J Class Revival

How things have changed over the last 40 to 50 years. As many may know, between the wars the America's Cup was fought for in the mighty J Class yachts. These were built to a rule where there were trade-offs between the sail area, displacement and waterline length. Thus, no two boats were exactly the same, but they were big, varying between about 120 ft (36,4m) and 140 ft (42.2m) overall.
Of the 20 yachts designed during the period, only ten were built. Of the ten remaining seven were versions of Ranger, jointly designed by Sparkman and Stephens & Starling Burgess, where eight boats were designed and the best picked to defend the Cup.
In the 1990s three of the original Js had been restored, Velsheda, Endeavour and Shamrock V. These three raced in the Antigua Classic Regatta in the late 1990s, and this probably contributed to the interest in building new Js.

When World War II was over, the world was a different place. The view then was that nobody could afford to build J Class yachts anymore so they were regarded as a thing of the past. Then, in the 1950s, there was talk of a new challenge for the Cup from Britain. The custodians of the Cup, the New York Yacht Club, had the title deeds of the Cup changed to allow the competition to take place in the smaller 12-metres raced on both sides of the Atlantic. This started a long run of events, culminating in Fremantle in 1987, which was the last held in 12 metres.

Then there was the famous match between a monohull representing New Zealand and a multihull representing the USA. After that, the new AC Rule was formed, which has been used up to (and including) the 2007 Cup event in Valencia. Again, these were bigger and much more expensive boats than 12 metres. Now, with the proposed new rule for 90ft (27,3m) boats, the size of the boats, and therefore the costs, got ratched up another notch.

Back to the J Class. The man who was involved with the overseeing of all three restorations was Dutch naval architect Gerry Dykstra. He has a vast knowledge of the rules of the J Class and what makes them go. He has drafted rules for building new Js bearing in mind what goes into a modern yacht. The new boats are being built in aluminium, allowing a great weight saving over the previous boats, thus permitting the addition of engines, deckhouses, galleys, air-conditioning etc., without sinking the boats below their designed waterlines. These new rules are run by the J Class Association (JCA) and also permit an extra 10cm to be added to the freeboard. The plans to be used can only be those of the 20 boats designed between the wars, including those not built.

Two new Js are currently under construction - Endeavour II is being built for Dr Jim Clark (of computer fame) at the Huisman shipyard in Holland, with Gerard Dykstra, the naval architects. Huismans also built Dr Clark's last two yachts, Hyperion and Athena. The second yacht being built is Lionheart. She is design F of the eight Ranger designs, and this design has never been built to before. She has been developed for a Dutch owner by naval architect AndrŽ Hoek.

The restorations and new boats all conform to the owners requirements. In spite of their wealth, they all wanted boats to perform in several spheres, including racing, charter and family cruising. In this respect all the existing Js have been successful.

Superyachts.While on the subject of money and yachts, it is amazing just how many large yachts are being built these days for individual owners. In the past ten years, the number of superyachts being produced by designers such as Ron Holland, Ed Dubois and AndrŽ Hoek to name a few, is phenomenal. The boats are being built mainly in Holland and New Zealand. The Dutch are aluminium experts, while in New Zealand, composite construction using lots of carbon fibre seems to be the name of the game.

Some of these boats even dwarf the Js. For instance there are Twizzle, a 188ft (57m) ketch under construction at Huismans, a 184ft (56m) hull, Athos, just completed by Scheepswerf Mude, and a 174ft (53m) yacht to be called Erica, at Jan Vitters yard. Also at Vitters is Sunshine, a performance cruiser built in carbon by Bill Green in England and sent to Vitters for finishing.

It's not just the superyachts that are getting bigger and more prolific. The general size of the round the world yachts has definitely increased as well. No longer does one get the minimalist boats such as the 20-foot (6.1M) Trekka. Most are over 40ft (12m) and most are well equipped with the latest GPSs, chart plotters and radar and carry large diesels with fuel for them. All in all the money spent on the average cruising yacht has gone up at a rate far exceeding inflation.

This is a trend in sea-going boats, they are just getting bigger and more expensive. This is no bad thing, especially for the yachting industry, but it is good to see the many dinghy classes, offering affordable sailing, still going on.

Final TBT Ban

The long awaited ban on TBT (tributyltin) anti-fouling paint becomes law on 17 September this year. This ban has been signed by 27 of the world's biggest shipping nations. The ban has been a long time coming as it has been in force for nearly 20 years for vessels under 82ft (25m). TBT is a lethal organic tin-based toxin harmful to sea life, particularly shell fish.

It was as I remember from my racing days, a very effective anti-fouling paint. TBT currently coats the bottom of most of the world's commercial shipping so it is going to be a very expensive change over for ship owners. I have often wondered why it was banned on pleasure craft when acres of bottoms of commercial craft were moored in the same waters, probably giving off more poison than pleasure boats ever could. Anyway, some good news from this is that non-TBT anti-fouling will now get developed and pleasure craft will be able to benefit from it.

Pierce Brosnan.

Last year we had James Bond sailing a Spirit 54, now we have Pierce Brosnan sailing the famous Tai-Mo-Shan in a movie being filmed at the moment called Mamma Mia. At least sailing does get a little exposure in films now and again. I don't know what the film is about, but Tai-mo-Shan is a ketch built in Hong Kong in 1933 and sailed home from there by three young naval officers. She has been restored and is in excellent condition.

Blind Sailors.

Scott Duncan and Pamela Habeck are legally blind, but that hasn't stopped them from crossing the Pacific from America to Australia in a 12m cutter called Starship. They rely on electronic navigation equipment with audio that gives them vital information, as well as a special video magnifier for chart reading. I'm a person who believes we should all pursue our dreams. If I fail this, I'll still be pleased that I tried, said Scott.

South Africans will remember Geoff Hilton-Barbour, who made the journey single handed from Durban to Fremantle in Australia in a Charger 33 some years ago. Geoff is blind of course. He had help leaving Durban and was met some 50 miles from his destination to help him enter port; other than that he was entirely on his own.