J Class

[Adrian_Morgan]

Who felt that the restored J Class at Cowes last month had nothing of the presence and charisma of the old Beken photos? In their glitzy finery, with gold plated winches and modern sail plans they looked like old tarts. Gone was the dramatic simplicity of white cotton above white hulls (Velsheda had been painted dark, and has lost her trademark joggling). And only a tonne or so of the original remains among the three of them. It's like digging up Marilyn Monroe. Sad.

And the last time we saw such a display of conspicuous, ostentatious, extravagant consumption, world catastrophe was just around the corner. Now that's a sobering thought in the wake of the appalling New York bombing.

 

[Mirelle]

Yes

That is an unpleasantly accurate parallel. These yachts (they surely are not boats), when new, were fairly serious racing machines, designed, built and sailed to win (not least because their professional crews needed the prize money to make ends meet). Now they just stooge around, have their photos taken and race genteelly. Conspicuous consumption on the scale of Veblen's robber barons.

Not a good sign.

 

[ianwright]

Dead right. Their old owners should have followed the example of the King with Britannia.
Must go now, I'm sending my boathook to Germany for titainium plating.

IanW.

 

[alanhanson]

Re: Yes

agreed they are not as they were built .but they also make sure that a lot of money goes around the industry .they also provide a lot of crew work (paid).
& bring a lot of people pleasure from just seeing them.
i wonder what amount of money was spent on the south coast as a direct result of them being here ?
the owners i suppose could leave there money tied up in investments which would be better?

 

[Twister_Ken]

A vote of thanks

Personally, I'd like to thank the J owners, and the classic 12 meter owners, and the owners of all those other magnificent boats for being rich enough to maintain them, brave enough to sail them and foolish enough to race them in the scrum that was the Solent.

And I'd like to ask them to come back and do it again next year.

 

[PaulJ]

Re: A vote of thanks

Here, here Twister!

 

[jamesjermain]

Where\'s your romance Adrian.

Have a few months in northern climes frozen your sole, Adrian? Agreed they are not as they were - in some respects they are better.

But whatever the truth of that, I don't believe anyone who saw they in the Solent can have been anything but awed and moved by their splendour. I, for one am profoundly grateful that their philanthropic owners were prepared to give us the chance to admire and wonder at these stirring and never-to-be-replaced creations.

Were you not involved in a futile attempt to re-create Britannia?

JJ

 

[brianhumber]

Re: Where\'s your romance Adrian.

I'm with Adrian on this, we went out to look because I remembered how Velsheda looked when first restored. When we saw the modern rigs we went home. The owners should have had new hulls made as well and returned the original hulls to original rigs. The owners have enough money not to worry about the ordinary chaps views, they are after corproate entertainment lolly so we may as well let them get on with it.

 

[ccscott49]

Re: A vote of thanks

If they have the money to do it, good luck to them, its better than seeing them in mud berths used as caravans! theres plenty of traditional boats a lot smaller that can be saved by the likes of us, instead of buyiing some french piece of reconstituted icecream containers!

 

[Guest]

Re: Where\'s your romance Adrian.

Original rigs?

You must be joking, they used to fall down in F4+ and now they do transats. The world has moved on and so have these beautiful yachts.

As for the corporate lolly, do you have any idea just how rich these guys are? They don't need this kind of money. They do it because they can afford it and because they love the sport. I don't have their kind of money but can appreciate their reasoning. This curmudgeoanly backlash is uncharitable. I, too, was on The Solent and could only marvel at the scale of these works of art. More power to the elbows of the people that are prepared to sponsor them.

Chris Enstone, Rival Spirit

 

[Mirelle]

Original rigs?

Britannia raced and won (against Navahoe, I think) across Channel, in and out of Cherbourg breakwater and back to Cowes in F 9-10, SW. That was when she was gaff rigged, of course!

 

[Guest]

Oh no, not a gaff vs. bermudan thread!

I give in.

Gaff rigs are wonderful but Mirelle, I am right in saying that the rigging of the Js was their weakest link? Just the size of the rig and the technology that existed at the time was their usual downfall, I believe.

Chris Enstone, Rival Spirit

 

[Mirelle]

No, not a gaff vs Bermudian thread

Only teasing.

The weakness of the rigs in the 1930's was proverbial; it was Uffa Fox himself who made the comment that I referred to above. Sir T.O.M. Sopwith had, and used, the resources of his
aircraft company (was it Hawker or De Havilland?) and his rigging expert, who advised on the restoration of Endeavour, invented rod rigging, but still the masts fell down.

Atlantic crossings, then as now, were made under trysail, of course.

We just have access to better materials, which is why any of the J's now sailing, as presently rigged, would have lifted the Cup.

 

[Guest]

Re: A vote of thanks

The royal cutter (not 'yacht') Britannia was not designed or built to class J, which did not exist when she was launched in 1893. She was converted to rate to the class in 1930 when the British adopted the American Universal rule for this size of vessel. At the time many regretted this move and would have preferred the big class to remain under the British rules. Endeavour was built to class J, but not Cambria.

 

[Guest]

Re: No, not a gaff vs Bermudian thread

Tom Sopwith formed the Sopwith Aviation Company in 1912. It went into liquidation in 1920 then became part of the new Hawker Engineering Company that same year. The firm was ultimately absorbed into British Aerospace

 

[Guest]

Re: Where\'s your romance Adrian.

"Sole"? Something fishy going on?

 

[Guest]

Re: Yes

As one lucky enough to sail aboard JK7 for the reagata, I can assure you the crews aboard were not simply racing an a genteel manner. Give the owners a break, they are using beautiful yachts for what they were built for, to be sailed, simply because they like doing it.
I hope that they keep on doing so!