Thursday, January 14, 2021

* Love retro reviews of iconic J/Boats in the sailing world?

 J/145 racer cruiser

We will pass along some more in the next few weeks from SAILING ANARCHY.com.  For this first week in January, we have Sailing Anarchy.com founder Scot Tempesta taking you on a tour of the J/145 offshore racer cruiser.

As a quick backgrounder, the J/145 was a "follow-on" design to the famous offshore silver-winning speedster- the J/125. It was created as a request by J/Boats owners (most of whom started with the world-famous J/24) to have a "more comfortable" version of the J/125 for their family, while still having "cruise-ability". 

Well, the specification for the J/145 was a bit O.T.T. (yes, over the top). Like the J/125, it was constructed of a combination of foam core and balsa core with a combination of carbon fiber layers, vacuum-infused in triple layers (outer skin, core, inner skin). That construction specification made for a robust, strong, lightweight, amazingly quick offshore racer/cruiser.

For those who have sailed J/145s, it's an "eye-opening" experience. No one expects what looks like a family cockpit, wheel-steered, cabin with opening ports, sailboat to have a PHRF rating of -15! Seriously?

Another shocker is the interior... a REAL navigation station, a REAL J-shaped galley (offshore friendly), and enough room to sail an offshore crew in seriously comfortable Ritz-Carlton/ Peninsula Hotel comfort fashion (at least by most offshore racer standards!).

Enjoy this YouTube video tour of a nicely appointed J/145 here by Scot Tempesta from Sailing Anarchy.