J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Capacity?

Hi all,

I've been considering a trip this Sunday to take a bunch of visiting friends out on the boat. There's 12 of us total. That'd be almost 2,000 pounds on deck, which gives me a little pause.

How unstable would that be? How many average-sized people is it "safe" to put on a J/30?

It depends....

In calm water with not a lot of moving around you might be alright. If there is any chop or swell, I'd think twice about it. How agile are people and do they know what they are doing? I'd be more inclined to go out with a large group knowing that people can take care of themselves. If you have a problem, it doesn't take much for it to turn in a disaster, particularly if people don't know what they are doing and panic.

ps - the max I ever had on the boat was 10 on a nice day for a pleasure sail. I don't think you will find anywhere what the capacity is.

Here at the dock with a crowd for cocktails...

First rule is to have a lifejacket for everyone on board!

4 lifejackts = capacity 4

Ended up going out with all 12 aboard, motoring around in calm seas and at most a 10 knot breeze. We had a blast!



The only real negative was someone trying to anchor right on top of us.

Sometimes the capacity is one maybe two #LOL



In many cases it is between 2 and 10.




Me thinks the J/30 is safe up to 12 people as long as you have one USCG certified life vest per sailor.

God, it'd be nice to live somewhere you could sail in swimwear.

Yep, loaded 12 brand new live vests on the boat the morning of.

I think the most I ever had on Koesh was 14. I did have friends bring their own life jackets for some...I usually have 10 on board. Light air, easy conditions and everybody who wanted to drove at some point. Good times!