Oday Owner Reviews

Serving sailors online since 1997

Review of the Oday Javelin by Mic Healey

Year built	1967
Location of boat	Massachusetts
The boat is sailed on	Bays, sounds, or protected salt water
How the boat is used	Day sailing
Normal wind strength	16-22 knots
Average size of crew	solo
Liveaboard?	No
Owner bought the boat in	1997
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again?	Are you kidding? This thing is probably the fastest heavy hull 14' sailboat ever made!
Gear that's been added	Oh yeah, all sorts of redos and upgrades. New sails (with slugs and slug stop), new keel drop wire, new halyards, added topping lift. New rigging. Special bow stay fitting for easy connect. New cam cleat for main. New new new... total re-do! Rowing seat and oar locks! Bottom paint.Hike-Out stick is a must if you are light, sailing alone and want to plane like a rocket! Whooosh...Get some dry-bag for gear if you are camper-sailing... great boat for that if you can find a shore to camp on - without ticks! (Narragansett Bay Islands have a serious TICK PROBLEM. Be warned... wear high leather boots ashore... sleep in the boat! Personal experience.)
Structural or complex improvements	I have also added a nifty thwart seat across the centerboard trunk... and oar locks! 9' ash oars let you row her around looking like a viking in no breeze... quite the workout above 5 knots to try to row anywhere.. (with sails down of course.)At a mooring, I have sometimes set up a auto-bilge pump with a battery. The javelin does not have a self draining cockpit for rain, so you can address this, if you are going to leave her in with a battery and auto float built in... bilge pump.A tiller tamer is a nice add-on as well!
The boat's best features	Speed, and the ability to go to windward. You can get somewhere in this thing... and you do not need a motor! I sail on Mount Hope & Narragansett Bay. This bay has what we call "Heavy AIR"... which means each day it is "blow'in like a bastard" (local phrase) by 3pm. Most smart cruisers have another saying... "Off the bay by two". With a javelin... you can stay out until the wind dies... but by then, you could have eaten up the whole bay and be out in the open Atlantic - even when tacking out!You can easily get a Javelin ready by yourself, launch, etc. The fact that the mast hinges, really makes raising the mast by yourself easy! this is a super idea, especially for a day sailer with a high stick! I love it.
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc.	Not much! I think it is important to replace the centerboard cable, if you have not done it already. Also, it is important to make sure the swag for the cable does not improperly rub on the inside of the centerboard trunk... or it could saw through it and allow water into the boat.
Sailing characterisitcs	It's a bloody sailing rocket. With 125 sq. ft. of sail.. she blows past most everything under 30'. Points better to windward than any vessel I have ever captained. Stable... can even be sailed in 30 knots of wind via the jib alone... (main was down with the sail cover over it when I did this.) Great in light wind too. I would NOT say she is the greatest boat for a beginner... at least where I sail. You could dump her if you did not know EXACTLY what you were doing... and its a lot of boat to flip! - Probably tough to right... I have not tried it. Also, she is pretty heavy for her size. Splits most waves of the smaller variety. An outstanding sailing experience you will remember! Once you get her on plane on a downwind leg... you'll have the biggest grin on your face that you'll even get with wind and waves!So much fun to torture Catalina 22 or West Wight Potter owners! Literally sails circles around them!
Motoring characterisitcs	Needs a lightweight motor. I used a 2.5 tohatsu on it with a 15" shaft... Even that was pretty heavy for the stern... Much better and faster with no engine under sail (or take it off the stern and store it in the cockpit next to the centerboard trunk - not easy to do). I would think about using one of those tiny 2.0 hp Hondas (28#) or the lightest little 2 stroke you could find. (Usually I just bring the oars... since the boat ghosts so well in even the lighest puffs... I have never seriously been becalmed for long! If you put a lighter 5 hp on her, like a Nissan (37#), she's be stern heavy... but I bet she'd plane off at plus 10 knots.
Liveability	The cockpit on the Jav is huge - like 10 feet. But, of course, it is a working place - forward area has your jib lines, centerboard line... you go forward to raise and lower the sails. Nice how you can put up all your sails without getting on the foredeck! In a big rain, I can actually get under cover in the forward cuddy... crunched up, its not at all comfortable. You could sleep laying flat on a javelin if you made a folding seat bed... to get some width. Then, put up a tent fly, and perhaps she would be find (in a no-bugs location). The best head for your "liveability" is a little bucket with a lid... Thow a small lightweight white tarp over your head for privacy...
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any)	[builder]
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any	Bought from a private party.
Other comments	Why not visit my website and have a look at "Pelican", my Javelin 14. Here is the url:http://www.planetmic.com/orbit/sailing.htm

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