From an appearance point of view, two things jumped out at me;
1. The foretriangle is considerably wider (larger �J� dimension) and the main boom is considerably shorter than the J-109/ J-122 vintage boats. The sprit extends 8'-0" which will make the chutes a little easier to gybe.
2. The stern area of the boat looks wider and flatter than these earlier J-Boats.
The deck plan is simple and very conventional. The smaller main trims easily without the need for winches and the helmsman can adjust the fine tune without having a separate trimmer.
We sailed off Newport, R.I., upwind in 15-18 knots of true wind going into a pretty big sea (southwest wind with a strong ebb current) . The boat seemed remarkably stiff given the fact that there was little crew weight on the rail. We didn't adjust the lead pullers or the in-haulers but it looked like they had enough mechanical advantage to do the job
Steering was a piece of cake! The boat responded immediately to even the smallest helm alterations. Despite the seas you could steer with one hand easily.
We set a heavy chute for the run back into the harbor. The combination of light displacement, good control and plenty of sail area made it very easy to catch waves and surf. We achieved speeds well in excess of ten knots and left an almost perfectly flat wake while doing it. When you looked aft, it was sometimes hard to tell that a boat had been going through that same water 10 seconds before.
The boat's interior was very simple and would be fine as is for day racing. For distance racing you'd want to make some changes/additions. The head was in the forepeak that had a door for privacy. Across from the head was a nice big wet locker. The nav station seemed adequate and functional.
All in all, the J-111 looks like a fine sailboat. For more information, click here
J/111 SPECIFICATIONS
LOA 36.5'
LWL 32.7'
Beam 10.80'
Draft 7.20'
Displ 9,300 lbs.
100% SA 663 sqft
A-Sail 130 sq.m.
SA/DSPL
Upwind 27
Downwind 65
Engine 21 hp
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