(Southampton, England)- The winners of the Yachts & Yachting Awards
2013 have just been announced and we are delighted to confirm that the
J/70 has been voted the "Best Performance Boat under 30 feet". The
Yachts & Yachting Awards celebrate the very best in what was a
fabulous year for sport and for sailing. Readers of the Yachts &
Yachting Magazine and web users were asked to vote for their preferred
"winner" in each of ten categories and then these "reader" votes were
added to the votes of the official judging panel. The award for "Best
Performance Boat Under 30 feet" is sponsored by Garmin. The commentary from Y&Y Editors was, "This was a clear winner. Arguably a boat on which the hopes of many sailors are resting – it fills a hole in a sector of the market that has been waiting for the next new thing for several years. J-Boats has almost 40 years of success with one-designs of this size, and this design brings the concept bang up to date. It’s a lightweight boat that planes readily in moderate breezes and is therefore great fun to sail in its own right. Add in one-design racing and you have a recipe that’s proven to make owners and their crews very happy.
The J/70 is also well-mannered, easy to sail and to look after, minimising hassle and maximising sailing time. The lifting keel format that makes it launchable from a slipway is also one of a number of factors that helps to minimise annual running costs. It’s easy to see why the boat has been so successful just months after its launch, with almost 200 already built." Read more about Y&Y's Awards here.
The team at Key Yachting would like to thank everyone who voted in the competition; this prestigious award ensures a cracking start to 2013 for the J/70 Class and one more accolade for the boat, which has also been voted Sailing World Magazine’s "2013 Boat of the Year".
Both the J/70 and the J/80 will be on display with Key Yachting at London Boat Show, 12th - 20th January (http://www.londonboatshow.com/2013/home.aspx). And, for Pacific Northwest sailing enthusiasts in America, the J/70 will be on display from January 9th to 13th at the Portland Boat Show in Portland, Oregon (http://www.otshows.com).
