J/45
- Thread starter Alaris
- Start date
steele
Super Anarchist
I agree, earlier reviews mention that J Composites are subcontracting the interiors to another firm. Based on my experience with my French built J boat this is a good idea for a boat in this price range. I have been pretty frustrated by glued in panels that have to be cut out to access needed systems, finish coatings that are so thin looking at them wrong causes them to fail, and multiple different length screws used on one component for no appreciable reason. I am still happy with the boat, but I didn’t pay 700K.
jackolantern
Super Anarchist
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looks goofy. Those wheels are too small. The standard j boat ports on the deckhouse are too small for the space. Cockpit is the size of a j/122….
does max beam look awfully far forward in the boat compared to the drawings?
F18 Sailor
Super Anarchist
I suspect the beam question is related to the camera angle in this photo...max beam looks to be about in the middle of the boat and carried most of the way back to my eye.
JMOD
Super Anarchist
yes, furler boom on this one. custom request apparently
Roleur
Super Anarchist
Saw the J/45 in Hamble last week. I could cruise that. Funny enough it was parked next to an XP44 and well, you know...
MauiPunter
Will sail for food
I saw it too, not sure I’d take the blue hull but give me a glossy black hull or a white one. I’d swap the furler boom for a V boom as well 
big spec on the boat, it had a carbon mast upgrade with composite standing rigging. I still feel like the build quality is behind X Yachts but I like the design. I was pretty critical of the boat when it was announced but actually seeing it I thought it’s just a really nice boat, nothing more and nothing less. I couldn’t help but think they could have tried offering the boat with a J95/J108 style shallow keel with centreboard and twin rudders.
big spec on the boat, it had a carbon mast upgrade with composite standing rigging. I still feel like the build quality is behind X Yachts but I like the design. I was pretty critical of the boat when it was announced but actually seeing it I thought it’s just a really nice boat, nothing more and nothing less. I couldn’t help but think they could have tried offering the boat with a J95/J108 style shallow keel with centreboard and twin rudders.
jackolantern
Super Anarchist
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You would think that in 30 years between the J/44 and the j/45, Jboats would have come up with a way to make boats lighter....sadly they've only gotten heavier.
J/44 - 22,000lbs
J/45 - 23,300lbs
J/44 - 22,000lbs
J/45 - 23,300lbs
MauiPunter
Will sail for food
Well, the J45 does come with a hot tub, so....
slap
Super Anarchist
robalex117
Super Anarchist
As best as I know it’s first race in the USA will be this Friday night at our clubs beer can racing series. Non spinnaker and it is a beer can race so enough said. Will report back on how it goes. Competition will be a j133, 2 j44, 2 j121c and for some variety my boat a Sunfast 3300 plus some other mostly j boats. Not show how the 33’ boat is in the same division as the 40+ footers but that is a different topic.
- Thread starter
- #154
I got to check this thing out on Sunday at the Annapolis show. I’m impressed. They have put a ton of thought into the boat. Yes it’s a cruising boat but it seems like it would be fun all around. I do wish the interior were more traditional. I really hate the light wood trend. But good god the price is pushing seven figures by the time you’ve got it fully equipped.
It is WAY more boat than a 44. Can’t believe they’re nearly the same length. It feels like a 50+ footer by comparison.
Oh and no teak decks on mine, thanks.
It is WAY more boat than a 44. Can’t believe they’re nearly the same length. It feels like a 50+ footer by comparison.
Oh and no teak decks on mine, thanks.
Alaris,
I sat on the J/9 on Sunday for around an hour talking with Alan Johnston and one of the subjects we talked about was interiors, as I had mentioned I really liked the more traditional interior like I had on my J/109 over the interiors of today. He said the biggest driving factor is cost. So the nice high rounded fiddles on a J/109 countertop (for example) we’re made by laminating about 30 layers of wood (so some guys had to sit there and coat those 30 layers in adhesive, and then it was clamped in a custom built mold, then once dry, taken out and planed/routed, etc to the final shape. And that at todays labor rates, only the highest end builders can afford it. Most interior components are modular (rectangular) vice custom fit to the interior.
All that said, you can get the J/45 with multiple choices of wood color. Besides white oak, there is also teak and walnut. So doesn’t have to be “light colored”
I didn’t go on the 45, but the 112 was also light colored wood, and I didn’t care for it either. It’d be better in a darker color…
Still actually like the 109 interior much better. Guess I’m a curmudgeon who is just set in their ways…
I sat on the J/9 on Sunday for around an hour talking with Alan Johnston and one of the subjects we talked about was interiors, as I had mentioned I really liked the more traditional interior like I had on my J/109 over the interiors of today. He said the biggest driving factor is cost. So the nice high rounded fiddles on a J/109 countertop (for example) we’re made by laminating about 30 layers of wood (so some guys had to sit there and coat those 30 layers in adhesive, and then it was clamped in a custom built mold, then once dry, taken out and planed/routed, etc to the final shape. And that at todays labor rates, only the highest end builders can afford it. Most interior components are modular (rectangular) vice custom fit to the interior.
All that said, you can get the J/45 with multiple choices of wood color. Besides white oak, there is also teak and walnut. So doesn’t have to be “light colored”
I didn’t go on the 45, but the 112 was also light colored wood, and I didn’t care for it either. It’d be better in a darker color…
Still actually like the 109 interior much better. Guess I’m a curmudgeon who is just set in their ways…
- Thread starter
- #156
Speaking of interiors, I didn’t want to rag on the boat but I’m curious, did you go on the 99? Compared to the 112e, I thought the interior quality was downright bad. Compared to my 105 it was even disappointing. Unfinished edges on the plywood, loose headliner, rough finish to the glass on the bulkhead, cheap creaky stiff hinges on the table. Went on the Beneteau First 36 and felt that’s what the interior should feel like. Maybe I’m being harsh but a 99 isn’t exactly cheap!
Sorry for the thread drift…
I did go on the 99. I thought the interior quality was notably better than the first one I went on when the boat first came out, but wasn’t as good as either the First 36 nor the SF 3300…
Sweare Deep
Member
Spent quite a bit of time on the J/45 with Jeff Johnstone showing us around at the Annapolis show. It’s clearly a boat that he’s very proud of, and quite rightly so. In particular, I thought the staysail setup was well thought through. If we were buying today, rather than seven years ago, it would be very, very high on our list, but it is a touch spendy. With the euro-dollar exchange rate right now, I’d seriously look in to buying in Europe, spending a summer in the Med and then doing the ARC to bring it home via the Caribbean. As a former J/35 owner, I have a very deep fondness for J boats, even though that’s not what I own right now.
We were excited to see the Lyman-Morse 46 ( had hoped to see it last year but it didn’t quite make it apparently) but came away ever so slightly disappointed, especially at that kind of sticker price. In fairness, some of our reaction may stem from the choices the owner made. But having a semi-custom boat must be very special.
We were excited to see the Lyman-Morse 46 ( had hoped to see it last year but it didn’t quite make it apparently) but came away ever so slightly disappointed, especially at that kind of sticker price. In fairness, some of our reaction may stem from the choices the owner made. But having a semi-custom boat must be very special.
jackolantern
Super Anarchist
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The LM46 is an interesting boat but yes it needs some changes to get it to perform correctly. A no-runners, no-backstay setup without a hydraulically adjustable forestay is just a screwy setup. We were with them at the start of the Bermuda Race on an Xp44 then they were out of sight behind us before sunset and never saw them again.
jackolantern
Super Anarchist
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Not sure who at jboats was in charge of designing the foils but this doesn't look fast from the factory.
