Damn!!!! This boat is fast! Or as Thomas said, "Wowwwww!"
With a crew of 5 people, mostly J24 and J29 owners we sailed in a fresh
breeze with main and 110%. The 35s5 is surprisingly quick on every
tack. My friend's J30 was also out and we easily ran him down, faster
in every respect and he knows how to get the Jboat to move so everyone
was impressed as we were really fumbing around with the 35s5's rig.
Out near exectution rocks we sailed along with a J35 with some pretty
expensive looking sails. Upwind, side by side neither boat could gain
much advantage, but when we fell off the J35 gained.
Feedback, as we noted, is exceptional. The Whitlock steering is just in
another league, very precise with no play of any kind. The tiniest
imputs register, much like a tiller. Near Bayside, the air was cut off
and the 35s5 kept moving even when it seemed like there was no air.
With every boat we've had we easily noted the advantages in
performance, but this was like going from a Bi-plane to a Concorde.
Of course we got what we paid for with this boat in that we were also
comfortable on deck and below. My buddy said, "This boat does too many
things well, just like the 36.7." I pointed out that the 36.7 is faster
and everyone said, "who cares?" The 35s5 is quite fast and more
comfortable than the 36.7. Next week a rigger is going to help tune the
rig to perfection.
We only stayed out a few hours. Thomas had fun on deck and fell asleep
in his cabin when we got back for a late lunch. It's going to be a
great summer!

Pics coming soon!


RB
35s5
NY