j35 sailboat racing

• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

Honor Roll crowned J/35 North American Champions at Annapolis Yacht Club

Related Articles

• New Sailboats
• Sailboats 21-30ft
• Sailboats 31-35ft
• Sailboats 36-40ft
• Sailboats Over 40ft
• Sailboats Under 21feet
• used_sailboats
• Apps and Computer Programs
• Communications
• Fishfinders
• Handheld Electronics
• Plotters MFDS Rradar
• Wind, Speed & Depth Instruments
• Anchoring Mooring
• Running Rigging
• Sails Canvas
• Standing Rigging
• Diesel Engines
• Off Grid Energy
• Cleaning Waxing
• DIY Projects
• Repair, Tools & Materials
• Spare Parts
• Tools & Gadgets
• Cabin Comfort
• Ventilation
• Footwear Apparel
• Foul Weather Gear
• Mailport & PS Advisor
• Inside Practical Sailor Blog
• Activate My Web Access
• Reset Password
• Customer Service

• Free Newsletter

What You Can Learn on a Quick Test Sail

Cabo Rico’s Classic Cutter

Bob Perrys Salty Tayana 37-Footer Boat Review

Tartan 30: An Affordable Classic

Preparing Yourself for Solo Sailing

Your New Feature-Packed VHF Radio

Preparing A Boat to Sail Solo

Solar Panels: Go Rigid If You have the Space…

When Should We Retire Dyneema Stays and Running Rigging?

Rethinking MOB Prevention

Top-notch Wind Indicators

The Everlasting Multihull Trampoline

Taking Care of Your 12-Volt Lead-Acid Battery Bank

Hassle-free Pumpouts

What Your Boat and the Baltimore Super Container Ship May Have…

Check Your Shorepower System for Hidden Dangers

Waste Not is the Rule. But How Do We Get There?

How to Handle the Head

The Day Sailor’s First-Aid Kit

Choosing and Securing Seat Cushions

How to Select Crew for a Passage or Delivery

Re-sealing the Seams on Waterproof Fabrics

Waxing and Polishing Your Boat

Reducing Engine Room Noise

Tricks and Tips to Forming Do-it-yourself Rigging Terminals

Marine Toilet Maintenance Tips

Learning to Live with Plastic Boat Bits

• Sailboat Reviews

She's fast and she's fun--sailing is what this boat is all about. We like the J/35 a lot.

The “J” stands for Johnstone and the “35” stands for 35 feet. Straightforward—a characteristic of both the boat and the company that sells them.

The Johnstones were originally two: Rod Johnstone started things in 1976 when he designed a 24-footer and built it in his garage. He convinced his brother, Bob Johnstone, that the boat could be a success, and Bob became chief salesman, in charge of the business.

The relationship continues to this day, but the family owned company is now run by children of both Johnstones, all serious sailors like their parents. Rod’s sons Jeff, Alan, and Phil are president, vicepresident, and legal counsel respectively. Bob’s son Stuart is chairman of the board and marketing manager, while second son Drake oversees the dealer network and is sales manager of the company.

The original J/24 was sold as a “fast” boat that ignored the existing racing rules. At the time, there was a large group of serious racers who felt that the handicap rules, particularly the International Offshore Rule (IOR) and the Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC), were encouraging unhealthy extremes in design—not necessarily good, fast sailboats, but rather boats that would sail marginally faster than their low handicap ratings said they should sail, boats that required huge crews to go fast.

At the time, the word on the J/24 was that it spit in the eye of the rules; Rod Johnstone had designed a boat that went fast and was fun to sail, and if it didn’t do well in the handicap rating game, then it was the game that was at fault. Except for a couple of aberrations—a 34 and a 41 designed to beat the IOR rule—the J/Boats have remained faithful to that idea. And it is significant that the rating rules have come around to the J/Boats, rather than vice versa. There are more J/Boats than any other brand, by far, racing under the current PHRF and IMS handicap rules.

Unlike most sailboat companies, J/Boats decided from the beginning to stay out of the boatbuilding end of the business. Rather than a J/Boat factory, the completed boats come from Tillotson-Pearson, an independent company whose president, Everett Pearson, was one of the pioneers of fiberglass boatbuilding.

The arrangement has been mutually satisfactory over the years, with J/Boats having relatively little invested in manufacturing overhead, concentrating on the design and marketing; and Tillotson-Pearson has another steady and successful customer to complement the other lines of boats that they build—Alden and Garry Hoyt’s new Manta 32—along with some high-tech endeavors, such as fabricating giant carbon-fiber propellers for wind generators.

Over the years, Tillotson-Pearson has established a reputation for high-quality production work, often at the leading edge of fiberglass technology, that has helped J/Boats maintain an image of quality near the top-end of the production spectrum.

The J/35 was a successful racer from its introduction in 1983, and with more than 300 built so far, it has had a successful production run for the company. The 35 is still available as a new boat and will continue to be. A new design, the 35C, is unrelated to the 35, a different design, slower, aimed more at cruising than the original 35.

In design, the 35 looks like a typical Rod Johnstone boat, with short overhangs for a long waterline, relatively low and flat sheerline, a low cabin house, and a moderate well-balanced rig. Obviously, Johnstone knows something about the harmony between a boat’s underbody and the water, but a large part of the boat’s speed is also dependent on the light weight—10,500 pounds on a 30-foot waterline—as well as a good distribution of that weight.

Traditionalists may think the J/35 is a little plain, but its proportions are pleasing, and many people consider it the most attractive grand prix racer around. If you didn’t know the boat’s record, you probably wouldn’t pick it out of a crowd as a speedster, or know that it’s one of the most successful racing boats its size of the 1980s.

The boat has primarily been known as a racer, but the company touts it as a shorthanded cruiser as well. The boat’s big cockpit, while principally designed for a racing crew, does make the boat good for day sailing, ideal for taking out guests and for dock partying. The boat has frequently been involved in singlehanded racing (both Tony Lush and Francis Stokes raced J/35s across the Atlantic), and we would agree with the company that it is easily handled by a couple, and could make for good cruising for two people or a family with small children.

Though the hull is a bit more beamy and saucer shaped than would be ideal in an offshore boat, it is one of the few modern racers under 40 feet in which we would consider doing an ocean crossing. In storm or hurricane conditions, it has a greater chance of achieving inverse stability than a narrower, heavier boat, but its speed makes it more likely that the prudent sailor will be able to sail away from such extreme conditions.

Construction

As is necessary to make a strong but lightweight boat, the J/35 uses some sophisticated construction techniques. Both the hull and deck are balsa-cored, with the end-grain balsa inside layers of biaxial and unidirectional fiberglass. As with any cloth, there is less stretch and more strength parallel to the glass fibers than across them, and the biaxial and unidirectional cloth used by Tillotson-Pearson lets the builder arrange the cloth throughout the hull so its strength is in line with the forces that occur under sail.

Unlike most boats, the main structural bulkhead which takes the forces of the rig is a molded fiberglass piece, and the floors are made up of glass beams to which both the mast step and the external lead keel are fastened.

The hull and deck are strong and, perhaps more importantly, stiff, so that there is a minimum of flexing when the boat is being pushed. The quality of the construction is evident in the six- and seven year-old boats that are still able to handle the rig forces of a pumped-up backstay on a hard beat.

We have a lingering concern about the longevity of balsa-cored boats, since we have seen many 10- to 20-year-old boats with deck delaminations and a few with substantial delamination in the hull. Tillotson-Pearson obviously disagrees with us and continues to be committed to balsa cores.

With other builders, a major part of our concern is that balsa cored laminates seem to be more demanding of good engineering and high-quality workmanship than solid fiberglass laminates. Tillotson- Pearson is one of the few companies that we would trust to consistently do a good job in laying up a balsa-cored hull.

An unusual feature of hulls built after 1988 is that the company provides a 10-year warranty against blistering. In molding the boat, they use a vinylester resin on the first layer inside the gelcoat, and—along with a clean shop and careful workmen—they think this is enough to warrant the guarantee. The guarantee is transferable to later owners.

New J/35s can also be purchased with an American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) certificate. ABS is similar to the better known English Lloyd’s certification, in that an independent surveyor periodically checks the shop and the boat during construction to make sure it meets minimum standards. While relatively new to cruising sailors, ABS certification is important to racers in the top echelons. International offshore regattas require it. It seems worthwhile because it is about the only way buyers can get an independent evaluation of the boat without overseeing the entire construction process themselves.

The boat comes with a thorough list of standard equipment. The company lists only 18 options for a new boat, and most of these are aesthetic preferences or cruising options, such as a dark-colored hull, two-tone deck, V-berth, swim ladder, and propane locker.

The rig is excellent, with a Hall Spars mast, rod rigging, and complete state-of-the-art running rigging. All winches are adequate, but if we were planning shorthanded cruising in addition to racing, we would consider larger, self-tailing primaries.

Tiller steering is standard on the boat. In its latest brochures, the company doesn’t even list wheel steering as an option, but many earlier models had wheels, and some owners may still want it installed. We sailed both a tiller model and a wheel and believe the tiller is far superior, especially for racing. However, wheels seem to be sufficiently in vogue that there are a preponderance of them on the used 35s for sale.

The J/35 is primarily a racing boat, and its interior is spartan compared to similarly sized cruising boats. But the interior is decent, and well-finished given the plainness of the boat. The company advertises the high-quality of the interior woodwork, but we would describe it as so-so—better than the cheapest production boats on the market but definitely not “yacht” quality.

The arrangement is conventional. Forward you will find either sail bins or an optional V-berth, decently sized, with a head just aft of that, and a hanging locker and bureau opposite. Two comfortable settee berths are aft of the main bulkhead in the saloon, with an optional fold-up table between them.

The galley is minimal, with a two-burner alcohol stove and sink on the port side and an ice-box with chart-table top opposite. There are two big quarter berths underneath the bridgedeck and cockpit.

Ventilation is good, with eight opening ports and two hatches in addition to the companionway, but there is no provision at all for pushing air through the cabin when underway.

Storage is minimal, adequate for a racing crew or for a couple on a short cruise, but every 35 we looked at had sails and crew gear spread all over the settees and berths.

We would be quite comfortable weekending or cruising on this boat, but it does lack the amenities which most people demand nowadays, like hot-and-cold pressure water, propane stove and oven, and refrigeration. All these things could be added, of course, but they rarely are because they represent weight which is anathema to the high-performance sailor.

For us, the main shortcoming of the interior is the lack of headroom forward, in the head and V-berth, and a tall person will be uncomfortable even in the main cabin.

While this interior may not sound like much to the cruising sailor who looks at other boats with VCR stations and queen-size after berths, it is far superior to the one-off custom racers and almost all other racing boats that are in the same speed class as the J/35. Though the “cruiser” part is minimal, this boat is a true racer-cruiser. Where compromises are made, the racer is clearly favored, but the owner won’t feel compelled to check into a motel at the end of a long passage as is the case with most racing machines.

Under Power

The Yanmar 3GM engine has become almost a standard in this size boat. It is a good engine, dependable, relatively quiet, and its 28 horsepower is plenty big for the J/35. A 20-gallon fuel tank gives about 150 miles of range, adequate since this boat will still be sailing in light airs when most others have cranked up the diesel. The boat comes standard with a Martec folding prop, and the boat powers easily to hull speed. The J/35 turns sharply and handles well under power, and it will back up more or less where you want it. Access to the engine is decent, behind the companionway steps underneath the cockpit. Installation of the engine and the other mechanical systems is workmanlike—good but nothing spectacular.

Sailing is what this boat is all about. We sailed twice on a 35 during their first two years of production, and again last fall, in two heavy-air triangular races.

The boat is obviously quick. With a PHRF rating around 70, it is significantly faster than almost all boats its size. It is 50 seconds-per-mile faster than our own 16-year-old Carter 36 and most other IOR racers between 34 and 37 feet. In the class we raced in last fall, only a Schock 35, and a C&C 37 were comparable in speed. Like most good sailing boats, the J/35 has an “effortless” quality about its motion through the water. To us, it seems that most boats make quite a fuss as you push them up toward hull speed, especially on a beat. Often, you can “hear” how fast you’re going by the amount of noise the boat makes. But a J/35 moves easily up to speed, and you have to look at the knotmeter to know whether you’re moving five knots or seven.

It’s a well-balanced boat, with excellent feel (if you have a tiller model) on all points of sail.

The boat can be wet working to weather in waves, especially given the lack of cockpit coamings, but otherwise it has few faults in sailing. Unlike many high-performance boats, it’s also quite forgiving, so an inexperienced helmsman and crew can achieve good speed and at least finish a race or a passage ahead of other boats, even if losing on handicap.

Conclusions

The J/35 is a pricey boat. A new basic boat will run over $100,000 ready to race, and if you add premium electronics and get into the high-tech sail game, you can up the ante considerably.

However, unlike most boats these days, the J/35 will likely hold its value quite well. The boat will continue to appeal to the die-hard racer and thus maintain its value better than most other boats.

It is obviously not a boat for everybody. If you’re looking for a weekend cottage or a floating condominium, go elsewhere. But if you are in the group of sailors who want a boat between 30 and 40 feet, whose time afloat is spent more than 50 percent in racing, you might want to consider the J/35. And if we were rolling in dough, we’d have to have one to park out in front of our condo, just for the fun of sailing it.

For the used boat shopper, the main consideration after price will be the quality of equipment, especially sails. Unlike some boats, it is quite probable that a J/35 has been raced, and usually raced hard, so in many instances a total refit of the basic boat may be in order.

Given that the latest models have several advantages—an ABS certificate and a 10-year anti-blister warranty—most used boat shoppers will probably want to also go the extra distance to get a new boat.

We like the J/35.

It gets down to basics—if sailing is what sailing is all about, you won’t find a much better boat anywhere.

RELATED ARTICLES MORE FROM AUTHOR

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Log in to leave a comment

Latest Videos

Buying A Sailboat Is Scary! Yacht Broker Interview

The Great Loop – The Basics

Bottom Paint Showdown – Six Paints, One Winner!

Tartan 30 | Boat Review

• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell My Personal Information
• Online Account Activation
• Privacy Manager

News Articles

• Tips & Tricks
• Class Documents
• Past Champions
• Member Login
• NAC Photos 2003 - 2011
• NAC Photos 2012 - 2018

The American Sailboat Hall of Fame

It is probably safe to say that no racer/cruiser in the annals of fiberglass production elevated the self-esteem of sailors as dramatically as the J/35. When it was introduced in the spring on 1983, it was the closest thing ever seen to instant gratification in an offshore handicap racer and one design. If it is an exaggeration to say that new owners stepped aboard, raised the sails and began winning races, it is a small one.

What made the J/35's dazzling performance so accessible to sailors of varying experience and ability? Primarily it 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 sensible rig 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 a cruising boat. Easily handled by a family, it offered plenty of space below for accommodations that were plain but practical.

The J/35 was created in response to a downturn in the US economy. To attract buyers in the offshore racer-cruiser category, the brothers who ran J Boats, Bob Johnstone, who handled marketing, and Rod Johnstone, designer of the J line, decided to modify one of Rod's earlier designs, the J/36. With a slightly shorter hull, improved keel with a lower center of gravity and a masthead, instead of fractional, rig and cost reductions realized by eliminating wheel-steering and making some cabin amenities optional, the new 35 footer, offered at a base price of $49,500 ($30,000 less than its predecessor) was an instant hit. More than 170 boats (built by TPI) were sold in the first three years; there are more than 300 sailing today. J/35s are eagerly sought on the used boat market, selling for $60,000 to $85,000 - about what many of them cost, fully equipped, when new.

One design racing activity has been strong since the J/35 debuted - as many as three dozen of the powerful 35 footers have been on the starting line for class championships (1995 North Americans, Rye, NY). The fact that the field is more level in J/35 class racing because of the boat's forgiving nature has not deterred some of the world's top sailors from competing in class events.

The boat's greatest impact, however, has been in handicap racing. How ironic that this boat designed with a conscientious disregard for any handicap rule is one of the most successful handicap racing boats ever. It has taken honors in major offshore races around the world, including even the single-handed transatlantic race. It is the most popular racer-cruiser rated by the IMS. In spite of a challenging PHRF rating more common to 40-footers, the J/35 remains a perennial winner in club racing.

Mainly, though, the J/35's appeal endures today for the same reason the boat was immediately popular with it was introduced 16 years ago - because, in the words of Bob Johnstone, it is "a magical boat that turns good sailors into great sailors".

Selection Committee and Standards

These Hall of Fame boats are true American classics, exemplars of the extraordinary skill and ingenuity of American boatbuilders. They range in size from 8 to 41 feet. Several date to the dawn of the fiberglass era and are considered collector's items; others are still in production, selling briskly. All have profoundly influenced the sport of sailing. By their sheer excellence, they have made sailing better. Other boats honored include the Sunfish, Triton, Laser, Santa Cruz 27, Cal 40, Morgan Out Island 41, Hobie 16, Valiant 40 and the Windsurfer.

Selection for the Hall of Fame were made by a committee of magazine editors, comprised of Bill Schanen, Sailing Magazine, chairman; John Burnham, Sailing World; and Patience Wales, Sail. Half-models of Hall of Fame boats are displayed each year at Sail Expo and are on permanent display at the Museum of Yachting in Newport, Rhode Island.

J-Boat Forums

No Ratings...SAME EXCUSES LOL!

Great choice! Your favorites are temporarily saved for this session. Sign in to save them permanently, access them on any device, and receive relevant alerts.

• Sailboat Guide

J/35 is a 35 ′ 5 ″ / 10.8 m monohull sailboat designed by Rod Johnstone and built by J Boats and Sydney Yachts/Bashford Int. between 1983 and 1992.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

A small number of boats were built under license in Australia. Shoal draft vers.: 6.00’/1.83m

Embed this page on your own website by copying and pasting this code.

• About Sailboat Guide

©2024 Sea Time Tech, LLC

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Browse by Category

• Coach of the Year
• High School Sailing Team of the Year
• Optimist Sailor of the Year
• Sailing Fitness
• Regatta News/Results
• Boat Speed/Tuning/Sailtrim Articles
• General Sailing News
• Coaches Locker Room
• From the Experts
• Profiles in Pro Sailing
• Featured Jobs
• Marketplace Ads
• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Sail1Design

First Name*

Email Address*

November 30, 1999 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

What made the J/35’s dazzling performance so accessible to sailors of varying experience and ability? Primarily it 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.

The J/35 was created in response to a downturn in the U.S. economy. To attract buyers in the offshore racer-cruiser category, the brothers who ran J Boats, Bob Johnstone, who handled marketing, and Rod Johnstone, designer of the J line, decided to modify one of Rod’s earlier designs, the J/36. With a slightly shorter hull, improved keel with a lower center of gravity and a masthead, instead of fractional, rig and cost reductions realized by eliminating wheel-steering and making some cabin amenities optional, the new 35-footer, offered at a base price $49,500 ($30,000 less than its predecessor), was an instant hit.  More than 170 boats (built by TPI) were sold in the first three years; there are 330 sailing today. One-design racing activity has been strong since the J/35 debuted-as many as three dozen of the powerful 35-footers have been on the starting line for class championships. The fact that the field is more level in J/35 class racing because of the boat’s forgiving nature has not deterred some of the world’s top sailors from competing in class events.

Mainly, though, the J/35’s appeal endures today for the same reason the boat was immediately popular when it was introduced 16 years ago-because, in the words of Bob Johnstone, it is “a magical boat that turns good sailors into great sailors.”

-Bill Schanen, Sailing Magazine

loa 35’ 5” beam 11’ 8” sail area 663 ft² w/100% jib spinnaker area ft² hull weight 10,500 lbs. crew # of boats built >330 active US fleets

Class website: http://www.j35.org/

Reader Interactions

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy .

One Design Classes

Browse the airwaves.

• Sailing News Articles
• High School & College News Articles
• One-Design Class Profiles
• Tactics & Strategy
• Sailing & Education
• ICSA Rankings
• Sailing/Yacht Club Profiles
• Youth Sailor of the Year
• Sail1Design Annual Awards

Helpful Links

• Join the S1D Team
• Accessibility Help
• Privacy Policy
• Entries feed
• Comments feed
• WordPress.org

The J35 is a 35.5ft masthead sloop designed by Johnstone and built in fiberglass by Sydney Yachts/Bashford Int. between 1983 and 1992.

330 units have been built..

The J35 is a light sailboat which is a high performer. It is very stable / stiff and has a low righting capability if capsized. It is best suited as a racing boat.

J35 for sale elsewhere on the web:

Main features

Login or register to personnalize this screen.

You will be able to pin external links of your choice.

See how Sailboatlab works in video

We help you build your own hydraulic steering system - Lecomble & Schmitt

Accommodations

Builder data, other photos.

Modal Title

The content of your modal.

Personalize your sailboat data sheet

[{{{type}}}] {{{reason}}}

{{texts.summary}} {{#options.result.rssIcon}} RSS {{/options.result.rssIcon}}

{{{_source.title}}} {{#_source.showPrice}} {{{_source.displayPrice}}} {{/_source.showPrice}}

{{{_source.displayUrl}}}

{{{_source.displayDate}}}

{{{_source.description}}}

{{#_source.additionalFields}} {{#title}} {{{label}}}: {{{title}}} {{/title}} {{/_source.additionalFields}}

• J/70 (22.8')
• J/80 (26.3')
• J/88 (29.2')
• J/9 (28.0')
• J/99 (32.6')
• J/111 (36.5')
• J/112E (36.0')
• J/121 (40.0')
• J/45 (45.6')
• Other J/Models
• J/Newsletter
• Sailing Calendar
• J/Classes & Owners
• J/Gear Store
• J/Owner Resources
• J/World Annapolis
• J/World San Diego
• Request New Boat Info
• Find My Dealer
• Contact J/Boats
• Contact J/Composites
• Licensed Builders

• Forum Listing
• Marketplace
• Advanced Search
• All Topics Sailing
• General Sailing Discussions
• SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

J35 balancing question

• Add to quote

Smaller, non-overlapping headsails and wider angles. Idea is still to keep the boat upright and balanced.  

I think you will pretty much be stuck with the rating for example around here a J24 gets a 174 in Spinnaker or Main and Jib divisions And the weight think is and area of HUGE disagreement with some pretty ugly fights about it as the advantage changes with wind speed There is generally a single/double hand division and the only allowance is the use of and autopilot  

Boats that are intended to be raced single-hand have sail inventories and hardware layouts that are different than for crewed racing. Assuming that the boats are reasonably prepped for single-handing the actual spread in relative speed from one boat to another boat are generally about the same whether single-handed or racing with crew. That is not to say that a single-handed boat is sailing as fast as the same boat would be with full crew. While there are certain points of sail and certain wind conditions in which a single-handed boat will have equal or better speed, for the most part, the on most points of sail a crewed boat will be faster. This is especially true upwind in a breeze where the crewed boat will have a better VMG, both with greater speed and less leeway. On the other hand, when I have raced single hand on a course with crewed boat, that speed difference was often less than I would have expected. To some extent the closeness in the speed between crewed and short-handed is a product of a specialized sail inventory. I don't know how J-35's handle their inventory but as someone who races my 38 foot, fractionally rigged boat single-handed, I can tell you how I handle this. First of all, I have a very different sail inventory for single-handing than I do for crewed racing. The sails are slightly smaller, cut slightly fuller and designed for greater headstay sag than my crewed racing sails. They are made from a low stretch material (panel cut mylar/kevlar without taffittas). The idea is to get as wide a windspeed range out of my headsails as I can. The fuller sail shape and lighter weight cloth, allows me to use a smaller sail down into a lighter air wind range and then take out the headstay sag and flatten the sail to go into a higher wind range. I generally sail with more twist in my sails in higher winds than I would with crew weight on the rail. My singlehanding sail inventory is smaller than the crewed inventory. Crewed the boat carries a light #1, AP #1, #2, #3, a storm jib, storm trisail, flat sym. reaching (moderate wind AP) spinnaker and heavy downwind sym. spinacker. Short-handed and cruising I only carry a specally cut number 2,(140%) and a specially cut #3 (111%), the storm sails, a heavier weight AP sym. spinnaker Since I lose less time by reefing than by doing a single-handed headsail change, and since my jibs have a wider wind range, racing single-handed I reef the mainsail at around 20 knots while my mainsail would almost never be reefed when racing with crew. I never sail with a partially furled headsail. On a short course I either blade or reef the mainsail and do a sail change on the spinnaker leg, and on a longer leg, I will do a headsail change. For what it is worth the single-handing sails are also great cruising sails as well. Jeff  

Jeff: Thanks for a very thorough reply. That is pretty much what I suspected only by way of a much more complete explanation. I also like a frac. rig for the reasons you have enumerated on various threads. The little bit of Lightning sailing I have done convinced me of this! I really like the J35, 36 and even the 37C for their ability to take a pounding and go offshore, yet still be quick on the Bay w/ its light air. PS. what races have you been doing?  

I'm glad I'm not the only one on Sailnet that sails Lightnings! Look at the book A Manual of Sail Trim by Stuart H. Walker. It is mostly for fractional rigs and has alot of info that will pertain to the J35 and your problem of a lighter crew. It doesn't go too much into sail selection but it does give a good basis for ways to reduce heel and increase VMG.  

I have mostly done single- and double-handed races here on the Chesapeake although I also did a few single-handed races when I lived in Savannah. Over there years there have been serveral attempts to get single-handed racing going on the Bay. EYC had a brief series of races back in the late 1980's and then there were some random events during the 1990's. Most recently there was a short-lived series out of Annapolis Harbor that had a lot of promise but eventually died prematurely. I had hoped to eventually do some distance single-handed events but I really don't have time or the finances to do anything major at this point. There is a fellow on the creek where I live who is prepping a J-105 for offshore single-handed racing and hopes to do the Bermuda 1-2. I had forgotten to answer your questions about weather helm and keeping the helm balanced. I think this will vary with the specifics of each boat. On my boat, I tend to sail with a slighter greater heel angle than I would accept if I were sailing with crew. In a gust, I tend to trim the feather the boat a little, then the backstay, traveller, and as a last resort mainsheet pretty agressively as a way of minimizing weather helm. As a fractional rig, the backstay adjuster is my best friend. The jibs are not exactly set and leave, but they are smaller and respond very well to luff sag (back stay tension) so I adjust them far less than the mainsail. In a gust I will typically start by tensioning the backstay, which simultaneously opens the leech of the mainsail, tensions the forestay (and so takes fullness out of the leading edge of the jib), and slightly opens the leech of the jib, all of which collectively reduces weather helm and heel angle. I will then feather the boat until I can get to the traveler where I want it. In a building breeze, as the breeze builds, in addition to smaller scale backstay, mainsheet and traveller adjustments, I move around the boat adjusting halyards, outhauls, vang, jibsheet leads, until I achieve a maximum VMG, a reasonable heel angle, and a moderately neutral helm. Synergy is surprisingly responsive. I can hold the wheel in one hand and appliy the backstay adjuster with the other until I feel the helm lighten to the point that it feels balanced, but she tollerates higher heel angles, and does not wipe out as suddenly as an many designs that I have sailed on, which was one of the motavations for buying this particular design. I have only raced on J-35's that were fully crewed so I really don't know how they behave as single-handed racers. My sense is that they are inherently forgiving designs for that era and so althoigh they are not fractional rigs, they might be a good choice. Another masthead rigged boat that appealed to me was the Express 37, but they were 8 inches deeper and I was concerned about getting in my channel with one of them. The J-35 and Express 37 are actually faster boats overall in the light conditions of the Bay, but in making a decision for my own use I thought that the fractional rig's smaller headsails might be easier for me to handle. Jeff  

• ?            
• 174.1K members

Top Contributors this Month