The J/24 is an international One-Design and Midget Ocean Racing Club trailerable keelboat class built by J/Boats and defined by World Sailing. The J/24 was created to fulfill the diverse needs of recreational sailors such as cruising, one design racing, day sailing, and handicap racing.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 294.

International Marine S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...

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, 2010. The J/24 class has more than 50,000 people

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

5,500 boats worldwide; is established in 27 countries with well and is the world's most popular one design keelboat.

Production

In the summer of 1975 Rodney Johnstone designed and built hull number 1 in his garage in

Stonington, Connecticut The town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Lords Point, and Wequetequock, and the eastern halves of the villages of ...

. "Ragtime" would serve as the master mold for the subsequent hulls. This design allowed him to start the very successful J-Boat company with his brother Bob Johnstone. By 1978 the class was popular enough to hold a one-design regatta in

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

with twenty boats on the line."XX J/24 Midwinter Champs Race Report"
, Retrieved 2017-03-24 New boat manufacturing has been done by multiple companies around the world in UK, France (only 5), Croatia, USA, Italy and Argentina. In the US, J/24s are built by US Watercraft. Italy could still build new boats. As of January 2009, approximately 5,475 J/24s have been produced. Approximately 20 new boats were produced in 2008. The average price of a complete, new boat without sails was approximately £20,000. (31,370 USD)

Design

J-24 sailboats racing at Europameisterschaft 2007

The J/24 is a racing keelboat, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass ( American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cl ...

, with wood trim. It has a fractional sloop rig, a

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a plumb transom, a transom-hung

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

controlled by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder ...

and a fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

. It displaces and carries of lead ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel. The boat is normally fitted with a small outboard motor for docking and maneuvering. The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, with a double

"V"-berth A berth is a bed or sleeping accommodation on vehicles. Space accommodations have contributed to certain common design elements of berths. Beds in boats or ships While beds on large ships are little different from those on shore, the lac ...

in the bow cabin and two straight settees in the main cabin. The

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be u ...

is located on the starboard side just aft of the bow cabin. The

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals ...

is located just aft of the bow cabin on the starboard side stowed under a table. Cabin headroom is . For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with a symmetrical spinnaker. The design has a PHRF racing average handicap of 174 and a hull speed of .

Operational history

The international authority for the class is World Sailing, which cooperates with the International J/24 Class Association on all matters regarding the rules. Interpretations of these rules shall be made by the ISAF, which in coming to its decision may consult the International J/24 Class Association and the copyright holder. The International J24 Class Association (IJCA) has the sole authority worldwide for the conduct and management of the International J/24 Class. IJCA is a "not-for-profit" organization. One reason for its popularity is that it is fairly easy and inexpensive to acquire a used boat and gear due to the large number of boats produced. There are 136 active fleets in the US alone, which offer a lot of race competition. This makes the J/24 a popular boat for beginners and experienced sailors. In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "The boat is light and sails like a big dinghy. In anything over ten knots of air, 'rail meat' is needed to keep the boat on her feet going upwind, but the ride can be thrilling, We cruised her occasionally, and once or twice trailered her to Newport for a week’s cruise of Narragansett Bay, where there was a public park with a launching crane available. But we wouldn't recommend the boat if cruising is your main aim. Best features: This is a great boat to race if you like to socialize and want to learn how to race well. Worst features: With her 4-foot draft, launching at any but the steepest launching ramps is out of the question, Luckily, most places where J/24s are raced have access to a crane. The /24 has an eyebolt on the top of the keel for shackling to a crane hook. The crane can also be used to lift and set the mast, which steps not on deck but on the keel."

World Championships

References

External links