(Newport, RI)- Adam Cort and his colleague Meredith from SAIL
Magazine made their way down to the famous seaport town of Bristol,
Rhode Island to take their first look and test sail of the latest "baby
J" on a nice blustery, challenging day for sailing. Adam's report
follows:"There’s nothing more disappointing than test sailing a high-octane sport boat in a drifter. But that wasn’t a problem with the new 22ft, 9in J/70. For our sail trial we had a steady 20-knot southerly, gusting over 25 knots and kicking up a sharp chop off Bristol, Rhode Island. Because J/Boats was only about a week into its boat trials at the time, company President Jeff Johnstone decided it might not be prudent to fly the A-sail, but it didn’t matter. Beating out toward Popasquash Point, the boat proved both nimble and manageable. It accelerated in the puffs and had an easy helm, even when we buried the lee rail. At one point I overshot a tack, but I never felt we were completely out of control, thanks to the boat’s ballasted keel and large transom-hung rudder. The fairly high boom and spacious 11-foot self-draining cockpit made getting from one side to the other while tacking a piece of cake—-- a far cry from the 24-footer that first put J/Boats on the map. Then it came time to bear away---". Read more here on SAIL's website. For more J/70 sailboat information here!
Adam and Meredith also put together a sailing video of their experience in these 20-25 knots winds- you can watch that sailing video and J/Boats interview with Jeff Johnstone here.
