What's wrong with the J-32, the J-35C, the J-37, or (since you're
talking about spending the money) the J-42?.....

Wayne.B wrote:
For offshore cruising, I'd pick the J-44. It's fast, roomy and solid,
not bad looking either to my eye. Perhaps a bit "drafty" for some
venues however.

Yeah, but that was a lot more of a racer... solely a racer, from the
point of view of most
The ones I listed were designed and built as cruisers.


rhys wrote:
Yes, yes, and yes...but I am enough of a belt and suspenders
traditionalist to wish there was some sort of steel cutter- ketch with
a skeg rudder that had some of the other attributes--like fine
build--I see in the J-boats.

!Steel!!!! YYuuuukkkkkk!!!!! (backs away brandishing crucifix)
You couldn't *give* me a steel boat. I was in the Navy.

As you note, a properly built fiberglass (or cold-molded wood) boat can
be *plenty* strong.



I attend the boat shows, and I am very attracted to J-Boats because
they hit most of my personal quality benchmarks regarding systems
layout, handholds, backing plates, access to wiring and engine and so
on. But they can't carry a lot of tankage and they are skewed a little
too slightly to the "performance" side of cruiser.

Tankage can be improved. And the better sail performance, higher ballast
ratio, better sail handling systems, etc etc, can all be a huge benefit
to the sailing cruiser.


Which makes them great to sail...I've been on J-24s and J-29s in big
air, and it's a hell of a sleigh ride, but I think I would have to
look at (in a "money is no object" world) the J-160 to get into a
comfort zone for world cruising that I could find in a smaller,
heavier and no doubt pokier...but more appropriate for liveaboards
with a kid...cruiser.

Pokier is relative. A J-32 will still sail rings around most "cruising"
boats of her accomodation, and so would most of the others.

I grew up racing small tippy one-design dinghies. A J-29 ain't half the
kick that 470 is... no keel boat can approach the horsepower/weight
ratio & responsiveness of a thoroughbred racing dinghy. But I digress....

The performance under sail would be very welcome to cruisers who make
transits under sail, especially the windward performance. It will also
steer better under all conditions. Here's an even more heretical
opinion, based on my own observations- these boats that are designed for
better performance *maintain* their edge in performance (if properly
sailed) well into upper wind & weather conditions. Sure they have to
reef sooner, but the easier to work rigs produce more drive for less
heel & more efficient foils keep their grip better. I suppose if you are
battened down & riding to a sea anchor in the ultimate survival gale, a
crab-crusher is going to be a smoother ride... but "smooth" is a small
relative improvement.


They are very nice boats. So are Swans and Morrises, but those are too
deluxe for my taste. I actually LIKE the idea of the racing J-boats,
where you can power wash the all-plastic interior and then pump it out
and run a heat fan to dry it out. Ah, simplicity! Most cruisers look
like '70s rec rooms below...wood is lovely but is heavy and more work.

Yeah, hand-oiled veneer & plush fabric interiors aren't the most
practical thing for the hurly-burly tough cruising life.

BTW some years ago my wife and I were at one of the big boat shows and
stepped onto a Corel 45 (very fancy ggrand Prix racing boat). We
marveled at the deck layout, checked out the heft (or lack thereof) of
the carbon fiber boom & spinnaker pole. Then went down below, looked at
each other, and said simultaneously "Wow, you could put a full cruising
interior *and* a skating rink in here!" Given the current market
conditions, I think we'll see a lot of racing boat conversions over the
next few years.

But it's an interesting question: "If you had a cool $1/4 mil to spend
on a sailboat, what would you get?"

Fresh Breezes- Doug King