“Sailing and boats have been a great way of life. Not easy and not very remunerative, but very rewarding. I have friends from Israel to Alaska, and Norway to Australia. I have sailed with kings and princes, communists and industrialists, tycoons and sailing bums, and down to the last man, they are all great people.
The sea is the great equalizer. The challenge of the wind, water, and the elements seems to bring men closer and more equal than at any other time in their lives. Ashore they are different, but at sea they have to depend on each other.”
– George O’Day – quoted in Good Old Boat magazine (1986)
(O’Day is one of the forgotten figures of American sailing. He won gold in the 5.5 meters at the Rome Olympics and was world champion twelve times in various classes. In the 1962 America’s Cup he was reserve helmsman on Weatherly. O’Day wrote a number of books on sailing and his O’Day Boats Company pioneered the design and production of a huge range of innovative day-sailers and small yachts in fiberglass.)
