Flip Top Sailing Cruiser

[A. Mason]

From the March 1970 issue of "Sailing" was a brief article describing the following:

"A radical 23-foot sloop, iwth an exclusive expanding cabin and cockpit enclosure has been developed by The O'Day Company of Fall River, MA ; [it] features a full masthead rig, long waterline and keel/centerboard profile as well as berths for five and headroom, which, when the cabin is raised, reaches almost six feet four inches. …

The exclusive rising cabin top is operated by a single winch mechanism located below deck. It raises the cabin 21-inches, giving 6'-4" headroom in the galley, dinette, and main companionway.

Special vinyl panels with portlights are attached to form weathertight walls filling the void between deck and cabin top.

In the cockpit area, an easily erected room-like structure can be set up to fully enclose the after area of the boat from cabin to transom.

Another feature of this flexible camper sailer is that the cabin top operates independently of the mast, so that live-aboard facilities are available even when the O'Day 23 is on a trailer and the mast is not stepped.

All patent rights have been reserved by The O'Day Company."

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Thought I'd post this for the benefit of those who are contemplating building a trailer sailer and are concerned about the lack of interior height.

O'Day concept was similar to trailer campers that are flat boxes while on the road but are raised up once at a campsite.

The line illustration accompanying the news item shows a sailboat that looks more like a powerboat.

Just a little food for thought… Anita

[Mike Field]

The traditional Broads cruisers in the UK had the same idea, but instead of lifting vertically they hinged at the forward end.

Broads boats were not intended for use in the open sea of course. I should think one would want to be very careful to ensure that the O'Day version was lock-down water-tight fool-proof before venturing off-shore.

Thanks, Anita.
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[Wild Dingo]

aaahhh so... we fin this all velly velly innerestink ;) ... more info is available please! :cool: yes yes glutton for punishment but hey thats just me! :D

[Mike Field]

Well, sorry for the quality (it's a movie still,) but here's a moored Broads cruiser with the poptop in action --

http://www.woodenboatfittings.com.au./public/teasel&titmouse.jpg

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And then here's the same boat, different occasion, top down, being sailed (by amateurs) --

http://www.woodenboatfittings.com.au./public/teasel2-s.jpg

Sorry I can't help with pictures of the O'Day version, but maybe Anita will be able to.
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[Wild Dingo]

By jove me old chap!!! :eek: ...Tis not too fowl a lookin bird I be thunkin ;) ... fairly sweet seeming lines and well for farnarkling around the esturaries and some small coastal crusin and muckin about for a weeks school hols just the go... eh wot?? :cool:

Tell one more about her if you will old boy... theres a good fellow... :D

Toodle pip and all that! tongue.gif :cool: :D
Shane

Apologies to John Kate Lulu and Doris for the dreadful flamin attempt at your lingo... but hey Im tryin!! :cool:

[ishmael]

Without seeing Anita's O'day, it is difficult to know, but I like Mike's concept. Full headroom isn't at all necessary, especially throughout the cabin. In fact, whilst nice on a liveaboard, full headroom is generally over-rated. Much more important is having a place to sit and lie down comfortably, IMO. With the galley aft, so as to be able to stick one's head out the companionway whilst cooking, and chatting over a boiling pot for tea, full headroom becomes a luxury.

There are many designs similar to what Mike has posted, which lift the cabin top at only its aft end.

[Wild Dingo]

Aye Jack headrooms over rated ...I love the thought of bustin me noggin getting around inside the boat :rolleyes: while recognising that many many designs dont have headroom in this size boat to have it both ways and be able to utilize it either way would make it something a bit special... no?... but then this one also has sweet lines does she not? :cool:

And well to be honest this is the first Ive seen that was designed this way and mate tis an interesting concept :cool:

Soooo Mike and Anita or anyone else that has more info front and centre if you please!! ;)

[Dave Hadfield]

My brother owns one. It's a marvellous idea. You get the simplicity and economy of a large daysailer, with the huge cabin of a large yacht.

We spent a week on it once in the Chesapeake. After anchoring you pulled some lock-pins, inserted a crank into a winch, turned it, and the cabin roof rose up quite a bit on 4 posts. Then you put the lock pins back in, unrolled the vinyl enclosure and snapped it into place.

It was dandy during wind and rain -- just north of us at the time was The Perfect Storm.

I also ended up with a MacGregor 26 classic (1990). This has the same idea, but instead of the entire roof, only that portion which is above the carpet in the cabin (the walking-around part) hinged up and forward and locked to the mast. This was simpler and lighter and didn't require a winch and cables.

Either method converts a dinghy little dark hole into a bright and spacious place to live. I'm surprised that the idea isn't used more often. It's quite possible to get the "roof" watertight, or as near as makes little difference.

[BradW]

I thought Catalina 22s and other pocket cruisers also had pop tops? We went for a daysail on one of the Norfolk Broads half-deckers out of Hunter's Yard and had good fun. They also have a neat shop where they were in the planking phase of building a new old-style Broads cruiser. They have a number of the old pop-top wooden cruisers for hire. From their site, here's a pic of the cruisers lined up at their dock, most with the lid up. All of these are engineless, and the "Broads" don't have too many broad waters in reality, so a decent eye for short-tacking is useful.
http://www.huntersyard.co.uk/images/hist3.jpg

Very cool. I'd like to go back for a few days knocking around the Broads.

[Wild Dingo]

Soooo okay info now fellas! plans availability? etc etc

[Sailing-Randy]

It seems to me the Meadowlark was a boat with such a top, but I can't find it on the web right now. I may surely be wrong as my memory resembles a rusted out collander... Can anyone else help out Shane?

[Matt Middleton]

Hey Shane Tony Dias has one called Sirena. It looks like it's smaller than the ones above.

http://www.diasdesign.com

http://www.diasdesign.com/images/sir.gif

http://www.diasdesign.com/images/sirB.jpg

Matt Middleton

[Wild Dingo]

Thanks Matt

Anita emailed me the pic she had of the "flip top cruiser" so Ive done the imagestation thing and here she be...

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid49/pa58cc0c6ff5c29f7b78eeb1799432ede/fcb44f98.jpg

I do like that Broads one though :rolleyes: ... truely interesting :cool:

[les]

I have been trying to get a little addition room in a boat I have been working on, and made part of the cabintop a pop-up. I put the pop-top over an elevated berth to increase the amount of useable interior space without giving up my cockpit space. A lot of compromises but I am starting construction on the boat. Any suggestions and recommendations would be appreciated. Geep 18 Tug (http://www.travelback.com/geep) The drawing on the site are not up to date as the boat now has a round stern, but I will update the site sometime next week. The stern will be constructed with the same ideas I used in a little one sheet boat I built. Origami One Sheet (http://www.travelback.com/origami)
Regards, Les