(Kappeln, Germany)- Last weekend during the eponymous "happy-lucky" date
of 11-11-11, Peter Gustafsson (founder of blog website "blur.se") and
friends hopped aboard the J/111 PIRANHA in Kappeln, Germany to go for a
test sail on the Baltic. Thanks to Henning Mittelmann, the German
J/Boats dealer- Mittelmann’s Werft, the "boys" went out and had a great
sail in nearly perfect weather. As the successful owner of the J/109
BLUR from Gothenberg/Marstrand, Sweden, Peter's commentary below
provides good perspectives for those who've raced various J's in the
35-36 foot range over time (J/35, J/36, J/34 IOR, J/105, J/110, J/109):"I’d never been to Kappeln in northern Germany before, but it turned out to be a charming little town that's probably bustling with tourists in the summer. Understandably, mid-November was a bit slow but we hadn’t come to spend time on the beach or party. We found the boat parked right outside our hotel, and as the date was 11-11-11 we took that as the sign to get serious about the 111. After dinner we checked in to our hotel, Pierspeicher Gästehaus, an beautiful old industry building right at the harbor that’s been renovated for five years and now have a distinct marine theme. And it’s hard to beat the view from my hotel window.
Saturday
morning dawned pretty cold and with ice on deck. But, the forecast was
for southerly wind 14-18 knots decreasing during the afternoon. And
sunny. So we couldn’t have asked for better weather. The boat looks
fast already at the dock. Low, light, slender and functional. Just like a
parked sports car longs to get driven when it’s parked. Very much “the
speedster” that J/Boats referred to when they presented the design.It had been blowing Friday, so the sea state was still pretty messed up. With a new boat, different sails (the sails was from local sailmaker Tommy Sails) and an crew not used to the boat it was hard to find the groove at first. At first I tried to sail it the same way as my J/109, that’s a weaker boat. But as soon as I put the hammer down, accepted a bit more heel and went for speed the boat light up and reached the target speed 6.9-7.1. Naturally you need time in the boat to be able to keep your average speed up, but it shouldn’t be hard to find the right settings.
My theory was that the J/111 would make an excellent shorthanded boat for Scandinavian waters. Small enough to be handled by two. Easy setup with furling jib and asymmetrical spinnaker on a retractable sprit. But racing in our waters it’s not uncommon to have 16-18 knots sea breeze during the afternoon, and then just 2-3 knots during the night, so you need to be able to perform at both ends of the scale.
So
the J/111 performs OK upwind. Check. But that’s not why people buy this
boat. It’s for the downwind experience. Moderate displacement (4,200
kgs), and +130 m2 kite could lead to big smiles in a blow. We’ve seen
many videos and stories about 111's topping 20 knots. Everyone was a
bit careful at first, starting out with a smaller kite. Shape (and
color) was a bit different from what I’m used to, but to get a feel for
the boat, it was close enough. With the waves coming from the side it
was hard to get going, but after a jibe and some bigger waves we took f
and did 12-13 knots. Big difference compared to the J/109, the 109
really loads up before getting up to speed. On the 109, we usually can
make 10-11 knots quite steadily but it’s hard to go faster even in a
blow. Our record is 20 knots in extreme conditions, and that ended when
the R5 exploded in a big broach!As the wind came down we shifted to the bigger kite and the boat was fun to drive in just 12 knots. At the end of the day we did 6.6 knots in just 6 knots of breeze when we heated up. Nice! The J/111 is much more like a J/80. Slippery and responsive to both puffs and handling and I’m sure it will be fun downwind throughout the wind register.
All in all, a great sailing boat with everything set up right to go sailing without any hassle. Just like a station wagon from Audi, BMW or Volvo that are both practical and great drive when the whole family are heading for the ski slope. But they can’t beat a Porsche or Aston Martin for that weekend drive. The J/111 doesn’t pretend to be everything for everyone." For more BLUR.se Sailing Review of J/111 PIRANHA And, here's a Slide Show of J/111 Sailing in Germany
