J 70 ...a Runner in Europe?

J boats are now well on their way to a big north american success with the J70. Is the boat all just hype and will it do anything in European waters in terms of fleets?

The pedigree is actually a bit less about innovation and a bit more about normalisation. With the j105 they were far from being the first to stick a prodder on a boat, but they were able to build a boat which had great appeal to the type of racing sailor who had two hundred grand to spend. Ie middle aged men who cut their teeth on heavy dinghies and displacement keel boats. They are a nicely laid out, safe racer with cruising potential. It took an IRC freindlier lauynch of the j109 and how the tubbier looking cruiser-racer moved on the water to show that the 105 was actually not as sporty as it looked. 109s beat all but the best 105s on the water here in Eurodisney, and on HC the 105 declined rapidly, having not grasped any OD fleets to speak of.

The j80 was a not very sports boat, more like a j27 or j29 with a prodder, newer keel and nice big cockpit. Despite its berths and handelability, it never really took off in the EU compared to the US and that is likely because of firstly the new price and secondly the competition was more exciting to sail, and being better marketed.

J have not repeated their mistakes or misfortunes in EU land when it comes to the j70 it seems to me. In fact they have gone for a nice little sweet spot, with it being fast enough yet not a handful in a blow or if sitting in with the kids on board. Price wise it is more expensive than the SB20/SB3 but you get more boat with a nominal interior, which is actually more useable than the M24, for midgets at least. Running costs wise may be the next area where their customer are likely to raise an understanding eyebrow. You can slip launch it.

It has to be said you can slip launch it like an SB3 or a melges 24 into a fresh water river mouth if you want to keep you trailer in one piece.  So you could say it competes with them? Well not really in a way. The 'who is the customer way"

J have been very good at having an almost cult status with owners, and having results in HC to match that with some of their designs in the EU, most notably the J109. Who the customer for the J70 is will be at the moment quite different for who the punter is for the alternatives.  The customer will be looking for that degree of manageabilkity, a degree of familliarity, a touch of design flair and a generous sprinkling of J boats ergonomics and ' works out of the box' know how. In the EU , J owners are actually the greatest marketing front for the brand and any specific designs. Blur of course are fairly evanJelical about J .

What J have never done in the EU is really help build a fleet. Like many US corporations, they see the domestic market as the important one, with other markets as nice to have but not worth spending serious time and money on. The exceptions being the J109 and j97 which were IRC oriented boats, developed in Europe, but then again IRC was gaining ground over PHRF in the USA and Canada at the time. With the bigger Js and the later j111 and J88 they have returned to performance boats with US market in the centre. This time they have gone a notch above the average boat in IRC in terms of performance instead of a notch below as with the J80 for example. The J 111 is a j35 for the 2010s IMHO.

Will the J70 make inroads in the EU ? Well so far there are some enthusiastic J owners and importers supporting the boat harder than it seemed they did the J80. It looks like being punted W.O.M as your second boat, the little sportster to J owners, while also trying to attract some serious sailors to the little demo-euro circuit type thing they have going. I dont  think that the price will scoop people away from the SB3, nor actually here locally, the stable and large M24 fleet which is largely second hand boats bought for between 14000 Euros and 30 000 anyways. 

I dont think the customer is the same! I dont think one design buyers in the south of england or the west of Italy, North Portugal or where ever are going to compare it seriously for now with their regional fleet designs. The J70 EU customer is a J customer already IMHO, to start with, and then we can see if the boat gathers pace

A critical mass is hard to establish and like the Cork 1720 and the Hunter 707, can rapidly disintigrate if there is no international cross EU support for the boat. The Melges 24 has established fleets in Italy and the new big fleet in Norway, with some other continental fleets and some privateers in the UK and other countries using the boat locally to train up for trips to Guarda and this years worlds. A lot of M24s are seemingly gathering garage dust in the USA now, with the j70 fleet eclipsing them at Key West  this year.

What I like about the melges 24 is just what a j70 owner is looking to avoid. It is a challenging boat to sail, you need to really have sailed fast dinghies before to come near to mastering it, it is very physical upwind and offwind it rips your arms out their sockets when trimming kite. It planes it seems in about 14 knots of wind, 12 if you are a lighter crew ( people arre claiming this take off for the j70 actually, I am talking from experience and a good feel for the wind) You need to be on  your game in boat prep and mental prep before and even between races and there are no passengers in the boat- everyone must be on the ball. Also you know that you can (to a budget) rub shoulders with some pros and top amateurs who live and breath racing.  The Melges 24 as a new boat is an expensive bit of kit, a porsche 911 , little creature comforts, just fast and well made. A bit like the 911, had it been frozen in a 1990 aircooled model, the boat keeps very well and you can enjoy exciting sailing as a syndicate for less each than the price of racing sails for your cruiser.

At the end of the day for me it would be nice to see a fleet of what ever fast one design develop within an hour or two's drive from home and that will in part be the secret for the j70. It needs to have three centres of OD racing in the EEA/EU to look serious and indeed it is going that way. The EU has seen the rise and rapid fall of many OD sporties since the days of the First Class 8, only to then see 'classics' like the Etchells, dragons and local boats being the 'in' thing again. The j70 will need to compete with this plethora of local one designs, the established fleets of Melges, Sb3 , beneteau  Platu  25s, and all and sundry less sporty, even dinghies and of course handicap racers. Hard ask?