Javelin: Sailing class with family spirit

Feature Picture: Jens and Robin Schlittenhard are one of the typical cross-generational family crews in the Javelin class. Photo: segel-bilder.de

If you look at the entry list for the Javelin class, you won’t need to memorise many different names. In nine of the 20 participating teams, both crew members have the same surname. The Javelin scene is characterised by a particularly large number of family crews. The trend is moving from sibling teams to father-son teams.

“In the past, many brothers fought for the titles together, but nowadays there are more cross-generational crews, mostly father and son. I sail together with my nephew Robin. That’s how we get young people interested in the Javelin class,” says Jens Schlittenhard (Baltic Sailing Association). He is pleased about the trend, as it literally brings young people on board and revitalises the class. Sailing in the Javelin dinghy is great fun and is also quite affordable.

Jens Schlittenhard first took part in the Travemünde Week in 1996 and always enjoys returning for regattas – this time as part of a new team with his nephew. “The aim was to finish in the top five. We didn’t expect it to go so well,” said Schlittenhard. In the end, they were only beaten by the old and new Euro Cup winners, Christian Wirts and Thorsten Fischer (SK Minden).

The following places were also occupied by family teams, the British father-son teams: Eddy and Neil Reid (3rd), Ben and Richard Eric Fisher (4th) and Richard and Sebastian Smith (5th) lined up behind the Germans.

The Smith family is even represented at the Euro Cup with two family boats. “I sail one of our sons and my wife sails the other. Both of their grandfathers sailed here in the Javelin class 50 years ago,” says Richard Smith. The Fishers are also the third generation to be active in the Javelin class. In the case of these two Brits, their grandfather built Javelin dinghies himself.

Johannes Bahnsen from Hamburg is also competing with his son. They have been a team for two years. Last year, they achieved a good sixth place at the unofficial European Championships in Great Britain. In Travemünde, they are just starting out again after a health-related break and finished eleventh among the 20 teams.

The class is obviously very suitable for families. And anyone who doesn’t compete with a relative is at least part of the “Javelin family”, as the class is called.