J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment I'm looking at a J/30 soon

I have redone a J30 - as have may on here.

Start with the major issues (both from a cost and time consumption point of view):

Major

1. Condition of hull below waterline. Spend the money on a proper marine survey (or bottle of fine scotch etc.) to look for wet/rotten core areas (including the transom). If there are wet areas, and depending on the location, this can seriously threaten the structural integrity of the vessel. Be aware that a decision to repair these areas will take roughly twice as long as you think it will. There is no cost/corner cutting on such a job (other than to do it yourself) as it must be done correctly. This could be a deal serious breaker. Also look at the area where the lead portion of the keep is affixed to the fiberglass structure (about a foot down). Serious cracking in this area will need a proper repair and could be a sign of a problem (broken/loose keel bolts).

2. Condition of deck. Again you are looking for wet/rotten areas. The core between the fiberglass shells is balsa wood. Works great until it gets wet in which case it rots. We replaced four main areas on our deck. In two places we accessed the spots from above. To do so we drilled in excess of 200 holes and picked out the rotten core until we found dry wood. Many, many hours. In two other spots we re-cored from below. A bit easier but again time consuming and you need to be half competent with fiberglass (again using the good stuff, not some automotive body fill). Also consider the work to make the area look good. We ended up removing everything from the deck, painting and applying kiwi grip. Was the practical solution to hiding our repairs - we also took the opportunity to fix every deck crack along the way.

3. Engine. Check out the replacement cost, it might scare you. However, a little knowledge/maintenance on these Yanmar engines goes a lot way (replacing filters, zincs, belts, oil etc).

4. Rudder. Mine had a vertical freeze crack when I had bought it (unseen). I wish I would have known beforehand. Those vertical cracks (on the leading edge of the rudder often near the gudgeons) warn of water ingress. Water often finds a way in near the rudder bracket bolt holes (if not properly epoxied). I was suspicious of mine and even trained the crew for a broken rudder situation. Thankfully I did as it broke in 30 knots. Not fun. $2700 plus shipping and paint and hardware for a new one.

Medium

1. Mast/rigging. (This would be major if racing) If the standing rigging is in poor form, expect to pay decent money to replace it (not as bad as you may think though and there are used masts around). Have someone qualified look at the rigging. They can spot a problem right away.

2. Bottom. Our has 20 years of bottom pain on it. We decided to remove it all ourselves to "save money". Sure, it may have, but I'm probably going to die younger because of it. We tried various chemicals. That helped - but ultimately be prepared to run a sander for many days. If the bottom is rough, and if your environmental laws permit, finding a guy to soda blast is the perfect and slickest solution. Note if you do this, you then are looking at +/- 6 coats of epoxy (something like interprotect 2000E), sanded, then a bottom paint (ours is $400 a gallon). This project can because expensive.

3. Running rigging. Depending on the quality (measure of strength, weight, stretch) replacing the rigging can be fairly priced to expensive. Have a look at the age/brand. Has it been exposed to lots of UV? Learning to splice eyelets can help.

4. Hardware. You can spend a fortune if you really want, but you dont need to for your purposes. If the winches work, learn to service them. Have a look at the main sheet blocks, the vang blocks and the spin sheet blocks. Cheap/poor shape blocks is dangerous corner cutting.

Minor

1. Sails. If not racing, watch for used sails on this site (or post what you are looking for). There are lots of used sails around. Look at new sails if you are keeping the boat with plans to race it.

2. Cushions. Pays to know someone who knows his or her way around a sewing machine.

3. Lighting/Electrical/Batteries. Sometimes old wire needs to be pulled and redone. Lights should be switched to LED.

4. Nav/Instruments. Do they work? If not, set a budget.

Take some time and read through old posts. There is a wealth of information on here.