Re: [Cal_Boats] CAL 33-2 and O'DAY 322

Donald Dutton2007-11-16 20:09 UTC

Rod, Actually, I went to a boat show in New Jersey where a dealer was showing a new O'Day 322. The boat was exactly identical to my Cal 33, except that the cabinetry in the interior was no longer teak and the hatch cover was modified so that the mainsheet and halyards all ran underneath the hatch cover rather than alongside it. Also, the gunnels were no longer teak, but Lear Siegler had made that change much earlier (I think in 1988.) The port placements and size were the same, the hatch placements were identical, the cockpit was the exact same including the angled seats and the second cutout for spinnaker winches and the hull, Scheel keel, and post rudder were the same (I've personally sanded the bottom of my boat over six times and know it quite well!!) Even the rounded galley sink enclosure that I love so much on my Cal 33 was the same on the 322 and the engine access and stair placement on the engine cover were identical. The chart table had been turned so that you sat in the quarterberth and faced forward when working at the chart table as opposed to the outward facing table that I have. I have found the chart table facing outward toward the starboard side to be extremely useful when in heavy seas on a cruise and much prefer the original Cal design. I also saw the O'Day 290 at that show and it was definitely made from the Cal 28 molds, as I had a good friend in Houston who owned a Cal 28 and sailed with him many times on Galveston Bay. Unfortunately, I did not save a brochure from that boatshow and cannot remember exactly what year it was, so I won't speculate. (I moved to New Jersey in 1992 from Houston.) But that O'Day 322 at that boat show was definitely built from the molds for the Hunt Brothers designed Cal 33, of that I am certain. I was actually very excited that someone was still building our boat. There was also a dealer that carried these boats off of the Route 50 bridge on the eastern shore of Maryland. He did not have any in stock, but had brochures. We were keeping our boat at a marina just north of the Route 50 bridge on the eastern shore and his dealership was just south of the bridge. Your information is excellent and of great interest to me as a Cal 33 owner. I have placed a call to Rudy in Mass. and am hoping that he will be able to help with the bracket that I need for the Yanmar KM3A transmission that came with my boat. Unfortunately, he was out for a bit, but I will try him again later. Should I be able to dig up any more accurate information on when I saw that O'Day 322, I will post it for you and see how it fits your knowledge of this subject. Thanks, Don Dutton From: Rodney G Johnson <rj… [at] juno.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, November 16, 2007 11:23:08 AM Subject: [Cal_Boats] CAL 33-2 and O'DAY 322 I wrote earlier in response to a posting that mentioned that the CAL 33-2 molds had been later modified to be come the O'DAY 322, as I said, that was not the case. However, after posting that it occured to me that I knew why someone would think that. Right idea, wrong boat! I did not figure it out at the time when the design was introduced (1990), but the O'DAY 290 bears a striking resemblance to the C.R. Hunt associates Designed CAL 28 (CAL 28-2), I remember now that a few years ago when D&R Marine posted pictures of the O'DAY 290 on their website, several listees on the SailNet CAL-List noticed the similarities to the CAL 28. That may be where the idea about the 33 becoming the O'DAY 322 came from? Rod Johnson, "NODROG" 1970 CAL 21 #285