Finding a sailboat to motivate and sustain participation by the entire family is no easy task. Research shows that active sailing families divide 76 days/yr. on the water equally between daysailing, cruising and racing. The ideal boat will be good for all these activities, while crewed by people of all age and experience levels.
Too large a boat can be intimidating. A slow boat will eventually turn off the young. A racing boat may not be suitable for serving a nice meal or curling up with a good book. It seems the ads claim every boat to be a “racer-cruiser.” Few really are. Even fewer would get the vote of each family member. We know there’s only one that will and has for nearly two decades: The J/30.
At least that’s the opinion of the three families who designed and built it… combining 102 years of cruising and racing experience in everything from 8 to 46 feet. And, you’d receive another 545 endorsements from current owners.
Speed Is Important
The key ingredient to sustaining enthusiasm of all ages is very often missing in cruising boats: speed. A J/30 sails the speed of 35 to 40 footers and will be ahead of the average 30-foot cruiser by the length of a football field after a mile of sailing. Such performance means that 40 to 50 mile daily runs are easy. Speed in light air and pointing ability also mean less engine time and more sailing.
Easier, More Fun to Sail
A key to making fast boats easier to sail than slow boats is the “fractional rig”. By making the mainsail larger and jibs smaller, a 12-year-old can lift, hoist, and trim the #1 genoa of a J/30. In fact the jibs on a J/30 are smaller than those on a C&C 26, Sabre 28, Pearson 28, Cal 27, Newport 28 or Hunter 27. Then, because the tapered racing mast can be bent aft easily with a pull of the backstay adjuster, the mainsail shape is flattened and depowered so the jib that’s up can be used over a wider range of wind velocities … meaning less need to reef the main or change jibs… and fewer jibs to buy and store below.
The J/30 performs under mainsail alone better than most 30-foot cruisers under full sail. This “no problem” alternative comes in handy getting through storms or crowded harbors or for relaxed picnic sails. There are few boats that will surf downwind in strong winds under spinnaker with better control.
Dry and Stable
The J/30 hull is designed with plenty of flair and reserve buoyancy forward to keep spray off the decks when sailing upwind and to prevent the bow from submarining when running before the wind in high seas. She is stiff in a blow with good sail carrying power.
Cruising Comfort
When the owner of a classic 40-foot Concordia yawl switches to a J/30 for a family cruiser, you know something is right. The beautiful, handcrafted interior has become a standard for design excellence among boatbuilders. The new L-shaped galley with optional propane oven and the new cruising cockpit that seats 3-4 on a side make it even more attractive.
Storage space includes 29 enclosed cabinets and lockers and 16 open shelves and compartments. The icebox holds ice for 11 days. The 15-hp diesel auxiliary powers J/30 along at 6.3 knots. The enclosed head has a full length mirror and fresh water shower. And, the main settee cushions are 5-½” thick.
Built to Last, Not to a Price
There’s no excuse for not using the best hardware and construction available in the world on a family sailboat. That’s why the J/30 bull and deck are made with Lloyd’s approved Contourkore and fiberglass laminate. The mast is stepped on the keel and supported by stainless rigging one size larger than necessary. Chainplates are anchored into a full structural fiberglass bulkhead. The hull-to-deck joint is bonded then bolted, then bolted again with a teak toerail cap. Complete genoa and spinnaker gear as well as Barient winches (25s, 21s, 10s), Harken mainsheet & vang tackles, Headfoil jibstay system and Kenyon spars are standard. A J/30 was the top stock production boat with a 3rd and 4th overall in fleet during the rough 1979 SORC… 1000 miles of hard racing! Two J/30s survived the Fastnet Storm one singlehanded.
One-Design Benefits
To believe, all one has to do is see the fun that J/30 owners have sailing together as a Class for the past twenty years. It’s a whole new group of friends dedicated to fun racing on a great sailboat. The J/30 Class Association publishes strict Class Rules and an excellent J/30 journal to keep everyone informed. Be sure to visit the J/30 Web Site for more on the association. J WORLD sailing school is also a great resource and can help you sharpen your racing skills.
Class website:
http://www.j30.org/
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Blue Jay
The Blue Jay continues to be one of the leading one-design, sloop-rigged sailboats in existence today. Fathered by Drake H. Sparkman, head of the New York designing firm of Sparkman and Stephens, Inc. after his tenure as chairman of a yacht club junior sailing program, the Blue Jay was pencil drawn in 1947. Designed as a “ baby Lightning” it became an all-around junior training boat and now has numbers over 7,200. It is used not only in novice programs in yacht clubs from Florida to Maine, but also in teen’s, men’s, and women’s events. Originally constructed of wood, the IBJCA voted in the early 1960s to allow fiberglass, however, wooden boats are still being made today. It is interesting to note that when a friend of Drake Sparkman suggested that he name the boat “Blue Bird” he decided on the “Blue Jay” which could effectively be marked by a blue “J” on the sail. (Perhaps he thought noting the junior aspect).
The International Blue Jay Class Association was formed in 1954 by Allegra Knapp Mertz. President for 35 years, she built the class with active board members. Among those, Bob Sparkman, Drake’s son, who was treasurer for 20 years. James Rousmaniere was President in 1960 and 1961; Ed Hoffman, President in 1971. In 1984, at American Yacht Club’s Blue Jay Nationals, Leggie turned the gavel over to Bill Dunbar who had been an active board member for ten years. He continues in this position today.
The Association (IBJCA) is made up of voluntary officers and executive board members from different sailing areas on the East Coast. They continue to maintain a strict one-design class, publish a yearbook and newsletter, coordinate regional regattas and clinics, offer a National regatta ( Championship winner may apply for Champion of Champions ) and Master’s regatta plus have added a website
In 2005, Jim Hansen of Formula Boat Works, Ledyard, CT donated the Blue Jay mold he acquired from Salle Evelyn,(deceased), of Formula Yachts, to the Association in her memory. Both Jim and Salle were dedicated to the Blue Jay and its continued growth for many years and this offer was graciously accepted. The Association has made arrangements to have a new builder, Allen Boat Co., use the newly acquired mold, noting that Tom Allen has been the builder of the Lightning for many years. We welcome him “ on board”.
Class website:
http://www.sailbluejay.org/
Finn
The FINN dinghy fills the slot for the HEAVYWEIGHT DINGHY in the Olympics. It was designed in 1949 by Rickard Sarby and was first used at the Olympics in 1952 in Helsinki. It has been used at every Olympic regatta since then.
For over six decades this thoroughbred singlehanded dinghy has had an incalculable influence on the sailing world, being a blend of a popular club boat, Olympic legend and teacher of many top sailors. The Finn is one of the survivors of the sailing world. It has survived numerous re-selections of Olympic classes and 60 years of careful technical development, from the wooden hulls, wooden masts and cotton sails of the 1950s to the GRP hulls, to the carbon masts and kevlar sails of the 1990s. It has sustained criticism over the years for being hard to sail and expensive to campaign but it has always won through. And in spite of all this it has strengthened its position as the world’s premier dinghy for tactical as well as technical singlehanded sailing.
(From the class website below)
Class website:
Tornado
From the Class:
The Tornado was designed in the autumn of 1967 by Rodney March from England, with help from Terry Pierce, and Reg White, specifically for the purpose of being the new Olympic Catamaran, which was to be selected by the IYRU in an Olympic Catamaran Trials. The boat was developed mainly in Brightlingsea, England.
International Status was granted to the Tornado as a result of its outright winning of the IYRU Trials held in England. The next step, adding the Catamaran event to the Olympic program, occurred two years later, with the result that the first Catamaran event, sailed in 1976 in Canada, was sailed in the Tornado. The Tornado is an outstanding example of a class that was designed specifically for Olympic competition that has become a successful International class on its own merits.
2000 Olympic Silver Medalists: Darren Bundock and John Forbes (AUS)The Tornado has since remained unchallenged as the ultimate one-design catamaran. With its modern, stylish rigging and sleek lines the Tornado is quick to catch the eye of any water-drawn on-looker as it speeds across harbors, lakes, and oceans in over 30 countries around the world. With its ability to reach speeds of 15-18 knots upwind and downwind, and 33+ knots reaching, the Tornado is truly the purists’ speed machine.
Over 4,800 Tornados have been built, with 1,200 class association members worldwide. In 2004, on the Saronikos Gulf in Greece, the Tornado will be sailing in its seventh Olympic Games.
Except for refinements in technical details – improvements in hull, sail, and spar technology, better blocks and lines – the Tornado was unchanged from its beginnings in to the early 90’s. Then, as a result of the increasing popularity of other, smaller catamarans, the Tornado class undertook a major development program in 1993. It was specifically to respond to a request from the IYRU to search for ways to improve the public and media awareness of the sport of yachting, and secondarily to answer the possible challengers to its ‘top cat’ role.
Two weeks of intensive on-the-water testing and development took place in Miami, following considerable discussion and planning. Among the participants were the three medalists from Barcelona as well as designer Reg White. The International Tornado Association spent nearly US$22,000 on the testing, evaluation, reporting, and finally balloting process to the class membership, to find the fairest and best ways to improve the class and the sport in ways acceptable to the sailors.
The testing involved 10 standard and fully competitive Tornados, one boat with a larger main and jib, and two boats with a variety of sailplans that included spinnakers of up to 32 sq. M. Fourteen races were run over the testing period in addition to in-line speed and handling evaluations.
As part of the testing process, new courses were also used, most involving a leeward gate.
Following the testing and regatta, the following points were clear; the larger main/jib combination was only marginally faster than the standard rig, and the spinnaker boats were a surprise, only beating the standard rigs in 2 of the 14 races. The ITA then balloted the class membership, with not only the conclusions but also all of the data and the testing procedure, helping to provide insights to the rig selection process.
A two-thirds majority is required by the class constitution to implement any change; this majority was not reached, the class voting against the expense of a change with no real benefit to sailing. Thus the class retained the same sailplan for the next two Olympics. The course changes, giving the possiblity of better spectator access and greater media coverage, received the votes necessary to be adopted by the class.
The Class felt then that the changes in course, rather than changes in the equipment, would have a greater impact on public awareness and media coverage. Courses are adjustable in length for wind, thus giving a fixed racing time for the event, and the shorter-than-before course also tend to keep the boats closer, making the racing more exciting and more easily viewed. The fixed Start/Finish lines also is a help, allowing faster turn-around times between races. The new course formats have been in use in the World Championship beginning in ’93, and have proven popular with both the sailors and committees, and are continued today.
The issue of changes in the boat were revisited in 1999, when the ISAF decided to have a Multihull Evaluation Trials in France to look at “possible replacements” in the Olympic program for the Tornado. At the time, there were a number of technical changes in materials that allowed for better spinnakers, and better control, and there were then a number of successful double-trapeze plus spinnaker catamarans on the market in the Tornado size range – 20 feet – that were becoming popular.
The Trials were interesting. Except for the custom, all-carbon Marstrom 20, the standard Tornado dominated upwind, beating all production challengers from Hobie, Nacra, Mystere, and others. Only by piling on sail area, plus a spinnaker, were any of the challengers able to beat the Tornado around the race course, and even then the advantage disappeared as the wind increased. But the extra athleticism needed to sail with a double trapeze, and the extra visual interest provided by the spinnakers, was undeniable, and the final outcome was that the ISAF decreed that the equipment for the 2004 Olympics would be the “Tornado with double trapeze and spinnaker”, and left it up to the class how to implement the changes.
The class took an approach that allowed some development and testing, with the goal of keeping crew weight in the same range as with the old rig. The final result, approved by the class in early 2001, were both evolutionary and radical. First was a new mainsail with a flat top and more area, providing more heeling moment to compensate for the double instead of single trapeze and help keep crew weights with the same range. Second, done to clear the trampoline to make spinnaker work possible, was to redesign the jib. The new jib had the same area, but was longer on the luff and shorter on the foot to allow it to be sheeted to the main beam. Interestingly, this change, moving the sail area forward, overcame one of the Tornado’s handicaps, tacking, and made this maneuver much easier. The innovation of a self-tacking jib appeared later in 2001, and was quickly adopted by the entire fleet. Finally, of course, there was the spinnaker, and the class set only size limits, allowing the question of spinnaker handling equipment to be settled on the race course. Again, the advantages of spinnaker launching tubes quickly established themselves, and became a class standard. Interestingly, the two biggest boathandling improvements, the self-tacking jib and the spinnaker tubes, were quickly adopted by the classes below the Tornado, especially the International Formula 18, which was becoming the Tornado trainer for future Olympians.
Class website:
http://www.tornado.org/
Hobie 16
With its legendary design and induction into the Sailing Hall of Fame, the Hobie 16 is truly in a class of its own. Thirty years of racing and going stronger than ever.
Powerful enough to challenge veteran sailors yet easy enough for beginners, the Hobie 16 is the perfect all-around cat. Asymmetrical hulls eliminate the need for dagger boards. This makes for easy launching and beaching.
The Hobie 16… the ultimate one design class.
Specifications:
Length: 16′ 7″
Beam: 7′ 11″
Mast Length: 26′ 6″
Sail Area: 218 Sq. Ft.
Weight: 320 lbs.
Hull Construction: Fiberglass/Foam Sandwich
Class website:
http://www.hobieclass.com/
Ensign
The Ensign sailboat is the largest class of full keel boats in North America. It was designed by Carl Alberg and built by Pearson Yachts of Portsmouth, Rhode Island who manufactured nearly 1800 boats from 1962 through 1983. Its popularity, rather than declining with the advent of very high performance boats, has been on a major upswing. We have one of the strongest national organizations and support fleets from the East Coast through the Rocky Mountains.
Four Regional Championships, a Midwinter Championship and a National Championship Regatta are held each year.
The Ensign is 22 and 1/2 feet long, weighs about 3,000 pounds, has a draft of 3 feet and is best raced with a crew of four. It is favored by former dinghy sailors and cruisers alike. It has no life lines and therefore can be sailed with many dingy tactics such as hiking and roll tacking. It is a comfortable day sailer with a large cockpit. Besides a main and working jib it can have an inventory of a #1 and # 2 Genoa, a blade and spinnaker. For cruisers it can be equipped with a roller furling genoa.
The Objective of the Ensign Class Association is to promote and develop Ensign Class racing under uniform rules and to rigidly maintain the One-Design features of the Ensign. It also promotes the Ensign as a family boat for recreational sailing.
Class website:
http://www.ensignclass.com/
