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Sometimes good things come to those who wait. In this case, the arrival of hull number 4 off the J-boats
Production line to the West Coast has proven to be the case. Frank Slootman has enjoyed his J-90 immensely, it’s lines, rating and performance did all he could have hoped. What it was lacking was accommodations and a little luxury which would make his better half happy. His hopes were focused on another production racer cruiser which debuted a couple seasons ago, and he was ready to pounce. Unfortunately, as the reviews of the boa t came in, issues began to arise and soon the luster wore off.
The rumors of a newer production racer cruiser from J-boats had begun, which were right in the target range of 36-38 foot. After talking with Jeff and Alan at J-boats and reviewing the drawings, Frank was convinced the boat would “ provide the cheap thrills of a pedigree along with some of the creature comforts “he sought. A deposit was made back in January and a few weeks ago, Santa delivered a new sleigh to the Slootman residence in the form of Invisible Hand, Hull number 4, fresh from Bristol R.I
The name refers to economist author Adam’s Smith’s quotations from his 1776 work “The Wealth of Nations .” The theory of the Invisible Hand states that if each consumer is allowed to choose freely what to buy and each producer is allowed to choose freely what to sell and how to produce it, the market will settle on a product distribution and prices that are beneficial to all the individual members of a community, and hence to the community as a whole” Smith argues that a preference for the use of "domestic" industry over "foreign" industry to gain individual profit constitutes an "invisible" and benevolent hand which promotes the interests of the nation and society at large while at the same time enriching the individual. Frank adds that this can be aided with luck and good fortune.
The plans are to shake down with a few Mid-Winters this season, with some point to point shorthanded sailing and close coastal for now. The YRA series and perhaps the Coastal Cup, eventually leading to A Cabo Race or two, with some cruising tossed in for balance. The hope is to see 5 or more of these on the West Coast and engage in class competition.
The performance?. Frank comments “ Boat easily got up on a plane downwind, booking at 14-16 kts, peaking at 17-18 kts. a few times. Lot of control at the helm. Grins galore. We did wipe out, but not nearly as violently as I recall from my J/90. The rudder never went limp, easing sheets and vang popped the boat right back up, regained steerage immediately, trimmed the sheets back in, that was it. Fairly uneventful. This is a one fun ride
Norman Davant who was along for the ride adds:
“With a great weather system shaping up for last Sunday we took Frank Slootman's J/111 the Invisible Hand out for her first heavy air shake down and boy did she not disappoint. After boat set up extraordinare Peter Cameron got the rig dialed and Bob Condon from NKE got the full electronics package calibrated off we went.
Big Westerly Breeze running right down the bay at 235 degrees with 18-25 of true wind stacking up against a massive Ebb set up the perfect conditions to send the Hand on an epic ride. We set out up wind using the Doyle cruising jib and Carbon main that fit the boat perfectly. I say cruising jib, it did contain an ample amount of carbon so there was no drop in performance there.
The boat regularly locked in up wind right at about 7.4-7.5 knots. Once we got out by Alcatraz the full ebb was in effect and we did a fair amount of waves launches, the boat proved to be very dry and had some serious guts up wind through the chop. We got up to the Golden Gate and put up the big 130^m spinnaker, as we say on the bay, go big or go home.
Once we got sorted Frank put the gas pedal down, got up to that magic 140 true wind angle and the boat just took off sitting on a solid 15 for long stretches of time with several bursts much higher. Super easy steering, no drama, this is one well balanced machine that has finger tip control and is very forgiving. Overall I can't say enough about how nice this boat is to sail."
You can read more about the J-111HERE!
Or visit your local J -Dealer HERE!
A Full Gallery HERE!