The J/80 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Rod Johnstone as a one design racer and first built in 1992. The design is a recognized International Sailing Federation world class with a crew of three sailors.

Production

The design has been built by Tillotson Pearson since 1992, for J/Boats in the United States, with over 1,700 built and still in production. At one time it was produced by Waterline Systems, also located in the US.

Design

The J/80 is a racing keelboat, with the hull built predominantly of fiberglass. It has a fractional sloop rig with a retractable bowsprit controlled from the cockpit by a deployment line. The hull has a raked stem, a plumb transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed swept fin keel. It displaces 2900 lb and carries 1400 lb of ballast. The cockpit is 12 ft long and the hull has a sealed buoyancy compartment on the bow. The boat has a draft of 4.90 ft with the standard keel. It can be transported on land on a towed double-axle boat trailer. For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with an asymmetrical spinnaker of 700 sqft. It will plane under spinnaker. The design has a hull speed of 6.29 kn.

Operational history

The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the International J/80 Class Association. There are 30 fleets racing in 12 countries, including in North America, Europe and China. It has also been used for two-boat match racing. In a 1994 expert review in Sailing World Magazine Doug Logan concluded, "In the test's light airs, the J/80 could often sail at or close to windspeed, and in several instances recorded the best leg times. While hard to define as a "conservative" boat, this Rod Johnstone creation doesn't go to the max in sailplan and (lack of) stability, and employs the proven construction materials used in thousands of earlier J/Boats. This might cost a bit of speed in light air with chop, but should broaden the boat's user-friendliness in stronger winds."

Events