J/88 Update #6 

What’s new in the J/88 program?:  Year two of the J/88 demo program is in the books.  This year was a lot of fun because we had 4 other J/88’s to race against on Lake Ontario.  We have the biggest fleet in the country with 5 boats, not bad for a smaller market!  The 88s still raced PHRF, so it was a balance of trying to beat one another but also the rest of PHRF 1 on corrected time.  This year, we were given a 6 second “protect the fleet” rating, so what was going to be an 87 rating, brought us down to an 81.  This was actually OK, because it allowed us to see how the boat stacked up with a tougher rating against those in the area like the Beneteau 36.7 (rates 78 here), J/109 (rates 80), Beneteau 10R (92), Nelson Marek Custom 30 (93), and a J/105 (92).     Of course there are many factors that weigh into PHRF besides the boat itself, like wind speed, wave conditions, crew ability, sail inventory, clean bottom, and on and on.  Overall the boat performed very well and all of our owners were pleased with how easy it was to handle and sail, forgiving on the crew, and just plain fun! 

Our demo, hull #27, was one of the last boats out of the water.  It is now without a rig and will reside inside our Youngstown heated showroom for the winter.   

My thoughts on the J88, by Don Finkle:  I admit to being spoiled.  For over 40 years I have always been able to sail the newest models when they come along, and there have been many.  Each new boat represented the state of the art in production boats at the time.  They varied from just OK to good to really good.  The J88 falls into the last category in my mind.  With a season and a half of sailing the J88 under our belts I can say that with confidence.  
 
When sizing up a new boat it is important to put the design goal in perspective.  In the case of Jboats any new model must perform well and be easily handled, with broad-enough appeal to be commercially viable and to sell in numbers sufficient to offer the promise of one design racing.  Boats that are too exotic in construction or too extreme in any way do not fit the pattern which has proven so successful over time.  Sometimes we hear the knock that other boats are faster, and that is true.  There is room in the sport for higher-performance boats but they will always be limited in number.  Examples of new similar sized boats that were designed for that top end speed-wise would be the C&C 30 and Farr 280, and before them the Mumm/Farr 30.  They are each cool boats in their own right but are aimed at the top of the performance curve where fewer sailors reside.
 
The Jboats mantra is to offer a level of performance that is fun and exciting but also not intimidating or limiting.  We find that the J88 is just that, fast and fun but not over the edge.  It is hard to complain about the speed of the 88 when you realize that at 29 feet we are routinely sailing with boats 5-10 feet longer and often beating them boat-for-boat.  At the same time the 88 offers a usable interior with berths, a marine head, modest storage and a comfortable cockpit for daysailing too.  Add in the powerful diesel saildrive and you have a boat that can do limited cruising and overnight racing.  These factors were all part of the plan when the J88 was conceived, it had to meet a more varied usage profile.  We think the Johnstones nailed it.
 
Race results are not the best way of judging the potential of a boat because so many factors enter into it beyond the capability of the boat itself.  But at this point we are very comfortable saying that the J88 is a step ahead of most other boats of its size that have gone before, as it should be.  What has surprised us most has been the excellent light air performance which we did not anticipate given the lack of an overlapping headsail.  The other aspect that exceeded our expectations is the pointing ability upwind when the in-haulers are employed, it is like riding up an elevator.  The keel really seems to work.  
 
The sail inventory that seems to work best includes a main, two headsails and two spinnakers.  The light-medium jib is 105%, and the heavy jib is 100% but flatter.  The cross-over point between the two jibs is in the mid-teens, depending upon sea state.  The heavy jib can be carried down to as low as 12 knots and the Lt/Med up to 18, so there is a fairly large spread where you can get away with either.  The full size A2 spinnaker is 95 square meters, and the heavy/reaching A3 kite is about 80 SM.  Our main has one reef point but if memory serves we have yet to use it.  Jib battens can be either vertical or roller, either style works with the standard Harken below-deck furler.           
 
Sailing the J/88:  We would normally sail with 5 or 6 aboard, but could take more if they showed up due to the large cockpit and clean deck.  We hate to leave anyone at the dock but for most conditions five people is probably a good number.  The main controls are set up for the helm to trim the main or for a dedicated main trimmer.  Coarse and fine sheet tackles, traveler and backstay are close together.  If you are using a main trimmer the easy mode is to move the fine tune block on top of the coarse tune block with both in front of the traveler.  For short-handed sailing the driver can sit aft, straddling or in front of the traveler, any of those positions work.  Tacking the small headsail is easy and one person can release and then trim in on the other side…so long as the driver makes a reasonable-speed tack!   
 
We sail with many different people on our boat.  We spend more time exposing people to the fun of J88 sailing, and often their first exposure to asymmetric spinnaker sailing, as opposed to fine-tuning our trim.  For sure we can get more speed out of the boat over time as we focus more, and we noted that as the season wore on we kept going better and better.  There is a lot you can do with the jib, especially with the adjustable cars and in-haulers.  The 88 really tracks well upwind when in the groove.  When dialed-in, which is not hard, the boat has a very balanced and light helm.      
 
Before we changed our backstay length (see below) we were probably sailing with a poorly-tuned rig much of the time.  We often got to the boat from work with hardly any time to prep for the race so the rig was often too tight or too loose.  It did not seem to bother the boat much but for sure our performance would have been even better if we tuned for the conditions.  Because we seemed to be going well we also were a bit lazy about the rig.  Finally, as the boat comes the shroud turnbuckles are not as easy to adjust as they should be but we now have a good solution for that (see below).  Looking back on the season we were probably too tight more often than not.  
 
We found that the big cockpit tended to attract people who ended up sitting further aft than they should be for best performance.  When we moved people forward it always seemed to make us go faster.  The exception is downwind in a breeze where you want to slide people aft.  It is easy to move around the J88 so there is no problem placing weight where it should be.  Of course for daysailing that big cockpit is awesome and you can fit a pile of folks aboard and they will have a comfortable place to sit.  Tim reminded me of the time we had the young grandchildren aboard this summer and they had a ball, even swimming off the back, easy with the open transom.  The 88 works for daysailing, course racing, distance racing or limited cruising.  The jib furler is convenient as is the Harken luff track on the mast for the mainsail cars.  The boat seems to handle a wide range of wind velocities very well, the sign of a good design.  

Hull 11 (Rick Lohr) and Hull 28 (Joe O’brien) winning the start on a Wednesday night race.
 

A Warm Welcome to our latest J/88 Owners:  Rob and Sandy Butler recently took delivery of hull #56 which RCR’s Jim & Brian commissioned in Naples, Florida.   They are from Collingwood, Ontario but winter down south.  Also new to the fleet is long time customer from Rochester, Bob Kreilick.  Bob will be sailing hull #62 this spring.  We just sold Bob’s J/111 which he liked very much, but decided on something a little smaller that still had the performance he so enjoys.  We have a hull slot reserved for early April so you can be next to join the fun.

Toronto Boat Show:  We are lending our hull #27 to Pat Sturgeon Yachts, the dealer for the greater Toronto area so that there can be a J88 on display at the show.  It will bring good exposure of the boat on the north shore and hopefully we can build out our Lake Ontario fleet even further.  Pat has recently sold an 88 to a Toronto couple.

Upgrades/Changes/Additions:  One of the beauties of the J88 is that it is race-ready out of the box.  Jboats, Hall Spars & Rigging, Harken and the builder CCF have done a fine job of putting together a boat that is properly set up to start with.  In fact the boat is a joy to crew on, the gear is all there and it works.  That said, we racing sailors like to tinker with our boats, it is fun to add something here and there so long as it does not break the bank.  Here are a few things that we have done with our own 88s (we started with hull #2 and have been sailing #27 after we sold #2):

Canvas Package, by our friends at Custom Covers & Canvas in Niagara Falls:
Bag for storage of plexi weatherboard
Bag for stowage of anchor and rode
Mesh bag hanging in port side cockpit locker for storage of small items
Bag for forward bin opposite head (we store PFDs in it)
Padded lifeline covers
 
Telescoping/folding SS Swim ladder:  Lightweight, takes up no room at aft end of cockpit, and folds up against the transom lifelines
 
Backstay:  As the boat came we felt there was not enough adjustment despite the powerful cascading backstay tackle.  We decided to get a new upper backstay leg that was 30” shorter than standard.  Hall Rigging, who makes the standard running and standing rigging for the J88, made up a new upper leg plus longer strops for the cascade.  The end result is we now have more total throw from light to heavy air, and lo and behold our system is now the standard on all current 88s!
 
Raptor Deck We have this soft deck on our J70 and we also ordered it for our stock C&C 30.  Several of our customers have already requested this for their J/88’s.  We are dealers for Raptor Deck and just worked with them to create a template for the J/88.  They are available in the Standard, Premium, and Teakster.  Check out this E-Brochure here: Raptor Look Book

Turnbuckle Ratcheting Tools:  No boat is perfect and one of our few complaints on the boat is that it is challenging to put turns on and off the rig.  The placement of the shrouds and the stanchion doesn’t make it very easy to use the old fashioned wrench and screw driver method.  No longer an issue now thanks to this ratchet tool design shown below.  Marty Kullman sent these along that he had made for Rob Butler’s boat and apparently they work very well.  



Spinnaker Take-Down System:  You are going to love this idea taken from the Melges 32 playbook.  A patch is placed on the belly of the spinnaker with a retrieving line run through the hatch back to a couple blocks down below.  The line can be pulled from the companionway “pit” position.  The tack and halyard are blown and the retrieval line is pulled in sucking the chute down through the hatch.  As you can see, the carbon fiber roller allows the spinnaker to suck through the hatch freely, without any chance of catching on anything and tearing.  It should make it a lot easier for the leeward mark takedowns with that big spinnaker.  It does not absolve of all foredeck work but it is certainly a big help.  See below from Marty Kullman of Quantum Sails on this added option.

Quantum Sails J88 Spinnaker Take-Down System, by Marty Kullman:  The J/88 can be equipped with a Spinnaker retrieval system to make it easier to get the spinnaker into the boat on a dowse and avoid shrimping.  Many other types of boats use these system to make it easier, safer, and faster to get the chute down.
• TP52
• Melges 32
• McConaghy 38
 
All that is needed is:
• Under hatch roller
• 2 turning blocks
• Spinnaker patch
• Life Line cover
 
Custom J88 Carbon Fiber Roller:  Roller is screwed through the deck under the hatch lid keeping the deck clean and can be removed later if not needed for cursing.  Roller is high giving plenty of room to still get around in the V-Berth area.
 
• Special Machined delron roller caps
• Pre-formed aluminum mounting brackets
• Pre-drilled mounting holes with bolts

 

Retrieval Line System Included:  The retrieval line is attached to the stern on the starboard
side at the back stanchion base under the deck and then to the base of the mast post.
 
• (2) Harken Carbo Blocks
• Stern stainless pad eye
• Dyneema takedown line

 

Lifeline covers Included:  On the port top life line rollers need to be installed to help when the spin is resting on the life line during the dowse.  PVC ridged tubing cut to length.  Fits over existing Lifeline

 

Spinnaker take down Patch:
• Takedown patches will need to be added to your spinnakers.
• Can Ship to a Quantum loft for installation or Pre order for installation in Key West for Key West Race Week.
• Cost $150 and you can get a discount with purchase of the Takedown system

 
Kit Cost is $980*:
• Custom J88 Carbon Fiber Roller
• Special Machined delron roller caps
• Pre-formed aluminum mounting brackets With
Bolts
• PVC ridged tubing Life Line covers cut to length
• Harken Carbo Turning blocks
• Dyneema take down line
*Spinnaker Takedown Patch Separate
 
Order yours soon for Key West Race Week.  Limited number available.  Call today for installation and training at Key West Race Week
 
Contact:
Martin Kullman
Quantum Sails
Mkullman@quantumsails.com
727-560-0164

Key West Race Week 2015:  7 boats registered so far.  Rick Lohr in Hull 11 and Joe & Jeff Pawlowski with hull 2, both from Youngstown YC and signed up.  We just finished commissioning hull 56 for long time customer Rob Butler, who most recently came from the J/70 and Melges 20 campaigns.  KWRW on Yachtscoring

Class Rules coming soon:  A first draft of the rules have been sent out to some dealers and with plenty of feedback still needed, they are not ready for publication.  We will be sure to get those out to owners when they are available.  Because Key West is coming up very quickly, they will not have rules in place for Sails or Crew Weight, just go and have fun with the program you’ve had all summer!

North Sails Tuning Guide:  Download the full tuning guide packet on the North Sails website: http://www.na.northsails.com/

J/88 Press:
Boat-of-the-Year Award:  Sailing World named the J/88 as their best new One-Design as part of their 2014 Boat-of-the-Year Awards. There was high praise from the judges for the J/88’s design, sailing qualities and construction. Here’s a link to the full Sailing World report with photos. Congratulations to the build team at CCF Composites for a great job and to the whole J network for supporting the launch of the J/88.  Demand continues to build globally, and tooling is just shipping to France so that J Composites can begin producing J/88s for the European market this spring.  The full story here:  2014 Sailing World Boat of the Year
J/88 is on the cover of latest Sailing World magazine, debuting SW’s new and improved format.
J/88 Named Best Performance Boat under 40’ by Yachts & Yachting magazine!
J/88 Sailing & Walk-Through Video by “The Hull Story”:  A very good video explanation of the new J/88 by Jeff Johnstone, president of Jboats:  The Hull Story
Sail magazine review of the J/88:  Sail Magazine Boat Review

 J88 Facebook Page  Calling all owners and crew, please start posting about your boats.  What you are doing with them, photos from your racing or day sailing.  The more the better to build a following of the page.

J/88 Hull #27 (RCR’s demonstrator)


J/88 open, clean cockpit layout