Multi-Purpose Club Racer -

SW Boat of the Year 1994

By Sailing World 1994

Last year J/Boats' J/92 walked away with the Overall BOTY honors. The J/130, a scaled-up version, has taken the best attributes of that design and packaged them with enhanced comfort and improved performance, and come up a winner as well.

When the panelists test-sailed this boat, they lined up against two all-out IMS race boats, and the comparison was impressive. Upwind and down this simply rigged 43 footer matched strides most of the time against its racing brethren, with half the crew and half the effort expended.

READ MORE OF THE J/130 SAILING WORLD REVIEW HERE

J/130: Nifty performer

By Chuck Mason/ Chris Caswell/ SAIL

Have you seen a boat that looks and sails like a racing machine, yet is aimed at the cruising market? When you step aboard this 43-footer, you'll see how these two often disparate sailing worlds can be blended into one nifty boat that displaces about 15,000 pounds.

Although I ought to begin by talking about the boat's construction, my afternoon sail off Miami in 20 knots of breeze was so much fun that the technical stuff seems a bit pale by comparison. We were marching upwind at 7-plus knots carrying a 150 percent genoa and full main, a total of some 949 square feet of sail, and we never felt overpowered.

READ MORE OF THE SAIL REVIEW HERE

On-Board The J/130

By Sven Donaldson/ Pacific Yachting 1996

The J/130's combination of outstanding sail-carrying power and ease of handling for small crews translates into seemingly effortless speed.

This year's Southern Straits Classic attracted an unusually impressive assortment of high-end racing yachts. Conditions ranged from light to gale-force, and many competitors had hairy tales to tell afterward. But when the dust settled, the fastest boat on corrected time (and one of the quickest outright) was a stock J/130 from California called Break 'N Wind. The 43' production boat, sailing at a PHRF rating of 40, romped through the fleet in the windy conditions Friday night, impressing everyone with its apparently effortless speed.

READ MORE OF THE PACIFIC YACHTING REVIEW HERE

J/130: Passes True Offshore Test

By Peter Metcalf

I had the opportunity to sail on the new J-130, not on an afternoon demo-sail on Chesapeake Bay, but a 2000 mile delivery to her new home in Puerto Del Rey, Puerto Rico. As much as my crew and I were looking forward to the trip, a winter departure from Annapolis is not the sort of thing a delivery crew would wish for. A gale ridden delivery from New York to Tortola still fresh in our minds, and the recent misfortunes of several boats and crew, served to remind us that sailing in these latitudes at this time of year is not something to be taken lightly.

READ MORE OF METCALF'S OFFSHORE TEST HERE

There's no cruising sailboat like it: The early 1930's, with the advent of more efficient Marconi rigs, may have been the last time that buying a used boat (all gaff rigged at the time) made so little sense, because a new design made life so much easier on the crew.

The J/130 is the live-aboard, cruising version of the most exciting and innovative sailing concept of the past 60 years. J/Boats has taken the best of comfortable cruising design, combined it with the best of high performance racing design, then added a unique asymmetrical spinnaker for improved downwind performance. Yes, the J/130's America's Cup type asymmetric spinnaker is set from a 7.0 foot carbon-fiber, retractable J/Sprit. Jibing is easy with nobody on the foredeck. Simply let out one sheet and pull in the other. The tack remains attached to the sprit at all times. With one side tied down, the sail is more stable. Wild oscillations are avoided.

Whether it's blowing 5 knots or 25, assisted by a cockpit operated snuffer, two people can fly the J/130's spinnaker with better control and speed than eight people can fly a parachute spinnaker with pole and afterguys. The J/130's asymmetric spinnaker is a significant improvement upon cruising gennakers that attach to the stemhead. The latter are far less efficient and still require agility on the foredeck to manhandle awkward snuffer systems.

J/130 is a light displacement design born of modern materials of exceptional strength and durability. She has: 1) A very low center of gravity to achieve a high righting moment for good windward performance without crew on the rail, 2) A long waterline length to beam ratio for superb directional stability and safe tracking in large offshore seas, and 3) A generous sail area to wetted surface ratio for light air performance.

A few custom IMS race boats (at twice the price) may achieve similar ratios. J/130 goes farther. She was designed her to be sailed by two people at racing speeds without sacrificing on-deck cruising comfort or shorthanded sailing systems. A proper cockpit dodger and roller furling headstay are standard. Below decks, J/130 is equipped for comfortable onboard living.

Compare the velocity prediction of other boats you have known with the J/130. Then imagine how much more sailing you'll do with a J/130; how much more fun it will be to take out friends to experience the thrill of a fast boat that's safe and easy to manage; the sense of pride in owning a design of real beauty and functional elegance; the knowledge you've made a good investment in what really counts in sailing...the sailing...not a throwback to yesteryear requiring an engine for passage-making speeds, but a beautiful sailing vessel that harnesses the wind.

Introduced: 1992   Built to: Hull #43    Last Model Year: 2002