(Seattle, WA)- Ben Braden from SAIL NORWEST in Seattle, WA had an opportunity to
look over the two latest boats in the J/stable of offshore sailing
machines. Here was his amusing, insightful take on both boats.
J/99 Doublehanded Offshore Speedster
This boat is gonna create more temptation in sailors minds then back
when Jansson put herring in his favorite cheesy potato dish creating
such a delight. She’s been touted as a Market Disruptor by Seahorse
Magazine and Versatile & Exciting by Yachting World as she sits
proudly on their April 2019 magazine cover.
The all new J/99, from J/Boats, checks more boxes than any boat they’ve
produced in over 30 years, period. After touring the boat this past week
in Rhode Island I initially walked away happily amazed at her design,
as well as, her bigger sister, the all new J/121. My mind kept harkening
back to a time in my youth when we all sailed and raced 25 to 30 foot
sailboats and were awestruck and tempted by those massive IOR boats, 50’
and up, sailing ahead of us and finishing before dark on all those mid
distance races we knew and loved. Then along came the J/35. Truly an
every man’s big boat. A powerful platform that brought with it a sense
of the speed and thrills we observed on those big IOR warhorses of the
time but in a package that each of us could touch, feel and most
importantly a platform that we, the everyday sailor could handle – both
race and cruise.
Bill Schanen, of Sailing Magazine, once reported that the appeal of the
J/35 “…was its pure hull form, a sweet easily driven shape free of the
rating rule-induced exaggerations that made other handicap racers of the
1980s cranky and difficult to sail. With its light weight and long
sailing length, big but uncomplicated rig and sensible deck layout, the
J/35 was graced with a responsive yet forgiving nature over a wide range
of conditions. These endearing characteristics gave the J/35 a parallel
life as cruising boat. Easily handled by a family, it offered plenty of
space below for accommodations that were plain but practical.”
While describing his latest new design, Alan Johnstone shares that “The
J/99 opens up a wide range of sailing possibilities. The versatile sail
plan, balanced hull form and efficient cockpit will work as well for
short-handed offshore sailing as for weekend sailing with friends. The
J/99 packs a lot of performance and versatility into a manageable size
and budget.”
Sound familiar?
After touring the boat on the hard at International Marine last week I
was left with a sense of how big it was on deck with a large workable
cockpit that blended the sit on the deck aspects of the J/33 with the
cockpit seats everyone loves in the J/35 for cruising, daysailing and
distance racing. The side decks were spacious, quickly creating images
of kayaks or SUP’s on deck for the summer cruise, as well as, hazard
free spaces for crew to move freely from bow to stern as duties
required. As I walked forward I was reminded of the deck space on a
J/120.
Stepping below my response was simply wow – a modern J/35 interior.
Everything you need to be comfortable cruising with your family or
friends, sitting below after a race or regatta bragging with your crew
or escaping the weather for a break while on a distance race. Full
functional galley, large forward facing nav area, large double bunk aft
cabins port and starboard, double drop leaf table center of the salon,
two very comfortable settee bunks port and starboard with an enclosed
forepeak cabin housing the head and sail storage, and ample storage
throughout the boat. It’s even got a headliner! Granted it doesn’t have
6’ 6” headroom like a true cruising boat, she does have a very
functional 5’ 10”ish hair draft that for a race boat of her obvious
caliber is astounding.
So I’ve touched on the similarities of the space and feel of arguably
one of J/Boats best performance cruising designs, the all new J/99 also
incorporates many of the desirable modern performance traits of the big
fast warhorses of today.
Sound familiar again?
She has a fixed carbon sprit off the bow to easily handle both the
A-sails and various code zero type rags that excel in different areas or
point to point racing. She also can have water ballast, yep water
ballast on a production every man’s boat, approximately 55 gallons per
side. Not the type of water ballast that has to be managed constantly to
keep the boat upright but water ballast that assists in the boats
sail-ability. This type of water ballast, while at its base is weight on
the rail, will enable more people to go sailing and perform duties they
otherwise wouldn’t be asked to do. Smaller, lighter and less agile
sailors can now do the job of that affectionately named deck potato or
grinder or can simply stay in the cockpit if they are unable to get out
on the rail for a physical reason and the boat can still perform well
due to the water ballast holding the rail down.
Seriously, imagine a scenario that you are able to take your 80+ year
old grandfather out sailboat racing and benefit from his years of
sailing knowledge being shared with you and your 14 year old lightweight
kid while they trim the sails and have a chance of competing against
that fully crewed deck filled with butt’s race boat. As silly as this
sounds it’s a real thing this type of crew assist water ballast enables.
Sure you can still pack the rail and use the water ballast at the same
time – but your boat would be that much heavier doing so.
J/121 Shorthanded Offshore Speedster Overview
Her big sister, the J/121 – in the vein of Orwell’s 1984 newspeak, if my
reaction going below in the 99 was wow, the J/121 invited a quick
double wow! This boat is big. Yeah it’s 40’ on deck but she is wide,
open and utilizes every bit of that 40’ for working purposes. Below you
can swing your wet foulies around over your head there’s so much space
and then quickly wipe the spray off the carbon fiber countertops. A
touch that floods the senses, carbon fiber panels trimmed out with teak
edging – it’s cool, it’s really cool. Double French doors forward
leading into the spacious forward bunk, deep and wide aft cabin to port
and open aft head to starboard with easy access to what J/Boat sailors
worldwide describe as the garage storage area. Her large crew assist
water ballast tanks, similar to the 99’s but more volume, are obvious
but trimmed well and every system aboard seems to be easily accessible
without compromising fit and finish. The galley with double basin sink,
top loading deep frig and double burner stove/oven looks super usable
and the large forward facing nav area looks about as usable as you find
on a 40’ sailboat with plenty of working space and also room for
electronics.
On deck everything at first glance looks well thought out. From her
hybrid mainsheet system that leads through the deck to the port and
starboard mainsheet winches to all the very raceable control lines led
to easily accessible areas along with her outboard twin wheels to get
you the visibility you need to react and respond to all inputs for
optimal control while sailing. While standing behind the wheel at the
true aft end of the boat looking forward I couldn’t help but think how
similar everything looked and felt in size and function to being at the
helm of the J/145 and I expect this boat to outperform that amazing
vessel both on the course and with her accommodations below while
cruising.
With these two designs J/Boats is bringing the modern performance
aspects of the big amazing performance machines like the TP 52’s and the
offshore Open 40’s to the yacht club near you in a package that will
keep your crew list long while also impressing your non-racing family
and friends when they hang out in the cockpit while daysailing or enjoy
the accommodations below while on a cruise sailing from port to port
rather than motoring simply because you can, because the design enables
it.
We were able to view these boats while back east for the J/Boat dealer
meeting held at the Harken offices in Middletown, Rhode Island in March
2019. Dealers from across the country and as far away as Alaska made the
trip to spend the day with the Johnstone’s discussing what J/Boats is
doing currently and is planning on doing in the future. Everything from
the current models and their build schedules and demand to some great
new ideas for smaller and larger models and fleet purchases that are
being considered by the family and their network. Exciting stuff
actually, and some very promising ideas for what is coming in the near
future. For a company founded by the everyday sailor that built itself
into a successful family business now on it’s second generation of
leaders J/Boats continues to move forward with designs that incorporate
modern attributes in attainable platforms accessible for the every day
sailor, their families and friends. A model that will never lose it’s
market appeal.
(San Francisco, CA)- This coming weekend marks the start of one of the
most famous offshore shorthanded races in all of California- the
Doublehanded Farallones Race. Hosting the event is the San Francisco Bay
Area Multihull Association (SF-BAMA). Fifty-seven teams are taking up
this epic shorthanded challenge.
From
the start inside San Francisco Bay alongside the Golden Gate Yacht
Club, the fleet heads out to sea and around the Southeast Farallones
Island, leaving it to port, and then to the finish- a distance of
approximately 58.0nm. 
