Crusing on a J 44

[Eleuthera 2014]

Originally Posted by DDabs

Outbound 46?


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Nice boats but... IMO... the size is not enough for SM's needs; 50 footer plus will be better.

He has wifey, 2 yagabobskis and 2 hounds, one being 60 lbs. I had a big 46 footer (Bavaria 46 exclusive) and it got old news quick with just 4 onboard. Again, IMO...!

[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by Eleuthera 2014

Nice boats but... IMO... the size is not enough for SM's needs; 50 footer plus will be better.

He has wifey, 2 yagabobskis and 2 hounds, one being 60 lbs. I had a big 46 footer (Bavaria 46 exclusive) and it got old news quick with just 4 onboard. Again, IMO...!

How about the Outbound center cockpit?
I've toured one and found it to be a capable, well laid out performance cruiser. It was the number of small details throughout the boat I was impressed with, as well as the nicely laid out cockpit.
If I had the money........

[ScottMeilicke]

Outbound - nice, but spendy.

50 feet? Oi, that is getting big. We are trying to be realistic about the forces involved with big sailboats. Now if I could get 50' inside of 40, you might have something. Oh wait, isn't that a cat?

Yes, I want it all!


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[sv Shearwater]

I'm that J/120 owner mentioned earlier. We've put about 10,000 offshore miles on our boat in the last 3 years and absolutely love, love, love the boat, but it is not the right boat for everyone. We are racers at heart, have owned several boats before the J/120, have cruised up and down the West Coast before, and lived aboard for 5 years on a few different boats. We value performance over all other factors. Comfort is a distant second. High comfort and poor performance... may as well stay at home on the couch. Equally as boring. Actually, our 120 meets our comfort standards extremely well. That's why we bought her. It was the fastest boat we could comfortably cross oceans in within our budget. Like I said these are our personal values and we don't expect nor care if many people agree with us. We have plans to continue sailing across oceans and have no doubts that our boat is up to the task.

That said, we looked at J40's before buying the J120. The J40, of course is very similar to the J44 design. The J44 is certainly a monster upwind boat. Very, very few boats can go upwind as well, even if you include full on race boats. Very few. We found the age of the equipment on the J40's to be a notable detraction. Hardware was close to or needing replacement.

Now I reach the point that made me post. Like I said we've sailing our J/120 10,000 miles offshore. All double-handed. My wife & I raced, just the two of us from SF to Hawaii last summer. I've been sailing for almost 40 years and owned a large handful of boats. All that to say the J44 intimidates me. It is almost twice as heavy as our J/120. The headsails are huge. The mast is huge. The loads are huge. I wouldn't want that to be my second boat.

If I were looking for a serious cruising boat for a family without a lot of experience, I wouldn't choose a J44. It's a great boat for a small segment of the community and you know with confidence if you are in that segment.

For performance cruising, with an emphasis on cruising I'd be looking at the Saga 43, Outbound 44, Nordic 44, some of the Perry Custom 40-50 footers, or something similar.

And for the record big J/Boats don't heel excessively. That is just nonsense. They have deep draft and a very high ballast/displacement ratio. You can sail the boat heeled way over if you want, or you can reduce sail, sail at a comfortable angle and go 1-2 knots faster than most other cruising boats of a similar size.

All that said, we averaged 170 nm/day for 20 days crossing the Atlantic, double-handed, shortly after buying the boat, and the autopilot drove 99% of the trip. It was AWESOME! Exactly what we wanted, but not for everyone.

[johnEbravo]

Two months ago I bought the J44 that started this topic.

I read this topic while I was looking for a boat and found it interesting to follow.

In the process of buying this J44 we also test sailed and surveyed another J44 on the West Coast. We ultimately bought this one based on the fact that it was the 2-cabin model vs the 3-cabin and the fact that it was 1 mile from my house.

This was not my first choice in a boat (too big too expensive) but after setting foot on her it was obviously the perfect boat for the two of us and our plans. Once we had boarded her we wanted her - once we sailed her it was just down to the survey.

Since we surveyed both boats out of the water and test sailed both boats I thought I'd update the thread with the state of 25 year old J44s with those horrible cored hulls and bendy sticks. They Rock!

The Seattle Boat (#52) had a few wet spots around the usual deck hardware and a crack in a V-1 Turnbuckle (original equipment). The entire hull tapped solid. No leaking. The remainder of the survey was pretty bland and nit-picky no cost items (crazing, missing dog on a hatch etc). The spares that weren't in the listing more than made up for the cost of these repairs (water maker/cockpit cover/extra sail cover/20 sails/extra 52" wheel/SSB/ICOM/extra anchors/spares for everything).

The SoCal boat's hull tapped equally well. It was in great condition as well. These boats were both well raced, well cruised and well cared for in their 25 years.

I will say for the record that someone else surveyed the boat I bought and decided that she was a basket case. We used a different surveyor but apparently the lists our surveyors returned were very similar. "To each his own." is appropriate here I think.

The boat in SoCal is soon to be on a truck headed to a happy new owner in Seattle as well.

My main reason for writing this is that I would have appreciated seeing this closed up if I were in the market.

This boat will begin a double-handed circumnavigation next summer with no fears of rudder bearing failures or keels falling off.

[Jim Cate]

This boat will begin a double-handed circumnavigation next summer with no fears of rudder bearing failures or keels falling off.

I hope that you enjoy your new boat!

But really, don't you think that the owners of all the boats that HAVE had rudder and keel failures would have made the same "no fears" statement before they left?

Jim

[IdoraKeeper]

My brother just got one last fall. It was mostly raced out of the Boston area, came with a truck load of sails...it will be a while setting her up to cruise. So far he's very complimentary of the boat. New keel bolts and rudder bearings were needed but that's all so far. Nice boat.

[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by johnEbravo

Two months ago I bought the J44 that started this topic.

I read this topic while I was looking for a boat and found it interesting to follow.

In the process of buying this J44 we also test sailed and surveyed another J44 on the West Coast. We ultimately bought this one based on the fact that it was the 2-cabin model vs the 3-cabin and the fact that it was 1 mile from my house.

This was not my first choice in a boat (too big too expensive) but after setting foot on her it was obviously the perfect boat for the two of us and our plans. Once we had boarded her we wanted her - once we sailed her it was just down to the survey.\



Since we surveyed both boats out of the water and test sailed both boats I thought I'd update the thread with the state of 25 year old J44s with those horrible cored hulls and bendy sticks. They Rock!

The Seattle Boat (#52) had a few wet spots around the usual deck hardware and a crack in a V-1 Turnbuckle (original equipment). The entire hull tapped solid. No leaking. The remainder of the survey was pretty bland and nit-picky no cost items (crazing, missing dog on a hatch etc). The spares that weren't in the listing more than made up for the cost of these repairs (water maker/cockpit cover/extra sail cover/20 sails/extra 52" wheel/SSB/ICOM/extra anchors/spares for everything).

The SoCal boat's hull tapped equally well. It was in great condition as well. These boats were both well raced, well cruised and well cared for in their 25 years.

I will say for the record that someone else surveyed the boat I bought and decided that she was a basket case. We used a different surveyor but apparently the lists our surveyors returned were very similar. "To each his own." is appropriate here I think.

The boat in SoCal is soon to be on a truck headed to a happy new owner in Seattle as well.

My main reason for writing this is that I would have appreciated seeing this closed up if I were in the market.

This boat will begin a double-handed circumnavigation next summer with no fears of rudder bearing failures or keels falling off.

Glad to hear you have forgone all the naysayers and gone down your own route, there's something to be said for going your own way. I have owned and cruised racer/cruisers and found that they fit my own personal take on cruising, of course I've always gone through any boat I've owned to make sure they're solid and seaworthy, it just makes for a more secure bit of confidence when out in it.
The J44 is a fine boat built by a quality builder, with the proper TLC and appropriate upgrades it will make for a spirited and rewarding cruiser that will keep moving under sail when most others are using the iron jenny. The best part? Their just a blast to sail.
There's something to be said for having a **** eating grin on while under sail. You can slow down a fast boat, but you can't speed up a slow one.
Good luck, good sailing.

[Paul J. Nolan]

I don't know why you guys even respond to these "What kind of boat should I buy" threads. They are always the same: someone with little to no experience and little inclination to get any asking questions that run the short range from ridiculous to stupid. This is followed by pages of responses divided between those diplomatically suggesting to the OP that his question is um, ridiculous, and the other half seriously answering his query, even stooping so low as to suggest boats that have an "owner's bed accessible from both sides." (Remember that one?) It is as if a high school sophmore looks up and declares he's going to be a heart surgeon and what brand of surgical instrument would be best for him to buy? This is a question deserving of an answer? Moreover, asking someone what kind of boat to buy is like asking whom one should marry. You gotta ask that question, you ain't ready for matrimony. These threads ought to be banned or deleted as being wastes of time.

Paul

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Paul J. Nolan

I don't know why you guys even respond to these "What kind of boat should I buy" threads. They are always the same: someone with little to no experience and little inclination to get any asking questions that run the short range from ridiculous to stupid. This is followed by pages of responses divided between those diplomatically suggesting to the OP that his question is um, ridiculous, and the other half seriously answering his query, even stooping so low as to suggest boats that have an "owner's bed accessible from both sides." (Remember that one?) It is as if a high school sophmore looks up and declares he's going to be a heart surgeon and what brand of surgical instrument would be best for him to buy? This is a question deserving of an answer? Moreover, asking someone what kind of boat to buy is like asking whom one should marry. You gotta ask that question, you ain't ready for matrimony. These threads ought to be banned or deleted as being wastes of time.

Paul

What? Ban these threads? Heavens, no! Where would I find out which boat the guy with a million bucks wants to buy to learn on? It's like watching a soap opera.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Paul J. Nolan

I don't know why you guys even respond to these "What kind of boat should I buy" threads. They are always the same: someone with little to no experience and little inclination to get any asking questions that run the short range from ridiculous to stupid. This is followed by pages of responses divided between those diplomatically suggesting to the OP that his question is um, ridiculous, and the other half seriously answering his query, even stooping so low as to suggest boats that have an "owner's bed accessible from both sides." (Remember that one?) It is as if a high school sophmore looks up and declares he's going to be a heart surgeon and what brand of surgical instrument would be best for him to buy? This is a question deserving of an answer? Moreover, asking someone what kind of boat to buy is like asking whom one should marry. You gotta ask that question, you ain't ready for matrimony. These threads ought to be banned or deleted as being wastes of time.

Paul

If you looked a little more carefully you would note that the OP, since starting this thread way back in 2015, has bought a boat. A fairly big one. His family lived on my dock till recently. Nice people, seriously intent on educating themselves properly and going cruising. Exactly the sort of folk who should be getting info and encouragement here. Not negative feedback. Not "wastes of time".

[Paul J. Nolan]

I'm sure they're all nice people.

Paul

[Paul J. Nolan]

Originally Posted by Don C L

What? Where would I find out which boat the guy with a million bucks wants to buy to learn on?

And that guy sure doesn't want to be told, "A Thistle!"

Paul

[ScottMeilicke]

Originally Posted by johnEbravo

Two months ago I bought the J44 that started this topic.



<snip>

John,

I am the OP, and it is great to hear from Marilyn's new owner. I had wondered this past couple of months where she had gone. She is a lovely boat and oddly enough I missed seeing her while walking the dogs.

After moving aboard and living in Shilshole for a while we have seen and sailed on a variety of boats. Thankfully we are still very happy with the boat we have. The decision to buy her was in part helped by this particular thread, lots of other threads on a variety of forums, and other means. I am glad someone else besides us found it useful.

Thanks Minaret.

Scott


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[johnEbravo]

The towels were the first to go. Quickly followed by the name