J/35 vs J/36 vs J/105 Designs

[jamesmalcolm 9]

So I always thought that the J35 was essentially a J36 with a foot taken off the stern, but someone told me recently that he saw all three side by side and the J105 and the J36 hulls were much more similar to each other than a J35 and a J36. He said it was a lot to do with how their widths were similar. I've never sailed on any of them but I've seen J105s and J36s near each other and they look similar, but not as similar as a J35 and a J36. Any thoughts anyone?

[Will 4]

I thought the hull and deck are almost identical between the J36 and The J35, different keel and rig.  The J36 was very expensive to build and my recollection was the J35 was MUCH cheaper to build and they could sell it for a lot less money.  Times were tight and it sold great.

[Great White 112]

3 hours ago, jamesmalcolm said:

So I always thought that the J35 was essentially a J36 with a foot taken off the stern, but someone told me recently that he saw all three side by side and the J105 and the J36 hulls were much more similar to each other than a J35 and a J36. He said it was a lot to do with how their widths were similar. I've never sailed on any of them but I've seen J105s and J36s near each other and they look similar, but not as similar as a J35 and a J36. Any thoughts anyone?

So much depends on what you are trying to compare.

I have owned a J35 for a long time, been onboard  and raced against J36s, and raced on against J105s.

As previously commented, J35s were somewhat derived from J36s. I believe the freeboard was cut down a little, keel shape refined, rig changed to a simpler masthead rig, wheel removed, engine moved under the cockpit and interior simplified with a lot of furniture optional in the J35 optional. Mine has a lot of the optional woodwork. A lot was done to make the J35 an inexpensive hotrod. I remember when they first came out, i was impressed at the low price. I wanted one so bad! But when I see a J35 and J36 together, i see very similar boats.

The J105 is a completely different boat. Besides being a foot shorter, they are also 3/4 ft narrower, have less freeboard, displace 2750 lbs less, a flatter run with less rocker. The keel is a more modern bulb keel style. The interior is very simple and headroom reduced to around 5 1/2 ft. It Will fly on a reach with its asail. The design is much newer and does not appear to be derived from another hull like the 36/35.

[hhn92 43]

On 11/15/2019 at 10:19 PM, Great White said:

So much depends on what you are trying to compare.

I have owned a J35 for a long time, been onboard  and raced against J36s, and raced on against J105s.

As previously commented, J35s were somewhat derived from J36s. I believe the freeboard was cut down a little, keel shape refined, rig changed to a simpler masthead rig, wheel removed, engine moved under the cockpit and interior simplified with a lot of furniture optional in the J35 optional. Mine has a lot of the optional woodwork. A lot was done to make the J35 an inexpensive hotrod. I remember when they first came out, i was impressed at the low price. I wanted one so bad! But when I see a J35 and J36 together, i see very similar boats.

The J105 is a completely different boat. Besides being a foot shorter, they are also 3/4 ft narrower, have less freeboard, displace 2750 lbs less, a flatter run with less rocker. The keel is a more modern bulb keel style. The interior is very simple and headroom reduced to around 5 1/2 ft. It Will fly on a reach with its asail. The design is much newer and does not appear to be derived from another hull like the 36/35.

Also the 105  is wider aft which makes it a much better reaching boat. We race against them every week and once you crack the sheet off by a small amount they are gone. Up and down the 35 is still the king of the hill, unless it is light and the higher angles of the 105 keep pace with the 35 on the run. But any race that has a high amount of reaching or slightly off true upwind and the newer boats leave the 35. We see it all the time.

I thought the 36 had more IOR influence, beyond just the engine being in the center of the boat and the frac rig, but I have never seen one in person.

edit: the same with the J33, it looks very similar in profile but is a much 'smaller' boat than the 35. Less beam, hull depth, and a smaller mast section. But it is very fast and the 35 has only a small edge on it at times, the 33 can hold it in a lot of conditions.

[Slick470 244]

At some point I was told the same hull was used with minor tweaks for the J/36 then J/35 then J35C then J110. 

[Will 4]

The J35c and the J110 are both built off the J/34c.

 

[PaulK 597]

The interior woodwork on our J/36 sets us apart as a comfortable cruising boat. It surprises the owners of newer boats like Beneteau 36.7’s and J/109’s  that we repeatedly beat racing. 

[Hadlock 20]

On 11/24/2019 at 12:42 PM, Will said:

The J35c and the J110 are both built off the J/34c.

I wish I had more time to dig through the forums, seems like J boats has been building boats from the same four or five moulds since the late 1980s but with slightly different portlights; but I don't have the time to track down the heritage of each model. Once you get north of 36' J boats only has two or three original hull shapes, it would appear.

[Crash 1,008]

I think you guys have it slightly wrong.  In most cases, the hull designs are similar in many ways, but are an evolution, not a strict re-use of an existing hull design.  Additionally, who cares?  What I want is a boat that sails well across a range of conditions.  Almost all J boats share this characteristic.  Why mess with success?  Why radically change the design direction?  

[Schnick 53]

The 36 hull was modified to make the 35.  The only difference between the two hulls is a reduction in freeboard on the 35, the underwater shape is identical.  The same is true of the J/30 and J/29.

The 35C was made into the 110 by adding a sprit and one of those bulb-ish keels that J does.

The 105 shares its hull with no other models, and viewed from on deck it carries its max beam much further forward than the 35 and 36.

[ROADKILL666 534]

We had a 36 when they were new and we loved it.