1992 Overall Boat of the Year
PHRF/Performance Category & Reader's Choice

Copyright © 1993, SAILING WORLD MAGAZINE
Reprinted from March 1993 Issue

Once again Sailing World's Boat of the Year extravaganza is complete. Even as you read these words (assuming you read them fresh from the mailbox), the 1993 winners are being announced at the first annual Sail Expo in Atlantic City. If you're not here in New Jersey, settle back and consider the boats that the BOTY panelists have chosen to recognize as the premier designs for the year.

Consolidating and improving upon previously successful formulae are conspicuous traits among this year's nominees. In six of the seven categories, the winners are boats with obvious antecedents from the same companies. And in all, only three boats out of 43 nominees came as offerings of new companies (the Carrera 290 from Carrera Performance Yachts, the Expo Solar Sailer from Newport R & D, and the Tripp 26 from Smart Boats). Of those remaining, 21 boats are direct offshoots from previous designs, some even utilizing the same tooling (not including the nine boats considered in the Modified category). The panelists apprehended this trend as a "sign of the times," and collectively ascribed it to a soft market.

But such economic pressures often prompt resourceful strategies in production boatbuilding. Consider that all the winners this year come from tough, steady companies that have been in the game for a long time. And each winning design is a development of those companies' greatest strengths. Let's head into the ceremonies.

The Envelope Please
The competition in the PHRF/Performance category was very close, so close in fact that the panelists found they had to go back and take an additional look at the finalists (J/92, Carrera 290, Tripp 26, and Tripp 33). Afterwards, by almost unanimous approval, the J/92 emerged as the category winner and went on to be selected Overall Boat of the Year. By a margin of almost three to one, confirming the panelists' findings, you the reader voted the J/92 Readers' Choice Boat of the Year as well.

Utilizing the proven aspects of previous designs in a new package is a practice almost synonymous with the J/Boats company. Last year, their J/105 was selected BOTY in the Racer/Cruiser category by virtue of its performance, simplicity, and what we then termed "flexibility and innovation." Her smaller sister, the J/92, surfaced last spring as a refinement of that model, exhibiting almost identical characteristics, yet presenting new possibilities in a less expensive, and just as versatile package.

"The J/92 has several merits," signaled panelist Sheila McCurdy. "It is an easy boat to sail, and it's a good family boat. I'd be inclined to buy one because I could take it out sailing by myself." Implicit in McCurdy's comments is the notion that, although this niche boat is by nature purpose-oriented, it can also serve the varying needs of a fair spectrum of sailors; it is PHRF racer, one-design competitor, short term cruiser, and family daysailer all in one.

This smallest of the J/Boats line of metric designs offers simplicity in form and handling, as well as performance that the most aggressive racers would appreciate. "You've got to look at two things in this category," said Nick Nicholson, "And that's bang for your buck as far as performance goes, and bang for your buck as far as anything else you want to do with the boat. If you want to go off cruising for your week's vacation, then you start looking at little marginal increases in comfort as being meaningful. The J was the best in her category in that sense."

Stacking the J/92 up against the other category winners was not an easy task. How do you compare a $50,000 craft with one costing well over 10 times that? The panelists went back and forth, but it was Robby Robinson who offered an insightful perspective: "Among the boats we 've got to judge, this boat presents something different, a step forward." Additionally, naval architect Carl Schumacher made the point that "There are a lot more thing to put on this boat than on previous boats. There's a lot more being left up to the imagination of the owners, but I think the owners are going to solve the problems better than anyone else.

Schumacher also made particular mention of the boat's hull/deck joint. "It's a whole new thing, the deck is glued down with just a few bolts in it, and with the inward turning flange it has the look of a custom boat."

It's fitting that the last word on this winning design come from a reader. John Kimura of Shelburne, VT., commended the boat in these terms: "The J/92's stable and efficient hull form combines with an easy to trim sail plan. The boat offers a smaller nuclear crew, which means reduced campaign management (more time on the water, less on the phone); a sail inventory within most budgets; a big, easy-to-sail groove, and more time for tactics and strategy; the game we like!"