SAIL

J/121

Every boat design strives for something new. But a new kind of racing? In fact, that’s exactly what designer Alan Johnstone and the rest of the folks at J/Boats set out to do with their new J/121 one-design. In the process, they also just happened to create a boat that is both drop-dead gorgeous and sails like a witch—two reasons why it won SAIL magazine’s 2018 Best Boats award in the 30 to 40ft Performance category.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION

At the heart of the J/121’s design brief was a desire to create a shorthanded speedster that can be competitively raced with just five sailors—as opposed to the eight to 10 normally required to race a 40-footer—in the interest of making things easier logistically for today’s busy skipper. Also on the agenda was

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