The J/80 is a one design racing keelboat. It has been built by Tillotson Pearson since 1992, for J/Boats in the United States, with over 1,700 built and still in production . At one time it was produced by Waterline Systems, also in the US.
Design
Designed by Rod Johnstone, the hull is built predominantly of fiberglass, with a raked stem, a plumb transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed swept fin keel. It displaces and carries of ballast. The cockpit is long and the hull has a sealed buoyancy compartment on the bow. The design has a hull speed of .
It has a draft of with the standard keel. It can be transported on land on a towed double-axle boat trailer.
It has a fractional sloop rig with a retractable bowsprit controlled from the cockpit by a deployment line. For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with an asymmetrical spinnaker of . It will plane under spinnaker.
In a 1994 expert review in Sailing World Magazine Doug Logan concluded, "In the test's light airs, the J/80 could often sail at or close to windspeed, and in several instances recorded the best leg times. While hard to define as a "conservative" boat, this Rod Johnstone creation doesn't go to the max in sailplan and (lack of) stability, and employs the proven construction materials used in thousands of earlier J/Boats. This might cost a bit of speed in light air with chop, but should broaden the boat's user-friendliness in stronger winds."
Events
The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the International J/80 Class Association. The J/80 World Championship is a World Sailing–recognised world championship. There are 30 fleets racing in 12 countries, including in North America, Europe and China. It has also been used for two-boat match racing.
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