Who would have guessed that the retractable bow sprit with asymmetrical spinnaker concept, pioneered in keelboats by J/Boats with the introduction in 1991 of the J/105 (and J/130 and J/92 a year later), would be used by nearly 60% of all boats competing in the 2007 Acura Key West Raceweek.
Appearing at first as an oddity to many, each of the 16 years since has seen more designs follow suit, starting with the Melges 24 and now most recently with the Frers designed New York Yacht Club(or Club Swan)42.
Crew intensive symmetrical spinnakers, unwieldy poles and dip pole jibes are on the way out. They will not be missed. The new system is more stable, efficient and, best of all, operable by one or two people.
J/Boats continues to introduce popular new models like the J/109, J/122 & J/133 that benefit from the simplicity of this great system. While possibly wondering why it took the rest of the world so long to figure it out, J Boat sailors may derive some satisfaction knowing they played a major role in dramatically changing the face of the sport.
