and a few other essentials like a liferaft, basic provisions and the skipper’s secret stash of single malt. By contrast, a performance cruiser has to sail almost equally well while carrying a lot of weight as she does when carrying none.
In typical use, a full cruising payload for a 45-footer adds up to at least two tons. It usually includes much larger tanks of fuel and water than racers tend to carry, bigger batteries, spare gas bottles, several anchors, a tender and outboard, optional extras like thrusters, fridge freezers, heating and air conditioning systems, possibly a watermaker and hydrogenerator, plus at least two weeks’ worth of provisions and personal kit. It all adds up. The knock-on effect is that a performance cruiser with a light ship displacement of 10 tons generally sails with a full load displacement of 12 tons, so its hull shape has to cope with a 20 per cent weight increase. And some of the race- derived design features that define the hull shape of fashionable performance cruisers, such as flat bottoms and high-volume aft quarters, create a hull that’s more sensitive to load. The wetted area is small when they’re lightly loaded but increases rapidly when more weight is added. For long-distance cruising at full load displacement, J-Boats reckon that the better load-carrying ability of a less extreme hull design results in a 20 per cent increase in average passage speed.
Another key difference between cruisers and racers is that the notion of performance means different things. For a racer all that matters is boatspeed. For a performance cruiser, it’s about how that speed translates into pleasure for the crew. Motion comfort, handling, helm response and feel are key factors – and that’s where the combination of
Above: it’s not just about saving weight, it’s also about where you save it. For example the J/45’s swim platform is half the
weight of the platforms found on some other designs; and weight saved on the stern makes a big difference to the yacht’s motion in a seaway.
The interior combines clean modern styling and a high level of craftsman- ship with practical
features that work well on passage, not just in port...
a well-balanced hull shape and a single rudder make a noticeable difference. It just feels better. The interior design and layout by Isabelle Racoupeau combines clean, contemporary styling and meticulously crafted joinery with a complete understanding of the ergonomics and practical requirements of blue water cruising. There’s a secure galley with deep fiddles around its worktops, a forward-facing nav station, lots of well thought-out stowage, and plenty of handholds and bracing points throughout. It’s rare to find such high levels of quality, comfort and style in a boat with this much performance potential; in that respect the J/45 is arguably unique.
So what are the drawbacks? The deep-bodied hull of the J/45 makes up for its low freeboard (still higher than a racing J-Boat), so there’s still plenty of headroom inside. The moderate beam does slightly reduce its total interior volume, but not its liveability – and it avoids compromising the boat’s handling, its motion comfort at sea and its consistently excellent all-round performance. The aft cabin berths
are less than king-size width at the foot, but unlike most cruisers in this size bracket two people can stand up comfortably inside both of the aft cabins with the door shut.
Some buyers might be discouraged by the J/45’s relatively high base price but the ready-to-sail prices of its direct rivals are broadly the same. It’s important to compare like with like. The standard spec includes performance-boosting items like rod rigging that are almost always offered as expensive optional extras and the quality-to-cost ratio is high. J-Boats’ vacuum infused hulls are among the stiffest, strongest and lightest in the industry – the entire deck moulding weighs less than 700kg – which allows for better weight distribution and again, better sailing performance. All of this, plus the strength of the J-Boats brand, explains their notably high resale value.
For performance-minded sailors, one question remains. What’s the J/45’s IRC rating? It doesn’t have one yet but if the J/112e’s remarkable winning streak is anything to go by, it’s going to be very competitive.
www.jboats.com
q SEAHORSE 81
NICOLAS DORMONT
ILP VISION
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