J/24

Have a Question? Ask the Experts. Select your Boat: A Scow Atlantic Blue Jay Buccaneer Bullseye CC Knockabout Cal 20 Capri 14.2 Capri 22 Capri 25 CC Knockabout Catalina 22 Coronado 15 C Scow Day Sailer El Toro E Scow Etchells Finn 5.5 Meter 505 Flying Jr Flying Scot 420 470 Front Runner Highlander Ideal 18 Interclub Interlake J/22 J/24 J/80 Jet 14 Johnson 18 Lehman 12 Lightning M16 Scow M20 Scow MC Scow Melges 24 Mobjack National OD Optimist PC Pacific Coast Penguin Rebel Rhodes 19 Sabot Santana 20 Schock 35 Shields Snipe Soling Sonar Star Tartan 10 Tempest Thistle 2.4m R Viper X Boat Y Flyer Yngling Other View other FAQs

Back

Quantum is pushing a material called AirX. What is you opinion and what type of material is the North Spinnaker made out of.

We make our sail out of a material called Superkote. Both it and the AIRX 650 which Quantum uses weight very close to the minimum allowed weight of 42 grams per square meter. I have used AIRX on a number of
J/24 spinnakers. My conclusion is that it makes a good sail but one that is best in flat water and a good breeze. The Superkote is actually a little softer which makes the sail more forgiving in any of waves and lighter winds. Superkote also seems to last a little longer as it relys more on the weave of the cloth for strength rather than a surface coating.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

I've been told J24s roll tack easy enough. Using techniques I adapted from dingy racing and a basic knowledge of hydrodynamics, I tested this theory and couldn't get it to roll over. Is there a better technique for fixed keels that i don't know about?

Roll facing out and push down on the windward life line. Start from the middle of the boat and do it all together. With four people rolling you should be able to get the windward rail all the way down to the water, once it is flatten the boat slowly and you will get a nice squirt forward.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

What is your feeling about Newport vs San Diego cut. I sail in the Inland NW.

Sailing on a lake where the wind is shifty I would choose the SD sail. This sail is fuller in general especially in the middle which makes it more forgiving to trim in variable and shifty conditions. The sail can take quite a curl before it becomes unstable. The Newport is better in open water straight line sailing.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

What is your opinion about having multi color sails. I read somewhere that it was better to have one color due to the stretch in the panels over time. Is this a big issue. Can you elaborate?

I highly suggest having the head and clews of the sail each a solid color. Also I would try to have these areas lighter colored if possible. This way the top and bottom of the sail is made from the same lot of cloth and it will stretch relatively evenly over the life of the sail. Also making the sail with lighter cloth in the top and bottom will insure that you are getting a sail made with Grade A woven cloth. With darker colors flaws can be hidden and even though all the cloth is tested by the maker and us this generally seems a safer bet.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

The tuning guides tell me about which ring to fly the pole from but as the wind builds I find that the floating tack sometimes wants to fly quite high. The question is once you have got the pole to horizontal, do you keep raising the pole to keep the kite level or do you use the barber hauler
(twinning lines) to keep the floating tack down to the pole tack. Does water conditions affect your thinking on this?

Generally the J/24 likes the pole on the low side so while we try to keep the clews level we also work on keeping the pole end a little lower than the free flying end. We generally twing the pole side down enough that the pole will sit right up at the tack of the spinnaker at all times.

Generally do not use the leeward twing on a J/24. The boom acts as plently of a twing when needed.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

What's the difference between the San Diego and Newport sails?

The mainsails ARE very similar. I know the San Diego sails well and have helped to develop these sails. About two years ago we made the main significantly flatter. The reason was that the J/24 likes the main trimmed really hard and for sure a flatter main can be trimmed harder before it stalls. Both mains are quite forgiving.

The San Diego genoa is touch flatter than the Newport genoa (The Newport main is flatter than the San Diego so needs a fuller genoa to go with it). We have found that the sail is really fast in the upper end conditions with
the genoa where sailing the boat and keeping it flat is harder. In fact the sail was so good in a big breeze that we just made the top of the sail a little fuller to make it easier to keep the boat going in lighter air. This sail is called the GP-7.

I think you will find the flatter design of the GP-7 a benefit in Europe where I think there is generally more wind than here in the States. We spent a lot of time developing these sails in San Francisco where it is consistently breezy and have won many regattas there with them.

I do not know if you are planning on doing the Worlds in Holland next year but I sailed there in the Europeans (Medemblik) last year and I think the SD sails will do just fine there. I hope this answers your question. If there
is anything I can do to help you please don't hesitate to contact me.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

When to move the mast butt position?

There is no real reason to have to change the mast butt position once you find the proper location. Here we use a Loos Model B tension gauge and with the lowers on 21 and the uppers on 24 we measure the headstay tension with the backstay completely disconnected. The headstay will be loose and the tip of the gauge should be about 30 mm from the headstay if you have everything set up right. You will also have about 3 to 4 cm of prebend at this point. The only time I have seen adjsuting the butt while racing work is when it is really blowing hard (25 knots plus) and then moving it forward just a bit MIGHT help.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

How to ease and trim the main and jib together smoothly? Well..easing isn't hard but since I grind the winch for the jib/genoa and pull in the main they don't come in together, it's always one or the other first. Both together is obviously better but I'm not sure how to do it. Do you
have the cockpit guy grind in the jib himself and only worry about the main when both are eased or do I just try to do both myself. How do you do it?

You are talking about when you are cross sheeting the genoa and jib. Basically I think the best thing to do is if you just ease the jib a inch or two, you need to grind the sail back in a keep the cockpit guy hiking out.

Yes the sail will not be trimmed in exactly the same but I think this is less disruptive. If you have the ease the jib a lot (like when ducking) have the cockpit guy turn around and grind and tail the sheet him/herself. This way you can concentrate on the mainsail.

The balance between the two sails on a boat like a J with the a small keel is important. Keep playing the sails in concert with one another.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

Pointing…how can I get my J/24 to point higher?

Generally the reason a J/24 does not point (or sail as close to the wind as the boats around it) is because the boat is not developing enough weather helm. The boat needs a small amount of weather helm to be able to always sail as close to the wind as possible.

The first thing to do is to recheck your boat against the tuning guide to make sure you have followed everything correctly. If this is so then I like to go out sailing with the rig tuned properly for the wind and take a close look at the mainsail set up. Usually what you will find in these cases is that the lower part of the main to too flat relative to the top of the sail. In general the sail should have a nice smooth shape from top to bottom, often in cases where the boat is not pointing well the bottom of the main will be very flat right off of the mast indicating that we need to move the mast butt forward. Start by moving it ¼" and see if that makes a difference, it should make the lower part of the mast a lot straighter and give you more helm and height!

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

My J/24 sails nice and high but I can't get it to go as fast as the other boats through the water. What can I do?

You basically have the opposite problem of the folks in the question above. There are times in race where tactically you want to " put the bow down" and just go fast regardless of height. If your boat won't do this you are handicapped a bit. The problem is that your lower mast is too straight which makes the main too full and causes you too develop an excess amount of weather helm. Every time you try to sail the boat low and fast the boat heels too much and develops more weather helm. Move the mast butt back ¼" to put in more lower bend, recheck your shroud tensions and you should be all set.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

Should I use the upper or lower ring on the mast for the spinnaker pole?

With the Newport spinnaker we use the lower ring until about 15 knots of wind. For the San Diego spinnaker use the lower ring until about 10 knots.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

When I sail in heavy air with the jib I can't get the jib halyard tight enough to remove all the wrinkles in the luff of the sail?

Above 20 knots you want the luff of the class jib smooth with no wrinkles. To get the halyard tight enough sail downwind before the start with the backstay off and have two crew pull up the halyard. This should get it tight enough. Be sure to get the jib up BEFORE you tighten the backstay at the leeward mark.

Answer by Chris Snow

Back

How important is the J/24 spreader angle adjustment? This seems to be hard to get right.

The spreader angle is hard to get right but it is worth the effort. The spreader angle affects how "stiff" the mast will be in the boat. Angle the spreaders forward and the mast gets stiffer, sweep back and the mast gets more flexible. This is important because as we tighten the backstay we need a certain amount of stiffness in the mast so the headstay will get tighter and flatten the genoa as the breeze builds.

If you have a older mast with "male" stainless steel fittings coming off the mast we suggest either retrofitting to a thrubar set up or using the Allis Racing style spreader adjusters. With a newer mast you may need to bend your thru bar to get the right angle (see your local machine shop).

Answer by Chris Snow