Sailing a Javelin on the Bay

[corc631]

Hello: Just picked up a 1983 O'Day Javelin. Going to put it in before my Flying Scot and see how she sails. I used to have a 17ft Sailstar Explorer that was a lot of fun. I sail on The Great South Bay on the South Shore of Long Island. 3 of my 4 kids sail so this may be a fun next step for them. I love the self bailing aspect! Any thoughts on how they sail on a windy day or in a chop? They seem easy enough to reef.

-- jack

 

[Joe11688]

I owned an older O'Day Javelin years ago and it was a great boat in rough waters. The centerboards on these boats are 49 lbs. I sailed it in Narragansett Bay near Bristol RI even in the winter months.
Here's a good site with some useful info on the Javelin:
http://www.odayjavelin.com/index.html
I found this site on the I love O'Days site which is another great site with useful info.
http://www.iheartodays.com/model_javelin.html
Have fun sailing this boat. I think you're going to like it. I know I did.
Joe

 

[TAK]

My first couple of years after high school, I was the "off season" caretaker for a Javelin from a Northern Wis scout camp. In the late Spring, late Summer and early Fall we were able to sail it a good bit on Lake Michigan. That was a long time ago but the boat took the waves and chop real well because of the high bow. Not the fastest thing on the water but it was a good boat to start with. Lots of friends, sisters, and dad had great time on the boat.

The camp was on a good lake but too small for the sailboat so in the summer it was kept moored at a bar/resort on a close by lake. We became very proficient in taking the mast down to go under the bridge between Lower and Upper Post Lake where the lake was much wider and better wind. We never flipped completely but I recall taking on a bit of water a couple of times. Good safe boat, your kids will love it. Have fun!