat and have been perusing Craigslist ads within 5 hours drive of me. Found this in Seattle, and while looking up info on it saw that a couple of you guys are drooling quite heavily. If anyone reading this is still jonesing for an Outlaw there's one available...

1965 O'day outlaw sailboat

Carlos

sonosail · #9 (**permalink**) 08-09-2010

If you don't have these pictures, you are welcome to use them.
OUTLAW 26 (O'DAY ) Sailboat details on sailboatdata.com

Bizzyrne · #10 (**permalink**) 03-10-2011

Just FYI, I own the 1965 outlaw in Seattle. Im still looking to sell it, but its not really a great market for selling sailboats.

I also have water collecting in the compartment under the outboard well. I put in two access hatches to let it breathe when it wasn't in use, but that didn't solve it. Now I've drilled a hole in the bulkhead in the very bottom to allow the water in that compartment to drain out into the compartment under the **** pit. Once it drys out, Im going to pour in some epoxy to make sure all the nooks and crannys are filled in so water will stop collecting back there. If I dont do anything about it, I'll have to replace that bulkhead. Something I dont want to do.