I have seriously been considering purchasing a J-30 for some time now, however I have never had the oportunity to sail on one. Any kind of reviews would be greatly appreciated, good or bad. It would be used mostly for crusing and Offshore racing, very little club racing. Any information re: handling, offshore suitability, and general ease of care, etc. would be most helpful. Also if anyone in Canada is looking to sell one. Thanks.

I have owned my J-30 for a couple years now. The first thing that impressed me about the J-30 was how easy it was to sail. I took it out the first time with the main sail only up and it was so responsive. We have raced it in a few races and have to admnit that we are still learning how to get the best performance out of it.

First I would suggest going through the FAQ and the "Articles of Interest" section of this website. There's a lot of good reading here. There is a review link in the FAQ to Spinsheet magazine that doesn't work. Here's the working link:

Spinsheet J/30 review

There's also a review that's quoted on the J/Boats J/30 page. You can find it at:

J/30 review by Dale Mead

And here's the story of a J/30 that survived the infamous Fastnet storm:
J/30 Fastnet

There's a bunch of other stuff on both the J/Boats and the J/30 Class Association sites that are worth looking at. Read up on it and we'd be happy to answer any specific questions.

[This message has been edited by jmruzzi (edited 08-26-2002).]

[This message has been edited by jmruzzi (edited 08-26-2002).]

[This message has been edited by jmruzzi (edited 08-26-2002).]

Thank-you for the links they were quite helpful. One thing that concerns me is the review in spinsheet magazine and the wording "initially tender". I am upgrading from a Mirage 24 which is and extreemly stiff and forgiving boat. I sail in 15-20 kts on a fairly regular basis and dont want my wife and I to spend 90% of our crusing day "racing" the boat. How forgiving a boat is it?

My wife and I regularly cruise our J/30 ... and have taken our kids out since they were newborns. The boat has rounded hull sections, so it does heel a bit when the wind comes up -- thus the comment about "initially tender". The key is that you have a great ability to control the amount of power in the main with the use of the backstay, traveler, and other draft controls. We normally cruise with the #2 genoa or blade jib (#3), rather than the big 163%. Also, as was mentioned before, the boat will sail nicely under main alone.

I guess my question is how "forgiving" do you want it to be? I just checked the PRHF numbers for a Mirage 24. From what I saw, it was in the 220-230 range. That's a huge difference to the J/30s 138-144 range. With a J/30 you won't be able to leave the tiller while you're heading upwind in 15-20 kts and let the boat steer herself while you get a beverage from the icebox. I have always felt that the J/30 was a very "forgiving" design because it allowed me to control the sails in a way that helped keep us out of trouble and yet had the performance that I appreciate.

[This message has been edited by jmruzzi (edited 08-26-2002).]