Hi all,
looking at a j24 for close offshore racing (2-4nm out) off Wollongong, yes or no, pros and cons. If anyone has any suggestions for a relatively inexpensive alternative to the J24 your input is appreciated
thanks
Honkn
Offshore is normally Cat 4, but perhaps just around the islands is Cat 5. Not a biggy to get it there tho.
J24's are pretty long in the tooth, so unless it it has been well maintained, you may have a few deck and delamination issues to investigate.
Still a strong group going around at Botany Bay and there is lots of information available on the web.
The Admiral sailed one in the early 80's, doing overnight races to England from The Netherlands. She loved sailing on them and wont hear a bad word said about them.
Thanks for the info, do you have ideas on a good starter for close offshor, relatively inexpensive but also competitive
I wouldn't choose a J for that purpose. The problem with the J is that self righting is marginal for offshore use, so if things go wrong you could be in trouble. If you already had a J and wanted to do offshore racing or if you had a J fleet to race with, things would be different. If you do end up chosing a J (for instance if you want to run up the coast for racing with the very strong Port Hacking one design fleet) you can seal the hatches which makes them safer, if I recall correctly.
Similar boats include; S80, Farr 740 Sports (trailerable, but has runners); MASRM 720 (I'm not sure if all of them were stable enough for offshore, but quite a few did overnighters in the JOG era); Capri 25;
There are also the Sonata 8, Seaway 25 and Sonata 6.7 which are about 3-4% slower but did many short offshores back in the day. The Hood/Halvorsen 25 (not the 23!) is a bit of a sleeper - little known and not that fast looking, but a good performer.
This could be interesting; I think she was designed as a JOG boat; https://yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/henderson-26-custom/227378
Actually, hunting around makes the J look pretty cheap and one would imagine there'd be lots of second-hand sails around. But be wary of the low ultimate stability!
Hi all,
looking at a j24 for close offshore racing (2-4nm out) off Wollongong, yes or no, pros and cons. If anyone has any suggestions for a relatively inexpensive alternative to the J24 your input is appreciated
thanks
Honkn
Endeavour 26
S80
Chris249 has mentioned Sonatas, they had a good track record as j.o.g. boats, back in the day. I dont know what you regard as "relatively inexpensive", but there is one on gumtree that is competitively priced for its type.https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/abbotsford/sail-boats/sonata-8mtr-yacht/1215892448
A plus for you, its in Sydney, another plus, if you p.m. shaggybaxter his previous boat was a sonata 26 /8 not quite sure, but I think he did a heap of racing on it. This one looks like it needs a good tidy up, but as always "buyer beware", if you are not too sure what to look for, take someone who knows.
Negative for you; if you enjoy it heaps, and want to continue with a bigger boat, then the next step is a big one, shaggy will fill you in......
Just one other point if you did go a J - there's an issue with some of the older ones lazarette hatches. This was a design flaw which was remedied at some point. The original design had aft hatches on both sides of the boat. To save weight some people wouldn't latch the hatches shut. In a knock down, the hatches would open, fill with water, and the boat would sink. The newer J24s (somebody knows when they started doing this, I don't) do not have these hatches along with a full bulkhead between that area and the cabin, thus effectively creating floatation.
Thanks you all that replied with your thoughts and comments. I have decided against the J24 and looking at some other option including, northshore 27, Cavalier 28, Swarbrick S80, Adams 10 Cruiser/Racer. Again all suggestions and comments on any of these listed or any recommendations are welcome.