The J/40: a comprehensive look and a test sail.
On a beautiful fall day last October, Jahn Tihansky had the opportunity to get aboard the new J/40, J/Boats’s latest offering in the 40-foot racer/cruiser market, for a comprehensive look at the boat as well as a test sail. Here is his review.
I’ve sailed aboard almost every J/Boat model since the company’s founding and have owned a few of them. While I tend to view myself as a more performance-minded sailor, I have done a considerable amount of cruising on the ocean and in protected waters aboard a wide variety of boats. With that perspective, I was definitely excited when SpinSheet asked me to review the new J/40.
This boat is a logical evolution in the J/Boats line where the company typically sniffs out a new niche in the market and designs a boat to fit. With roots in the high-performance side of the general sailing market, J/Boats biases their designs to ensure that base is well-covered. In this department the J/40 will not disappoint.
For our test day, I joined Katie Lange (formerly) of SpinSheet and Keenan Hisinger from North Point Yacht Sales. We were blessed with 12-15 knots of northwesterly wind and smooth water. Three of us easily managed the boat under main and jib.
The sail setup
Our test boat was equipped with an optional in-boom mainsail reefing and stowing system, a powered cabintop winch, and a couple of other features I’ll touch on later. The fractional rig includes a carbon mast as standard with an above-deck jib roller-furling system, two sets of long, aft-swept spreaders, rod standing rigging, and shroud chainplates mounted outboard at the rail.
The primary jib is slightly overlapping, sheeting in front of the spreaders to conventional longitudinal jib tracks with mechanically adjustable cars and inhauler systems. The mainsheet setup is what is commonly referred to as a “German Admiral’s Cup” design where the 2:1 sheet leads forward inside the boom, diagonally down to the deck just behind the shrouds, and aft under the deck to port and starboard mainsheet winches, which are located just ahead of the twin wheels. This setup is very clean and easy to manage.
The 6:1 traveler is also located just ahead of the wheels and runs the full width of the cockpit with cleats mounted vertically on each side. While this is a common setup and functions adequately, I think that a windward-sheeting-type traveler car would be physically easier to manipulate and a nice upgrade. The vang arrangement is a spring-loaded strut-type with integral block and tackle and cam cleat located at the lower end.
The halyards and reefing controls were led under a flush deck hood back to jammer banks and winches port and starboard, which kept the mid-deck area clean and clear of trip hazards. There was a moulded-in instrument pod across the top of the companionway.
The boat was equipped with a PBO fiber backstay (for reduced weight aloft compared to steel rod), which was tensioned using a Sailtec hydraulic adjuster with an integral pump. While this adjuster setup is common, clean, and simple, it is not easily managed by the trim team when racing due to the pump location (on the centerline at the stern). More hardcore racing types may wish to consider a remote-located pump setup. It is my understanding that there is an option available for a longer bowsprit to allow for a larger spinnaker. I was told that the swap out process is easily executed for anyone wishing to consider that.
Steering
The twin-carbon steering wheels were well-sized and placed, providing excellent visibility for the driver, and easy to maneuver around. The binnacles had sufficient real estate to mount whatever instrumentation you may reasonably wish to locate there. The boat had a light helm on all points of sail and was comfortably steered from standing and seated positions, including when heeled.
In a couple of significant puffs, we purposely put the boat in an overpowered regime to test directional control. Despite inducing over 25 degrees of heel, only a small amount of rudder angle was required to maintain course, and the rudder showed no signs of stalling. We were even able to bear away from close-hauled without easing sheets. While we did not sail the boat under spinnaker, I sense that the boat will be well-behaved when pushing the edge of the envelope in that configuration.
The boat should be easily managed single or double-handed, or with a full crew.
Cruising features
Topside cruising features included an anchor roller integrated into the bow prod, anchor locker with a below-deck-mounted, low-profile windlass, a moulded cabintop dodger mounting rail, comfortable but adequately-sized cockpit coamings, a halyard tail locker under the forward end of the cockpit, and port and starboard shallow cockpit lockers, one of which is designed to accommodate a liferaft. A larger, deeper locker option is available with the two-cabin/two-head layout. Another large locker aft of the wheels provides additional storage and access to the rudder post/steering system.
Below deck, I found a surprisingly spacious salon area with a forward facing nav station to starboard, an L-shaped galley to port, and a large salon table forward that could accommodate six for meals. The standard topside-installed salon windows (two per side) enhanced the ambiance while below. There was reasonable locker storage in the galley as well as overhead behind the settees. The galley has a gimballed two burner stove/oven combination, a reasonable-sized refrigerated icebox, and moderate storage in cabinets and drawers. There is ample counter space with nice fiddle rails to keep items from falling off when heeled.
The two identical aft staterooms had adequate-sized double berths, each with multi-shelf lockers and hanging locker. There are engine access panels in each cabin.
The forward stateroom is a conventional design featuring a V-berth, full-length shelving and storage lockers, half with shelves and half as a hanging locker. Given the boat’s fine-entry design, the berth itself is a bit tight but certainly adequate.
In my opinion, the most significant compromise of the boat is the size of the head compartment. It appears that the designers opted to allocate space to the salon that would otherwise have allowed for a larger head. It is a “wet” head compartment meaning that it does double-duty for showering. That said, I’m not aware of any decent performing, similarly sized boat that offers a separate shower stall. Looking at the drawings of the two-head layout, I see that its aft head is marginally larger but still no separate shower. C’est la vie.
For auxiliary power, the boat comes standard with a Volvo 50-hp diesel and saildrive. We easily reached eight knots under power without stress, excess noise, or vibration. You will find primary engine access under the hinged companionway steps.
While the fit and finish of the boat is good, it is not a piece of fine furniture. Instead, the boat’s value is rooted in its design pedigree as well as its top-of-the-line sailing components; its “drivetrain, suspension, and braking systems” to borrow an automotive analogy. But the comfort level should more than satisfy anyone who appreciates a fine driving machine.
By Jahn Tihansky
Photos courtesy of North Point Yacht Sales
Watch Tihansky share his comments on SpinSheet's YouTube Channel.
Other Specifications:
LOA: 40.9’ (12.47 m)
LWL: 37.0’ (11.26 m)
Beam: 12.7’ (3.86 m)
Draft: 7.2’ (2.2 m) standard; (optional shoal keel: 5.9’ (1.8 m)
Displacement: 16,900 lbs (7665 kg)
Dealer:
North Point Yacht Sales,
7330 Edgewood Road, Annapolis:
northpointyachtsales.com
