* A "BowGirl's" Perspective on sailing J/92's-
"September 2006, St Malo. That was when I officially resigned from my
role as bow-girl on the 1720 that I was sailing at the time. And yes,
there was a certain amount of petulance involved. The 1720 has no
guard-wires. It’s scary up there. My knees hurt. Everything was just so
loaded up and hard work. There was no loo on board. And what sort of
woman calls herself a ‘bow-girl’ at the age of 38 anyway?Since then I’ve sailed and race on countless Js but have always steadfastly refused to step forward of the mast. Until last Sunday that is, when I found myself ‘guesting’ in the ‘bow-middle-aged-woman’ role on Andy and Annie’s J/92 S ‘Blackjack’ in the Southampton Frostbite Series. It was an absolute blast. I’ve not sailed the J/92 for ages, although it was one of the first Js I ever sailed, and I’d simply forgotten what great little boats they are.
On Sunday we had light airs and crystal blue skies. We had ice on the decks (so a perfect excuse for my ineptitude up at the front) and we had the luxury of guard-wires too, of course! We were a crew of four boys and two girls. We even had a loo, imagine that!? And you know what? We could do it all easily! Everything on the J/92 is set up so well. Annie (who is tiny) and I could get the kite up and down easily between us. Our gybes were (mostly) good. You simply don’t need a gorilla on the bow or to have a team of gorillas on the rail. The J/92s are such forgiving boats and they are fast. Just a little breeze sees the boat power up and take off and it’s absolutely great! Best of all, we had LOTS of other J/92s to race against; it was fabulous!
I am a born again (forgot-how-much-fun-they-are) J/92 fan.
There are newer Js and there are bigger Js of course, but this 30 footer planes easily and just wants to go fast. She has her own class racing and her own National Championships. She also has a busy and sociable Class Association (see the newsletter attached below). And she has guard-rails and loo as well; have I mentioned that? Put simply, the J/92 is a super, super boat. Read more about the J/92 UK Class in their recent newsletter (downloadable PDF). For more J/92 UK sailing news.