![]() The Rolex Fastnet Race is the perfect case in point –… The popularity of double-handed sailing is on the rise. We were sailing with a full main and non-overlapping J2 jib, which felt slightly overpowered in the gusts over 20 knots, but proved easy to handle. ![]() Upwind, we cut through the flat water like a knife though silk, achieving 6.7 knots of boat speed at a true wind angle of 38°, in 17 knots of wind. Compared to the Class 40s I have spent much of the last two years racing, the J/99 felt like a go-cart – a promising combination of agility and power. Just cruising down the river, the boat felt light and seemed to directly translate every puff of wind into increased speed. Sail handling is simple, the cockpit clean and well laid-out, the helm dynamic and responsive. ![]() It’s different, but despite the new features, this still remains resolutely ‘J’ in its appearance and feel.įrom the first moment I stepped into the cockpit, this boat struck me with its no-nonsense approach. Gone is the retractable bowsprit and furling jib, which have been the stalwarts of J/Boat design for close to 20 years, making way for a beamier shape, a fixed bowsprit and a hank-on jib. The new design incorporates some interesting changes for J/Boats, which bring the J/99 into line with its closest rivals in this area of the market. There’s plenty of room for the helmsman to pass across the aft section of the boat during a tack, leaving the whole cockpit free for the crew Of the 38 orders already confirmed, over half of the new owners intend to race short-handed and it was with this type of sailing in mind I arrived to make the test. The eagerly awaited J/99 directly targets a growing demographic of sailors who enjoy the fantastic short-handed racing scene available all across Europe. I don’t know what the rest of the world was doing at 0800 on that January morning but we were having a blast. As the sun rose, everything about the day and this little powerhouse of a boat became bright, sharp and dynamic. Within ten minutes our demure departure was all but forgotten as we came bursting out of Southampton Water, our senses assaulted from all angles by the bitter north wind and our 100m 2 day-glo spinnaker. I had come to test the new J/99, sailing double-handed with the British J/Boats importer Paul Heys on a chilly, blustery January morning. I felt like a naughty kid, slipping out while the rest of the world was still waking up going to make some trouble. We’d hoisted the mainsail in our marina berth, then sailed out into the river, the engine left in tick-over for less than two minutes almost as a token gesture. We ghosted down the Hamble River under mainsail alone, the water slipping silently past our red hull in the grainy half-light of a winter morning.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |