Description
The O'Day Javelin, also known as the Javelin 14, is an American-built fiberglass daysailer and one-design racer designed by legendary British naval architect Uffa Fox and first produced in 1960 by O'Day Corp. in Fall River, Massachusetts, as a lightweight, trailerable evolution of Fox's planing dinghy concepts—emphasizing exhilarating speed, responsive handling in light to moderate winds, and simplicity for beginners, families, or club racers on protected bays or lakes with its centerboard configuration enabling easy beaching and portability. Featuring a fractional sloop rig with aluminum spars, it displaces just 475 pounds with 49 pounds of ballast in a swing keel (or centerboard variant), measures 14 feet LOA, 13.17 feet LWL, 5.67 feet beam, and drafts 0.5 feet board-up to 3.83 feet board-down, achieving a hull speed of about 5.3 knots and 125 square feet of sail area under a Bermuda setup powered optionally by a small outboard (2-3 HP) for auxiliary propulsion. Renowned for its buoyant hard-chine hull enabling planing thrills, expansive nearly 10-foot self-bailing cockpit with contoured seats for up to six, minimalistic open design without a cabin for pure daysailing focus, and contoured wood trim accents, the O'Day Javelin was produced through 1989 with approximately 5,100 units built—making it one of O'Day's most prolific models—enduring as an affordable, low-maintenance classic for nostalgic sailors seeking unadulterated fun, one-design purity, and hassle-free trailering in a compact 14-foot package where velocity and virtue eclipse versatility.
