Jav Lyn
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Jav Lyn Boats
Javlyn Boat Company
Long Beach, California
This boat manufacturer has also been found listed as the Javlin Boat Company.
The Fickbohm family put Jav Lyn Boats in the news through racing. In the 1958 Avalon-Long Beach Channel race sponsored by the Outboard Boating Club of Long Beach, Jack Ward (28) and Robert Brown (Red Brown) beat Ray Leger, the 1957 winner, and set a new record of 38 minutes. Their boat was Jav Lyn's new 17' fiberglass "Jav Cat" catamaran powered with twin Mercury Mark 78 outboard motors (June 23, 1958 Los Angeles Times). Prior to this new boat, Jav-Lyn was known for their fiberglass-covered mahogany plywood boats.
In 1959, Jack Ward with Pat Fickbohm (17) placed second in the St. Louis to New Orleans outboard marathon race (the Mississippi Marathon) with a time of 22 hours, 56 minutes (Sep. 8, 1959 Los Angeles Times). At least two other Jav Cats participated in this race (Harold Haskell & Bob Terry of Jacksonville, FL placed 3rd; Charles Young & Paul Saunders of Miami, FL placed 19th). A 16' Magnolia catamaran placed first, driven by Carlton Johnson and Roy B. Fulton of Greenville, MS.
A 1959 ad flyer for Jav-Lyn Boats also notes a Jav-Lyn ski boat won the Diamond Coup of the Sacramento River Marathon, a 316 race. Besides racing, D.L. Fickbohm served as executive vice-president of the Catamaran Builder's Association (Apr. 5, 1959 New York Time).
Not much else is presently known of the Fickbohm family and Jav-Lyn Boats. If you have information to contribute like original literature, company or racing history, please let us know so that we may preserve and share the history of these old boats.
