what is a j class sailboat

Published on June 26th, 2017 | by Editor

Return of the J Class Yacht

Published on June 26th, 2017 by Editor -->

J Class yachts , which reigned supreme in the 1930s, are making a thrilling comeback, with restorations, new builds and the biggest fleet the class had ever seen at the America’s Cup J Class Regatta . Why wasn’t the event broadcast, people asked. One theory was the fear of higher viewership than the actual America’s Cup.

In this report by Matthew Sheahan , he charts a return to glory for the class.

Only 10 were ever built from just 20 designs and their reign lasted less than a decade. In their day, J Class yachts were the most technically advanced and universally admired yachts in the world. They drew royalty and captains of industry aboard, while regularly pulling big crowds of spectators to vantage points ashore. But the death of a sovereign, who regularly raced one, and the threat of a world war saw them disappear as fast as they had arrived.

Of the 10 that were raced between 1930 and 1937, six were built in America and four in the UK. Three of the British boats survived, but only just, while all the American ones were scrapped.

Conceived in 1930 as a more affordable alternative to the previous generation of expensive, one-off America’s Cup yachts, now, more than 85 years later, J Class is about to hit a new high. In 2017, seven J Class owners raced their boats in Bermuda – the biggest fleet the class had ever seen ( see photos ).

Of the original examples that still existed, Endeavour was the first to be fully restored back in the 1980s. Velsheda and Shamrock V followed. Since then, all three have been newsworthy sights at some of the most famous yachting venues around the world. From there, fascination with the Js continued, but with no original boats to restore, people started building replicas.

The first was the American yacht Ranger. “When we launched her in 2003 she was the first new-build J Class yacht for 66 years,” says owner John Williams. “I have had a number of large yachts over the years, but owning a J Class is like owning an F1 car, you simply can’t go back.”

The launch of Ranger, combined with Williams’ success on the water, inspired the construction of others, including Hanuman, the modern interpretation of aviation pioneer and yachtsman Thomas Sopwith’s 1936 J Class, Endeavour II.

Indeed, it was the competition between Endeavour II and the original Ranger that rekindled interest in the last J Class battle for the America’s Cup in 1937, when Harold Vanderbilt wiped the floor with Endeavour II in a match that brought down the curtain on prewar J Class activity and the class itself.

Some owners are now even building yachts from original 1930s lines plans that were never actually constructed. Lionheart was the first– one of seven rejected Ranger models from 1936. Svea, which launched earlier in 2017 ( see photos ), is the latest example – based on an original Tore Holm design from 1937, brings the total in the J Class fleet to nine.

Over three decades, J Class fever has taken a hold at a price tag of around $16.5m apiece. They are expensive boats to run too, costing around $1.3m to $2.5m per year for a racing J. The most competitive might even have new sails for each regatta, so with a single genoa priced at around $127,000, campaigning these boats is not for those looking to compete on a modest budget. And herein lies part of the appeal.

A J Class is not simply a type of yacht – it’s a phenomenon and has always attracted the world’s wealthiest individuals. In addition to Sopwith, Vanderbilt, George V and tea magnate Thomas Lipton were among the famous owners on both sides of the Atlantic. As well as satisfying a personal zest for yacht racing, the boats drew attention that often helped develop their global businesses.

Today, many current owners are equally accomplished, whether as captains of industry, technology or the internet, but in contrast to their forebears many prefer anonymity and are discreet about their professional backgrounds. That said, they are just as besotted with what are described as the most beautiful yachts in the world. Such is the legacy of the J that many see their ownership as simply custodial, even if the boats are replicas.

Back in 1984, American writer and businesswoman Elizabeth Meyer kick started the reincarnation of the J Class when she bought the derelict and barely floating hulk of Endeavour. One of the most famous of all the Js, Endeavour is still widely considered to have been Britain’s best chance of winning the America’s Cup in over 160 years. A full restoration programme saw the yacht back afloat in 1989.

“The size and beauty of these boats is a huge draw. It is hard to make a boat look as beautiful as a J does – there is some magic to it,” says Dutch businessman Ronald de Waal. As the owner of Velsheda, he admits to being hooked on the class. “Their history is also an attraction. They all have a big provenance.”

De Waal’s involvement started almost by accident but quickly led to Velsheda’s full restoration from a bare hull and deck. “I had bought a 40m yacht that caught fire during trials, which led to me looking for another boat,” he explains. “Yacht designer Gerard Dykstra found out there was a J Class hull that had been confiscated after the boatyard restoring it ran into financial difficulties. I paid off the shipyard and the bank, bought the hull and set about restoring the boat, and in 1997, she was launched.”

De Waal is the longest-serving J Class owner and remains very active on the racing scene. His enthusiasm and support, along with Dykstra’s design expertise, have been instrumental in the development of the current fleet. Where Meyer was the catalyst, De Waal and Dykstra have created solid foundations for the class. “To own a boat like Velsheda is to own something that is irreplaceable,” says De Waal. “It’s not just about the money, it’s the history and the almost spiritual feeling about the boat and what she stands for. It reminds me of life and living, it’s that strong a connection.”

Dykstra and his design team have been involved in no fewer than six different Js, with another on the drawing board, and remain closely involved with the practical day-to-day aspects of running a J campaign. “When you step aboard a J, you are not just a sailor but a part of yachting history,” says Dykstra. “The sailing is impressive, but it’s impossible not to be affected by the sense of heritage and the part these boats have played. They drew huge crowds in their day, and today’s spectators are equally fascinated.”

While the J Class continues to epitomise all that was grand, elegant and competitive about yacht racing in the 1930s, the reality is that these boats were, and remain, challenging brutes to handle. Not surprisingly, their immense power and complexity attract some of the world’s top professional sailors.

Jeroen de Vos at the Dykstra design office is one of several staff who sail regularly on Js. “Of the 30 or so crew aboard, more than 20 need to be highly experienced sailors,” he says. “You have to work flawlessly as a team because the boats are so powerful that the slightest mistake can result in a serious situation. The level of competition is also extremely high.”

Following the racing in Bermuda, the aim of the fleet is now the 2017 J Class World Championship on August 21-26 in Newport, RI

Sharing the credit for the new wave of Js is designer Andre Hoek who has created five of the modern Js. His work has concentrated on yachts like Lionheart and Topaz, modern builds from original lines.

“The move to aluminum as a construction material has been a big step for the class and one of the key factors in their current appeal,” he says. “Originally the boats were stripped-out racing machines built from steel. Today, owners want full interiors with creature comforts and systems that allow them to cruise the boats as well. A lighter aluminium build means they can have these interiors and still float to their original lines.”

Another key factor has been the clever handicapping system that ensures equitable racing at all the events. The handicap system was originally developed by Dykstra in conjunction with technical experts at the Wolfson Unit at Southampton University, which required detailed performance analysis. Andre Hoek’s team has also spent time assessing the current and future performances of the Js, but for subtly different reasons.

“We conducted a huge amount of research with velocity prediction programs to assess the various performances of the boats, both those that had been built and those that were just designs,” says Hoek. “The result is we now know more about why certain hulls work and others don’t. We can also see which of the original designers were working along the right lines.”

The willingness and enthusiasm of owners to take their elegant yachts to the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda in June 2017 is testament to both the continued pull of the America’s Cup and to the historical significance of the J Class.

“It’s rare for a venue to host more than a few boats, but the Hamilton Princess hotel in the centre of the town provided berthing for all the Js,” says J Class Association secretary and event organiser Louise Morton. “This created an incredible spectacle, right at the heart of the event.”

J Class yachts could not be more different from the modern, lightweight, high-speed, hydrofoiling catamarans that are the current America’s Cup boats.

A J Class has a single 41m hull, a lead keel and over 900sq m of sail. She requires around 30 crew, weighs around 150 tonnes and has a typical maximum speed of 12 knots (14mph). A modern America’s Cup catamaran is 15m long, has two hulls, flies above the water on hydrofoils at speeds approaching 52 knots (60mph) and is powered by an aeroplane-style wing sail. The boat is sailed by just six crew and weighs only 1,320kg.

On the face of it there is no comparison, yet they share the same DNA. Just as current foiling catamarans are defining new limits, the Js of the 1930s represented the leading edge of yacht design and construction, their size and loads pushing at the limits of what was technically possible.

But it wasn’t just the boats and their towering 50m masts and colossal sails that were breaking new ground; systems and technologies developed elsewhere on the boat were also helping to shape the modern era of both racing and cruising yachts. A good example is the development of electronic sailing instrumentation for information on wind strength and direction. First used on Sopwith’s J Class Endeavour II, such instrumentation soon became commonplace.

Even to this day, such technical developments have continued. “In the early 1990s, the winches on these boats were manually powered by the crews winding pedestal grinders,” explains Dykstra. “Now those grinders have been replaced with hydraulically powered winches that allow crews to handle the boats more efficiently. It has changed the game and led to more advanced systems and new sailing techniques.”

So while the enthusiasm for this classic yacht may appear to be driven by nostalgia, the boats are continuing to do exactly what they were originally designed to do – push the boundaries and create the ultimate racing machine. Sometimes history repeats itself in unexpected ways.

Tags: America's Cup , America's Cup J Class Regatta , J Class , Matthew Sheahan

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At the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, J-Class Yachts Are Back

These majestic boats, which were abandoned before World War II, are on the water again, built using old designs.

By Kimball Livingston

Falling off the deck of a giant J-Class yacht is not an everyday thing, but there is risk enough that each J in competition has a chase boat to rescue sailors who do fall. Imagine manhandling enormous sails on a narrow, slanting, pitching deck without the protective fencing of the lifelines that are standard on other boats.

There are no lifelines on J-Class boats because they would interfere with tacking the enormous forward sails, the jibs. And then there’s a century of tradition: Those lines would compromise the boat’s classic looks.

Around 50 boats are competing in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup starting on Monday in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, including four J-Class yachts. While many of the boats will be 60- to 80-feet long, Js are well over 100 feet, with masts much taller than that. They tower majestically over other boats.

“The Js have the most graceful shape imaginable, and in their sheer scale they project a sense of grandeur that no other boats can match,” said John Kostecki, an Olympic medalist and America’s Cup winner. “The first time you see them on the water, they take your breath away.”

J-Class yachts had their own era in America’s Cup history. They were built from specifications laid down at the turn of the last century and chosen three times for America’s Cup matches between the United States and Britain from 1930 to 1937.

The original Js were extravagant throwaways, intended only for racing. Not one was kept in sailing trim through World War II. What wasn’t salvaged for war materials was simply abandoned. Original J-Class yachts were never intended for casual weekend sailing, and they had outlived their purpose for competition.

J-Class designs have since been resurrected by a few owners who can afford to indulge themselves in their beauty and romance. There are now seven in the world.

One competing in Sardinia is Velsheda, which was built in 1933 and abandoned in the mud in 1937. It was rescued in 1984 and now is owned and helmed by the Dutch businessman Ronald de Waal. It looks 1933-fresh after an extensive renovation.

The other Js racing on Monday are replicas of boats long discarded or designed but never built, and now constructed to modern standards and with modern features, like the 135-foot Ranger. Harold Vanderbilt defended the America’s Cup on the original Ranger in 1937.

The replica Ranger will be helmed by the 2007 America’s Cup winner Ed Baird, with Kostecki as the tactician.

Svea and Topaz are also replicas. Svea had been designed but not built in 1937, intended for a Swedish America’s Cup challenge that was canceled because of the war. It was launched in 2017, and its primary winches — for controlling the enormous sails — are customized for different maneuvers at different, hydraulically powered, computer-controlled rates of speed.

At 143 feet long with 176 feet of carbon mast, Svea is the longest and newest J.

Topaz, a 1935 design, was built in 2015 and will by helmed in Sardinia by Peter Holmberg, an Olympic medalist and America’s Cup winner.

In building replicas, there is no forgiveness in design below the water. However, compromises are allowed elsewhere. One such compromise is the gleaming house that rides above the deck on Ranger. Vanderbilt’s Ranger had no house for lounging in the shade, but the new house is a comfort spot for the owner and guests when the boat is not racing. During regattas, Kostecki said the structure was a visual obstacle for Baird.

Different lengths and weights also produce differences in performance. New boats are faster than old boats, in part because of the ability of modern materials and engineering to carry more tension on the forestay — linking the top of the mast to the front of the boat — to prevent sagging of the sails.

Tom Dodson of New Zealand, a sailmaker and tactician on Velsheda, said: “The new boats might carry 36 tons of load on the forestay. Velsheda at age 89 can handle at most 22 tons before the boat starts to twist and flex, but that’s still a lot of cars hanging off your mast.”

A time correction formula used in regattas allows boats launched decades apart to compete fairly.

“Some factors can be calculated and others can’t, but the boats are so big and so heavy that they push through the water at close to the same speed. The latest correction system seems to be working. Velsheda wins races. Topaz and Svea both won races in July at Palma,” Dodson said, referring to the Superyacht Cup in Spain.

Helming these boats is not stress free. Given their tonnage and outdated configuration, the long keel in particular, Js do not turn on a dime.

“These are far and away the hardest of all boats to steer accurately,” Dodson said. “When I have to step in [at the helm], maybe while Ron wipes his sunglasses, my heart rate shoots up. Along with responsibility for the safety of all, at the end of the day, if it’s a job well done that’s a lot of satisfaction — respect due.”

Francesco de Angelis has skippered in the America’s Cup for Italy and has sailed on many of the J-Class yachts now in commission.

“I began with Endeavour, the first of the three original Js to be restored,” he said. “I was curious because the class was such a milestone in yachting.”

As tactician now for Topaz, de Angelis said, “Because the boats are not highly maneuverable, gauging time and distance to the starting line requires you to commit to your approach with three minutes left in the countdown to the start.

“On the course, you can’t afford to make many maneuvers, so you have to choose well and execute well.” Once committed to a tack, “there’s no turning back.”

Launched January 2017

Design: Tore Holm

Image Credit:

Image Credit: 

Svea is the newest J Class yacht in the current fleet and was launched in January 2017. At 143ft/43.6m Svea has the longest LOA by 15cms.

Her original designs were drawn in 1937 by Swedish Olympian and renowned 6 and 8 Metre boat designer Tore Holm along with compatriot boatbuilder Gustav Plym, but war put paid to any hopes of a Swedish America’s Cup challenge.  The  designs were left untouched in a drawer until they were discovered by Dutch yachting historian and 8 Metre boat enthusiast John Lammerts van Bueren.

Designer Andre Hoek and a group of Dutch enthusiasts including an owner bought the designs and, after careful analysis and refinement in line with their VPP modelling, the hull and deck were built. But the owner pulled out. The project was bought by an American owner who, after having sailed on four other J Class yachts, wanted to compete at the 2017 J Class America’s Cup Regatta and the inaugural J Class World Championships in Newport that year.

While the two halves of the hull and the deck were built at Claasens, the build was completed at Vitters on a very tight schedule in order to be in Bermuda on time for the J Class America’s Cup regatta.

Svea encompasses powerful traditional lines infused with the latest race boat technology. She has a very low freeboard and an extremely clean deck layout and a notably low boom. One trademark is a very large wheel which is set into a deep recess. There are two big working cockpits split by a small doghouse. The halyard and spinnaker trimming winches and crew work out of the forward  cockpit.

Svea’s first races were at the America’s Cup Superyacht regatta in Bermuda in 2017. In 2018 after changes to the keel, a longer boom, bigger main and smaller jibs, Svea won the class at the Saint Barths Bucket in 2018.

In 2022 post pandemic Svea passed into the hands of two passionate Swedish yachtsmen, both accomplished racing enthusiasts, who were inspired to bring Svea – which translates as Mother Sweden – under her native Swedish flag.

After a short, intense week of training under tactician Bouwe Bekking, Svea proved her speed and power over the two main regattas they sailed that year, winning The Superyacht Cup Palma in June 2022 and then winning the class title at the Rolex Maxi Yacht Cup.

Svea is helmed by the owners at events sharing steering duties between them. Seven times round the world racer Bouwe Bekking is tactician, Steve Hayles is navigator and Tim Powell is project manager and mainsheet trimmer.

Length at waterline

displacement

upwind sail area

spinnaker sail area

2017 America’s Cup Superyacht Regatta, Bermuda

‍ 2018 saint barths bucket, ‍ 2018 superyacht cup palma, ‍ 2022 superyacht cup palma, ‍ 2022 maxi yacht rolex cup.

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Svea: Inside the newest member of the J Class fleet

Silhouetted against the Mediterranean sunset, Svea ’s overhangs are awesome to the point of outrageousness. Her original profile was based on an analysis of the development of the J Class after the 1936 match racing series.

The Swedish naval architect and boatbuilder Tore Holm, famous for his Six Metre and Eight Metre class racing yachts, had turned his pencil to the far bigger Js and he set out to design to the longest LOA the class would allow. He had completed his yacht’s lines and sailplan in 1937 just before the Second World War changed the world’s priorities and, with it, sailing and the great and glorious international regattas, including the America’s Cup . Europe would take decades to recover economically and when it did the J Class seemed a little anachronistic.

Holm himself was a proud Olympic sailor from a boatbuilding family in Gamleby, Sweden. So it would not be a stretch to imagine him designing a yacht for Sweden’s elite to take on Europe’s best. Even though he continued designing boats into the 1950s, mostly Skerry cruisers and international classes, his J Class plans remained in a drawer.

J-S1 probably would have remained a ghost except for a trio of coincidences. The first was when the secretary of the International Eight Metre class, John Lammerts van Bueren, received permission from Holm’s heirs to comb through his drawings for plans of un-built Metre classes. In the attic of the family home, he came across the unmistakable plans of a J Class signed by Holm in 1937.

The second coincidence was that Lammerts van Bueren was good friends with Dutch naval architect Andre Hoek. Hoek was fascinated by the discovery and assembled a group, including a potential owner, to buy the rights to the design.

“We could see that there was a growing interest in the J Class,” says Hoek. His firm Hoek Design Naval Architects had earlier been hired to analyse the 1936 designs Sparkman & Stephens and Starling Burgess made for the replacement of Harold Vanderbilt’s 1930 Cup winner Enterprise , an exercise that led to the building of the original Ranger . Hoek’s task in 2005 was to find a design that could be updated to the modern class rules. This became Lionheart , which was launched in 2010.

“The discovery of the Holm J was exciting,” says Hoek. “We had developed a velocity prediction program specifically to analyse the lines and sailplans of classic displacement sailing yachts with long keels and attached rudders. We ran the lines of every known J through the program. We took the five designs that seemed to perform the best and subjected them to computational fluid dynamics to simulate tank and wind tunnel testing; then the data really got interesting! The Holm boat indicated it would be a very powerful performer.”

His team set about modernising the design to the new class rules. Construction started and with the two halves of the hull and deck completed, the owner pulled out, leaving the builder, Claasen Shipyards , with the unfinished hull and Hoek in search of another potential owner.

Enter coincidence number three — an avid racer who wanted to be able to sail in the America’s Cup Superyacht Regatta and J Class Regatta in Bermuda last year. The owner’s fleet manager picks up the tale. “He saw five Js racing at the Superyacht Cup and that was pretty impressive and twice we were involved in regattas where Js were competing. He sailed Endeavour and had chartered Rainbow for the Cowes Centennial, but then that boat sold,” he explains, adding that his boss also had the opportunity to sail Lionheart and Hanuman .

When he learned of the opportunity to buy the hull and deck of the Swedish design from Claasen, the owner took it, realising that that was the only way he would be able to make the event in Bermuda on his own boat. And so began the programme to finish a J Class from a bare hull in just 14 months. The build was completed at Vitters , which had arranged a partnership with Claasen.

Tako van Ineveld, formerly a director at Holland Jachtbouw , had been involved with the build and sailing of Rainbow . Now heading his own independent project management company, he was the perfect choice to direct the build of Svea as the owner’s representative. First on the list of modifications for the new owner was the addition of a doghouse and a revision of the deck layout.

Originally the wheel was mounted on deck like Endeavour ’s and there was no cockpit, notes Hoek. “But it is such a big wheel that it’s hard to put a lot of pressure on it unless you are on the centreline, but at times you really need to see what’s happening on the lee side. We felt it would be better to create a shallow cockpit and recess the bottom of the wheel in a well to give the helmsman a better position.” Unlike many of the details of the J Class, the layout and dimensions of the cockpit and the position of the wheel and winches are not part of the regulations.

Svea ’s cockpit is one of the standout features. Hoek and the owner’s team revised the plan, essentially splitting the sailing functions into two cockpits. The afterguard — helmsman, tactician, main and jib sheet trimmers and the team on the running backstays — are in constant visual communication and within easy hearing distance of each other while the halyard and spinnaker trimming winches and their crew are forward of the doghouse.

It’s an inspired set-up for fast, quiet communication, says Vittorio Papa of the Hoek Design office, noting there are no winches behind the helmsman. When in cruising mode, a U-shaped framework clips in around the edge of the cockpit to provide comfortable seating for 10 around a gleaming teak table.

“The owner has an experienced racing team and they took the lead in working with Southern Spars, Harken and North Sails in concert with the engineers for the yard,” said van Ineveld. “From a sail handling point of view, she is likely to be the most aggressive J yet.”

The owner wanted an interior with an owner’s suite plus two en suite guest cabins, a comfortable combination saloon and appropriate quarters for six permanent crewmembers. He chose Pieter Beeldsnijder to draw an interior that would nod to the classics, but not become a costume drama. For example, the joinery is open grain matt-varnished walnut and the simplified raised panels are off-white. Hardware is a tasteful gunmetal that complements the carbon fibre spars and sails and the deep grey pearl of the topsides.

One of the more modern interior features of Svea is a drop-down wall panel between the galley and saloon that creates an informal breakfast bar. While the cabinetry looks rich, 80 per cent of the interior is veneered foam core to save weight. The added teak doghouse is carbon fibre with teak veneer.

Sadly, in the middle of the project Beeldsnijder passed away. While Hoek Design transferred his hand-drawn sketches to AutoCAD details, Michiel de Vos of deVosdeVries Design was brought in to complete details for interior manufacturer List and choose soft goods with the owner.

In the small town way in which everything in maritime Holland seems just a few degrees of separation apart, de Vos formerly worked with Beeldsnijder before starting his own firm and earlier sailed as second engineer on the J Class yacht Shamrock V .

First and foremost, Svea is a racing yacht and the owner is committed to providing everything to work towards victory, says Captain Paul Kelly, a veteran of the classic schooners Borkumriff IV , Atlantic and Eleanora . Part of that commitment was assembling his 2017 race crew to sail on the boat in sea trials in Holland and then to assemble for full-on practice throughout April in Palma.

“We have the benefit of 20 years of development on Ranger and five or six on Lionheart ,” notes Kelly. “I think we are in a better position right out of the packet. Of course, they have the years of practice but our 28 crew have really settled into their roles.” All of the permanent crew also race.

“ Svea is an absolutely incredible fusion of 1937 design and 2017 technology,” says Kelly. “We look like 1937 but strip away the veneer and we are as modern as they come.” Contrasting the J with his previous charges he is quick to note “this one is a lot easier to drive”.

Moder Svea, which translates from Old Norse as “Mother Sweden”, has been the patriotic symbol of the country since the mid-1600s. Usually depicted as a powerful female warrior, Svea seems the perfect name for the yacht that carried her country’s seafaring heritage onto the world stage when the Js did battle during an America’s Cup for the first time since 1937.

First published in the June 2017 edition of Boat International .

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International J/111 Class Association

Class contact information.

Click below

Class Email

Class Website

One-Design Class Type: Keelboat

Was this boat built to be sailed by youth or adults? Both

Approximately how many class members do you have? 50

Photo Credit:Christopher Howell

Photo Credit: Christopher Howell

About International J/111 Class Association

The J/111 is a sleek, speedy, one-design 36 footer that is the ultimate day sailor, racer and weekender. The J/111 is an easy-to-handle, comfortable sailboat that accelerates quickly, slices to windward at 7+ knots and hits double-digit speeds downwind.

Boats Produced: Approx. 135

Class boat builder(s):

Approximately how many boats are in the USA/North America? Approx. 50

Where is your One-Design class typically sailed in the USA? List regions of the country:

Newport/New England Annapolis/Chesapeake Chicago/Great Lakes San Francisco, CA Halifax, Nova Scotia

Does this class have a spinnaker or gennaker? Yes

How many people sail as a crew including the helm?  8-10

Ideal combined weight of range of crew:  1,433 lbs.

Boat Designed in  2011

Length (feet/inches): 36.5 Ft.

Beam: 10.8 Ft.

Weight of rigged boat without sails: 9,300 lbs.

Draft: 7.2 Ft.

Mast Height: 51.4 Ft.

Back to One-Design Central

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Revival of the Q Class – a mini J Class without all the costs and crew hassles

• August 17, 2016

The J Class may be the most famous yachts designed to the Universal Rule, but they are by no means the only ones. Rupert Holmes reports on the embryonic revival of the Q Class

Photo: James Robinson Taylor

Imagine owning a yacht with all the class, style and history of a J Class , but without the monumental costs and logistical challenges. This dream is well on the way to becoming a reality with the resurgence of the Q Class – the purchase and running costs of a Q are a whopping two orders of magnitude less than for the big yachts.

Anyone doubting the appeal of the Q Class has only to look at a list of former owners, which features two multiple America’s Cup winners, including Harold S. Vanderbilt in the 1920s and Dennis Conner, who undertook the first full restoration of a Q Class yacht.

The Q Class was the first built to the Universal Rule, which was adopted with the aim of providing more level racing by the New York Yacht Club after the 1903 America’s Cup. Prominent American designers, foremost among them the legendary Nathanael Herreshoff, drew up the Rule, and leading designers from around the world, including Charles E. Nicholson, Tore Holm and Johan Anker, were involved in drawing many of the boats. At least 16 Q Class boats were built between 1904 and 1937.

Most Q Class designs are a little under 50ft, with a beam of just over 9ft and a deep draught, although later boats tended to be a little longer and narrower. Although slightly beamier, they were very similar in terms of dimensions to the 8-metres built to the International Rule favoured in Europe at the time.

The revived class has a number of high-profile proponents, including French legend Bruno Troublé, former J Class secretary David Pitman and California-based yacht designer David Fladlien.

Restored examples

One boat that has already been making waves at classic regattas in the Mediterranean and UK is Pascal Oddo’s Jour de Fête . One of the later Q Class, she was built in 1930 to a design by Frank Paine and W. Starling Burgess and originally named Falcon ll . Jour de Fête underwent a complete restoration in 2007/08, retaining as many of the original fittings and timbers as possible.

She won a slew of prizes at last year’s Panerai British Classic Week , including 1st overall in Class 5 and the Lallow Cup for the best-presented new entrant. This followed a long run of successes in Mediterranean regattas including Marseille in 2013, 2014 and 2015, Les Voiles de St Tropez in 2014 and Panerai Antibes in the same year.

After World War II many of the boats migrated from the New England coast to the Great Lakes, particularly Chicago and Milwaukee, where a number were eventually lost. At one time it was thought that only three of the original boats were left, however Fladlien says: “I have information of various degrees of certainty about eight existing Q boats, including some which are sailing and others which are being restored.”

Leonore , a Johan Anker design built in Norway in 1925 and called Cotton Blossom ll for much of her life, was the first boat to undergo a full restoration. This was carried out in 2003/04 by Dennis Conner and she has been racing in classic regattas ever since. Grayling , a 1923 boat, is still racing in Canada’s Puget Sound, while Robin (from 1928) is available in California and ready for restoration.

Fladlien has developed a set of rules for the design of a modern-era Q Class, with the aim of bringing the class back in a modernised form. The vision is for two classifications: Vintage for pre-World War II designs and New Construction for those designed in very recent or contemporary times.

These would retain the same long overhangs, along with deep hulls to provide lots of headroom. Both classifications are included in a revised Universal Rule for the Q Class, with limitations imposed to keep the boats, old and new, reasonably close in performance.

The handicap system is based on a velocity prediction program (VPP) under which both new and vintage boats can race together with time allowance in a similar manner to the one currently used very successfully by the J Class.

SEA&SEE/Guido Cantini

The new rule also introduces a number of changes to make Qs both faster and more capable: modern wood construction, broader stern sections to provide a longer sailing length and better downwind stability, lower centre of gravity keel and higher aspect ratio sail plan for upwind efficiency.

At the same time, design restrictions have been increased, to discourage extreme shapes, while mandatory accommodation arrangements are intended to ensure cruising capabilities in the new boats. The rule allows for modern Q Class yachts to be built from wood epoxy, aluminium or composite, by any designer and any yard.

They are stunning boats that stand every chance of gathering an enthusiastic following.

Dimensions (Jour de Fête)

LOA 15.85m/52ft 0in

LWL 10.20m/33ft 7in

Beam 2.74m/9ft 0in

Draught 2.13m/7ft 0in

Displacement 10 tons

www. qclassyachts.com

At around 50ft the Q Class is still sufficiently large and powerful to have a good turn of speed, while even the best racing crews will have plenty to tweak and manoeuvres to perfect. This is Leonore .

Greater beam than typical European designs of the same period allows for more accommodation space

After Dennis Conner’s ownership, Cotton Blossom ll reverted to her original name of Leonore and her hull was painted white. She is in outstanding condition

Robin is an unrestored original Q Class. She’s lying at Rutherford’s Boatshop in Richmond, California and has the potential to make a hugely rewarding project