last update July 13, 2010
Welcome to the Official J Class webpage! This page was originally intended for the purpose of providing the information for the Class National Championship Regatta held in San Antonio, Texas in October of 2007 but due to the ongoing activity and growth within the class the need was felt for an up to date page that could provide more information and current news to the skippers and those interested in the class.
If you have any information or PICTURES you would care to share with the rest of us here, please call or email:
(210) 374-8552 Larry@LudwigRCYachts.com
New boats are being built all the time, we always enjoy learning about new construction projects and finding pictures of boats under construction. I had some major issues with the website structure which prevented any updates for a few months, but hopefully that has all be corrected.
Last year was the busiest year for the J Class in quite some time with 3 scheduled events and continued growth in the class. New boats, new skippers and a few old boats registered or moved to new homes, it's all good news for the class. Please take some time and poke around the website and get a feel for the class or look up some boats you may have seen, sailed against or even owned!
We are always grateful to have any boat pictures and reports of new construction to pass along here.
NEW MOTION FOR THE J CLASS AND PROPOSED RULE CHANGE
PLEASE click on the button above left and read about the entirely new rules set for the AMYA approved J Class Rules. This will be voted upon in the upcoming ballot issue #161 of the AMYA Quarterly magazine. ALSO there is a MOTION made to limit the Main Sail Roach, you will find this motion complete along with the entire new rules section on this page. Click on PROPOSED RULE CHANGES
NEW OR OLD... please send in your pictures so we can add some more to the website. I have received less than 10 pictures in 18 months.
J CLASS AND 12 METER RACING TO RETURN TO MYSTIC SEAPORT
Mystic Seaport is pleased to welcome back Model Yacht Racing to our grounds this year. The J Class and the East Coast 12 Meter class will again take to the water off the North Dock August 12th-15th for what promises to be an exciting event hosted by the Mystic River Radio Sailors (AMYA CLUB #39) and in association with the American Model Yachting Association. If anyone would like to experience the thrill of sailing either one of these two scale Americas Cup boats, we encourage you to join us and have the thrill of a lifetime. For more information contact Chuck Luscomb at chuckluscomb@dpmyc.com.
J Class Regional Championships
August 12th and 13th 2010
In 2009, Mystic Seaport saw nearly 15 scale J boats racing for top honors. In attendance, Ranger, Endeavour, Shamrock V, Whirlwind, Enterprise and Yankee. We expect to see more this year as we will host the J Class Regional Championships were skippers will vie for the North East’s top honors.
The J class models are 1/16 scale hulls of the J class yachts that raced for the America's Cup from 1930 through 1937. The models are the largest recognized class in the AMYA with the hulls ranging from 7ft to 8 1/2ft in length and weighing between 65 and 90 pounds. The models carry from about 3500 to 4500 square inches of sail on masts ranging from 8 to 10 feet in height. The differences in sizes of the models comes from the fact that the full size boats were built to a formula and different measurements could be used within the formula to get the same answer. The full sized boats varied from about 120 to 135 feet in length and had a water line length of between 65 and 87 feet. They typically carried a crew of about 35.
There were 13 full size J boats built in both the U.S. and Great Britain. In addition there were about 3 other existing yachts that were converted to meet the J class rules. Most recently, LION HEART which was drawn by Sparkman and Stevens and presented as one option for RANGER but never built, finally became a reality. See more about LION HEART at Hoek Design.
Several J boat drawings are available at Mystic Seaports
Daniel S. Gregory Ships Plans Library for folks who want to build one "plank on frame". For those who would like to build up a fiberglass hull, there are hulls being produced of Endevor, Enterprise, Shamrock V, Ranger and Whirlwind. The J class is truly one of the most beautiful classes of models in AMYA. To learn more, visit the offical J Class website at www.officaljclass.org.
EAST COAST 12M REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
August 14th & 15th
The 12Meter Class has selected Mystic Seaport as the location for their 2010 Region 1 Championship event. This years racing will be particulary important as the top 5 Skippers will earn a seat at the 2009 National Championships which will be held in Stowe VT this fall. Last year, we saw over 20 boats and expect this number to swell to near 30 boats.
The EC-12 Meter is approximately 5 ft. length over all, 23 lb displacement, has a 6 ft. tall mast and carries 1200 square inches of sail. As the lead-bellied replica of a full size America's Cup 12-meter, this hull shape sails and tunes like their full sized counter parts.
The original design which became the East Coast 12 Meter was a Charles Morgan design #2770. Nicknamed Eagle, the design was prepared circa 1962-63 and made into a 9/10" = 1' scale model for aerodynamic testing. The design was never considered for full size construction as a potential defender of the 1964 America's Cup, but was use to study ways of reducing the troublesome quarter wave produced from older designs. As originally conceived, the hull form was similar to Constellation and showed a reasonably full fore body, with only limited reduction in the forefoot. A "spoon" bow is shown in the original drawings, but the snub nose was extended out to form the somewhat more graceful shape we recognize today, probably by Buddy Black, who used the aerodynamic model as a plug for making the first East Coast 12 fiberglass molds.
The 12 Meter class is alive and well in New England with 4 major events held each year. Besides Mystic Seaport, the sailors will be making the rounds to Newport RI, Stowe VT and Deep River CT to complete the four race series called The New England Cup. You can learn more about the class, how to obtain a boat and to view the extensive sailing schedule, go to the offical class website at www.ec12class.org.