Javelin 30 - Fred Parker designed

[farmerdan79]

Hi,

Seen one of these on Ebay, and she is in my price range, and is clearly a very pretty boat . I have not seen one of these before, does anyone know anything about them?

Built by Marcon as far as I know in the mid 70's...?

(Item number: 250783829078) if you want to have a look...

 

[bluemoongaffer]

Sorry, don't know the boat so can't help. But she does look nice and that's a good start. I think I'd want to know a bit about the teak deck and who laid it / how as that could be expensive to sort out if anything goes wrong

Good luck!

 

[farmerdan79]

thanks,

Just been to view her and the teak is "tip top"! she seems to be very well looked after. Are there any other forumites who have knowledge of Javelins?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Javelin-30-Fre...item3a63e18c56

 

[richardbrennan]

I had a vague recollection she was built by Marine Construction (Marcon) who built the Tomahawk and Sabre; Googling "Marine Construction Javelin" brings up several hits.

 

[dt4134]

Beware that on eBay you can't make an offer subject to survey. OK, if you're buying an obvious wreck, but beware of hidden faults if the boat looks ok.

 

[Seajet]

I have no hands on experience with the design, but may well have an original brochure, please say if this would be of any use and I'll try to find and scan it.

I have heard the odd good comment about these boats, but only in passing.

Do beware the mooring costs of a deep fin boat, if you're not completely up to date with the cost of deep water moorings or marinas in your area, and hoisting her out with winter storage, mast on & off, do check right now; you may buy the boat at a bargain price, then get a very nasty surprise as to what she costs to keep !

She won't be anywhere as roomy as a modern 30 footer, but may well have very good seakeeping abilities, and she looks fast; while relatively small on interior space, she will be big on bills; sails and engine will cost serious money, she quite probably needs new standing rigging, and so on.

Also, she looks a powerful boat to handle alone or with a small inxperienced crew, depends on your experience ( haven't looked at your profile ).

All that being said, if you're sure you know what's involved she may well be a good boat at a good price.

 

[Spuddy]

Looks very classy and in not bad nick if the snaps are recent. Mines a Fred Parker design too and he certainly had a good eye for tasty hull lines. Usual cautions about not jumping to a decision, survey, budget etc

 

[ianat182]

Javelin 30

One of our forum members 'mpricehugh'raised a similar query regarding the Javelin 30 some time ago and I replied at some length to him by PM of my personal experience when crewing for a previous owner.
The yacht in question was SCRAMBLER and was owned by a club member Mike Fawcett, who raced her regularly and successfully for some years in the 70's, with myself and one other adult and his very young family and long-suffering wife!

The boat was well found, if a little short of space for living aboard extensively and the tumblehome designed into her was an attempto increase this space,however it also made her a wet boat beating to windward in any sort of a chop.

The Javelin was as you know designed by Fred R Parker and his trademark scroll,an elongated 'S', is formed at the bow in the trim line.
The boat is fast and sails very well, only light weather helm until needing the first reef taken in, and also fast downwind with spinnaker.
In our Club events she was very tightly handicapped so needed to be sailed on top of her form by the crew,and frequently did.
I recall that she had to have her cockpit drains set up as crossover to stop the ingress of water when heeled and using all of her waterline length plus the counter stern.
I believe the prototype Javelin was named 'JAVELOT' and had a yellow hull,we probably raced against her but I cannot remember any specific occasion.
SCRAMBLER had a Dolphin engine that I think had an interesting method for reverse gear.
I did 2 Round the Island races in her, one very rough one, and another very pleasant with some successful results.
Mike subsequently purchased a Mustang 30, an out and out racer that was very very fast down wind and not bad to windward either, but this too seemed to be penalised heavily in Club races.
I cannot remember any Fred Parker design that wasn't good on the eye, including the Hamble One Design,Warsash One design and the Mystere a 26 footer th

ianat182

 

[johnalison]

Crossed over cockpit drains were normal on 70s designs and considered good practise. I had the same on my Parker-designed Mystere which, being rather smaller, is probably not a good guide to the Javelin's sailing qualities (though it sailed quite well for its size). I did have a Dolphin engine though. I would imagine that its 12hp would be considered small for a 30 footer today but was normal at the time, and also powered some Hustler 30s. I crossed the North sea several times and sometimes had to motor much or all the way.

The only thought I might have about buying a Javelin is that some might have been raced hard, and this might need to be taken into account.

 

[Boo2]

Seen one of these on Ebay, and she is in my price range, and is clearly a very pretty boat . I have not seen one of these before, does anyone know anything about them?

I don't know anything about them but there's another one here which doesn't have teak decks so would probably be a better contender. Beren advertised for a long time (well over a year) so they might take an offer...

Boo2

 

[Seajet]

Also like all deep fin keelers, she WILL have been driven aground hard at some stage, it's a case of whether it caused any lasting damage !

With a bolt - on keel, it's relatively easy to spot if the upper aft corner of the keel has been driven into the hull, but harder to spot if an encapsulated keel has been clobbered; a good check for filler on the leading edge might be a good place to start.

Also when I eventually found her photo's, the pic's are small so not a great guide, but I couldn't see any obvious anodes on or near the prop' shaft ?

Worth looking at things like the engine's core plugs.

 

[Madhatter]

Beware that on eBay you can't make an offer subject to survey. OK, if you're buying an obvious wreck, but beware of hidden faults if the boat looks ok.

Funny you should say that ,there is one on there now that is selling "if not as described after your survey you need not buy " now there's a first

 

[farmerdan79]

Thanks for all feedback so far...

...She is such a pretty boat! real head turner, and havd a positive survey in 2007. Verrrry tempting!!!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Thanks for all feedback so far...

...She is such a pretty boat! real head turner, and havd a positive survey in 2007. Verrrry tempting!!!

2007 is four years ago - a lot could have happened in that time. And she looks VERY cramped below, even to an ex-Twister owner!