Last week, in the fog and drizzle of one of the dreariest end-of-December days, while everybody in their right mind was staying put in the shelter and protection of their homes, I took my family to visit the battleship USS Massachusetts in Fall River. Not only that, I managed to convince them to indulge me in a side trip to one of the old O’Day Sailboats factories where ORION and so many other O’Day boats were constructed. (How smart am I?)
The O’Day Sailboats Corporation actually began building boats in 1958 at a plant located at 168 Stevens Street in Fall River, and they stayed there for nearly twelve years building literally thousands of boats. Day Sailers, Rhodes 19s, Tempests, International Tempests, Osprays, Javelins, Widgeons, Sprites, Seven-Elevens, Swifts, Super Swifts, Interclubs, Snarks, Ynglings, Outlaws, and Flying Saucers came pouring out of the Stevens Street doors, including all of the early-style Mariners and many of the mid-style Mariners.
Preparing the Rhodes 19 mold.
Attaching the deck to the hull.
Removing the finished hull from the mold.
Finishing assembly.
In 1966, O’Day was bought by the Bangor Punta Corporation conglomerate for $986,600 in stock, and at the tail end of 1969, they moved their entire operation about fifteen minutes away to 848 Airport Road where they had constructed a brand new, 164,487 square foot facility, touted in their 1970 sailboats catalog as “the most modern construction center in the industry.” It was here that ORION was built along with the rest of the mid-style Mariners and all the late-style Mariners up until Mariner production ceased in 1979. Many more thousands of boats were produced here including the O’Day 12, 15, 19, 192, and a vast range of other daysailers, weekenders, trailerable cruisers and offshore yachts and cruisers.
A picture from their 1974 O’Day Sailboats catalog in my collection.
Bangor Punta and, therefore, O’Day Sailboats was bought by Lear Siegler in 1984, and the uncertainty involved with this buyout, coupled with an economic downturn and a general slowdown of sailboat sales, put O’Day Sailboats on shaky ground. The death blow came when the company’s owners managed to have the corporation over-valued far beyond what the sales had ever been, and they became embroiled in lawsuits after the Bank and others - including the then-current President of O’Day, Lance Funston - essentially took the money from a backdoor leveraged buyout and ran. In April 1989, O’Day Sailboats finally declared bankruptcy after producing over 40,000 boats, an absolutely astounding figure.
Shortly after the Airport Road factory shuttered its doors and its inventory and property went to auction, the factory was bought by New England Ropes where it has remained ever since. In 2009, New England Ropes was acquired by Teufelberger Corporate, a $300+ million multinational rope manufacturer, and the property was further acquired in July, 2021 by FoxRock, a South Shore-based commercial real estate investment and development company. New England Ropes continues to use the 848 Airport Road facility as its main headquarters.
Although I had hoped to visit both the 168 Stevens Street site and the Airport Road factory while in Fall River, time was running short after my family’s trip to see the battleship, so I elected to go to Airport Road to see ORION’s “birthplace.” While the factory itself has changed considerably since O’Day left, the tall, narrow windows facing the street were instantly recognizable as I approached. My father, who accompanied me and my wife and son, remembered driving to the factory about once a month from Niantic, Connecticut to pick up deliveries of some of their smaller boats when he worked for the family’s marina, Bayreuther Boat Yard, as it was O’Day’s largest dealer in the area. Since it was closed, I wasn’t able to go inside, but I was happy to at least take some pictures of the enormous building and imagine the days of Mariner production when it was home to one of the most prolific boat builders in maritime history.
The roadside sign.
The view from across the street.
A view showing the length of the facility.
The main entrance was originally where the security light is now, on the right side of the picture.
A soggy day, but I’m happy to have made it here!