The J Class of racing yachts (sometimes called "J-boats") were built to the specifications of Nathanael Herreshoff's Universal Rule. The J Class is considered the apex of the era when the Universal Rule determined eligibility in the America's Cup.
The J Class is one of several classes deriving from the Universal Rule for racing boats. The rule was established in 1903 and rates double-masted racers (classes A through H) and single-masted racers (classes I through S). From 1914 to 1937, the rule was used to determine eligibility for the Americas Cup. In the late 1920s, the trend was towards smaller boats and so agreement among American yacht clubs led to rule changes such that after 1937 the International Rule would be used for 12 Metre class boats.[1]
The Universal Rule formula[2] is:
| R= | 0.18 ⋅ L ⋅ \sqrt{S |
Where:
L
S
D
R
The numerator contains a yacht's speed-giving elements, length and sail area, while the retarding quantity of displacement is in the denominator. Also the result will be dimensionally correct; R will be a linear unit of length (such as feet or meters). J Class boats will have a rating from NaNfeet. This is not the overall length of the boat but a limiting factor for the variables in the equation. Designers are free to change any of the variables such as length or displacement but must reduce the other variables to compensate.
A table of well-known J Class yachts demonstrating that application of the Universal Rule could result in a rating
R
Colors: Red: America's Cup challengers; Blue: defenders; Green: non-competitors
| Launch | Name | Builder | LOA | LWL | Beam | Draught | Displacement | Sail area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | Shamrock V | Camper and Nicholsons | 119 ft 1 in | 81 ft 1 in | 20 ft | 14 ft 9 in | 134 tons | 7,540 sq ft |
| 1930 | Weetamoe |  Herreshoff Manufacturing Company | 125 ft 9 in | 83 ft | 20 ft | 14 ft 6 in | 7,550 sq ft | |
| 1930 | Yankee | George Lawley & Son | 126 ft | 83 ft | 22 ft 6 in | 14 ft 6 in | 148 tons | 7,288 sq ft |
| 1930 | Whirlwind | George Lawley & Son | 139 ft | 86 ft | 21 ft 9 in | 15 ft 6 in | 158 tons | 7,335 sq ft |
| 1930 | Enterprise | Herreshoff Manufacturing Company | 120 ft 9 in | 80 ft | 23 ft | 14 ft 6 in | 128 tons | 7,583 sq ft |
| 1933 | Camper and Nicholsons | 127 ft 6 in | 83 ft | 21 ft 6 in | 15 ft | |||
| 1934 | Camper and Nicholsons | 129 ft 6 in | 83 ft 6 in | 22 ft | 14 ft 9 in | 143 tons | 7,651 sq ft | |
| 1934 | Rainbow | Herreshoff Manufacturing Company | 127 ft 6 in | 82 ft | 21 ft | 15 ft | 141 tons | 7,535 sq ft |
| 1936 | Endeavour II | Camper and Nicholsons | 135 ft 6 in | 87 ft | 21 ft 6 in | 15 ft | 162 tons | 7,543 sq ft |
| 1937 | Ranger | Bath Iron Works | 135 ft | 87 ft | 21 ft | 15 ft | 166 tons | 7,546 sq ft |
Prior to the adoption of the Universal Rule, the Seawanhaka Rule was used to govern the design of boats for inter club racing. As the Seawanhaka Rule used only two variables: Load Waterline Length (
L.W.L
L.O.A
Following Sir Thomas Lipton's near success in the 1920 America's Cup, he challenged again for the last time at age 79, in 1929. The challenge drew all the novelties developed in the previous decade on small boats to be ported onto large boats, and pitted British and American yacht design in a technological race. Between 1930 and 1937, the improvements brought to the design of sailboats were numerous and significant:
All these improvements may not have been possible without the context of the America's Cup and the stability offered by the Universal Rule. The competition was a bit unfair because the British challengers had to be constructed in the country of the Challenging Yacht Club (a criterion still in use today), and had to sail on their own hull to the venue of the America's Cup (a criterion no longer in use today): the design for such an undertaking required the challenging boat to be more seaworthy than the American boats, whose design was purely for speed in closed waters regattas. The yachts that remain in existence are all British, and probably log more nautical miles today than they ever did. This would not have been possible if Charles Ernest Nicholson did not obtain unlimited budgets to achieve the quality of build for these yachts.
Yacht designer Clinton Hoadley Crane noted in his memoirs that "America's Cup racing has never led to good sportsmanship. The attitude of the New York Yacht Club [...] has been more that of a man in the forward position at war who has been ordered to hold his position at all costs – ."[7] In 1930, Thomas Lipton spent $1,000,000 for his Shamrock V challenge when America was facing a stock market crash, but the NYYC still built four cup defenders. The rivalry led both countries to put on a display of true technological innovations using the maximum load waterline length authorized by the rule for Endeavour II and Ranger in 1937.
Most J Class yachts were scrapped prior to or during World War II because steel and lead had become precious to the war effort. In the post-war era, J Class racing was deemed far too expensive, so no challenge for the America's Cup was placed until 1958 with the smaller third International Rule 12 Metre class.
The original yachts carried 165feet masts, but they dismasted frequently. As a consequence, British yachtsman Sir Richard Fairey (Chairman of Fairey Aviation, and owner of Shamrock V) suggested an America's Cup challenge in the smaller K-Class.[8] The New York Yacht Club refused the drop in size.
The J Class rule was amended in 1937 to force rigs to weigh a minimum of 6,400 lb. The larger scantling would prevent the frequent dismastings that had been previously observed in the British Big Class season of 1935.
By the 1980s only three J Class yachts were still in existence: Shamrock V, Endeavour and Velsheda, all designed by Charles Ernest Nicholson. Velsheda never served for an America's Cup challenge.
A revival of the J Class was triggered by Elizabeth Meyer, who oversaw the refits of Endeavour and Shamrock V. For several decades Velsheda lay derelict in the mud of the Hamble river - she was refitted in 1984, too, and then more completely in 1997.
In August 2001, as part of the celebration of the 150th Jubilee of America's Cup celebration, the three existing J Class racers were brought to the Isle of Wight for a round the island race.[9]
The creation of the J Class Association[10] in 2000 and the launch of a new replica of Ranger in 2004 accelerated the revival of the class. Several replicas and original designs were subsequently built and the association now organizes races for the J Class in Newport, Falmouth and Cowes.
The current J Class fleet comprises nine boats: Endeavour, Hanuman, Lionheart, Rainbow, Ranger, Shamrock V, Velsheda, Topaz, and, launched in January 2017, Svea.[11]
On March 12, 2020, Svea and Topaz collided while maneuvering at the start line of the Superyacht Challenge Antigua. Both boats retired from racing with damage; two sailors were injured.[12] [13]
Ten yachts were built to the J Class rule between 1930 and 1937, six in America and four in Great Britain.
Other boats raced in J Class regattas: the yachts Katoura (Starling Burgess, 1927), Resolute (Nathanael Herreshoff, 1914) and Vanitie (William Gardner, 1914) served as trial horses and most International Rule 23mR yachts were converted to the J Class, of which three remain in existence: Astra, Cambria and Candida.
| J Class conversions did not compete or qualify Challengers Defenders replicas | |||||||
| Launch | Name | align=center colspan=3 | Sail! | Designer | First ship-owner and Yacht Club | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1893 | Britannia | 1 | align=center colspan=2 | K1 | George Lennox Watson | Prince Albert Edward, RYS | YRA first class rater converted to the J Class (1931). scuttled (1936) |
| 1907 | White Heather II | B1 | 7 | K7 | William Fife III | Myles Burton Kennedy, Royal Albert YC | 23mR converted to the J Class (1930). scrapped to cast the lead for Velsheda (1932) |
| 1914 | Resolute | align=center colspan=3 | J1 | Nathanael Greene Herreshoff | Henry Walters syndicate, NYYC | Universal rule 75-footer defender (AC1920). converted to the J Class (1931). scrapped (1939) | |
| 1914 | Vanitie | align=center colspan=3 | I1 | William Gardner | Alexander Smith Cochran, NYYC | Universal rule 75-footer defender trials (AC1920). converted to the I Class (1931). scrapped (1939) | |
| 1928 | Astra | K2 | align=center colspan=2 | JK2 | Charles Ernest Nicholson | Sir Adam Mortimer Singer, RYS | 23mR converted to the J Class (1931). refitted (1987) |
| 1928 | Cambria | align=center colspan=3 | K4 | William Fife III | Sir William Berry, RYS | 23mR refitted (1995, 2001).re-rated as a J Class (2003) | |
| 1929 | Candida | align=center colspan=3 | K8 | Charles Ernest Nicholson | Hermann Anton Andreae, RSYC | 23mR converted to the J Class (1931). refitted (1989) | |
| 1930 | Shamrock V | align=center colspan=3 | JK3 | Charles Ernest Nicholson | Sir Thomas Lipton, RUYC | Unsuccessful challenger (AC1930).[14] restored by Pendennis shipyard (2001). | |
| 1930 | Weetamoe | align=center colspan=3 | 1 | Clinton Hoadley Crane | George Nichols syndicate, NYYC | defender trials (AC1930, AC1934). scrapped (1938) | |
| 1930 | 2 | align=center colspan=2 | JUS2 | Frank Cabot Paine | John Silsbee Lawrence syndicate, NYYC | defender trials (AC1930, AC1934, AC1937). scrapped (1941) | |
| 1930 | align=center colspan=3 | 3 | Lewis Francis Herreshoff | Landon Ketchum Thorne syndicate, NYYC | defender trials (AC1930). scrapped (1935) | ||
| 1930 | align=center colspan=3 | 4 | Starling Burgess | Harold Vanderbilt syndicate, NYYC | successful defender 4:0 (AC1930). scrapped (1935) | ||
| 1933 | align=center colspan=3 | JK7 | Charles Ernest Nicholson | William Lawrence Stephenson, RYS | restored by Southampton Yacht Services (1997) | ||
| 1934 | align=center colspan=3 | JK4 | Charles Ernest Nicholson | Sir Thomas Sopwith, RYS | unsuccessful challenger 2:4 (AC1934). restored by Royal Huisman (1989) | ||
| 1934 | J5 | align=center colspan=2 | J4 | Starling Burgess | Harold Vanderbilt syndicate, NYYC | successful defender 4:2 (AC1934). defender trials (AC1937). scrapped (1940) | |
| 1936 | align=center colspan=3 | JK6 | Charles Ernest Nicholson | Sir Thomas Sopwith, RYS | unsuccessful challenger 0:4 (AC1937). scrapped (1968) | ||
| 1937 | align=center colspan=3 | J5 | Starling Burgess & Olin Stephens | Harold Vanderbilt, NYYC | successful defender 4:0 (AC1937). scrapped (1941) | ||
| 2004 | "77C"-Ranger | align=center colspan=3 | J5 | Starling Burgess & Olin Stephens | John A. Williams, NYYC | replica of "77C"-Ranger (1937) built by Royal Denship | |
| 2009 | Hanuman | align=center colspan=3 | JK6 | Charles Ernest Nicholson | James H. Clark, NYYC | replica of Endeavour II (1936) built by Royal Huisman | |
| 2010 | "77F"-Lionheart | align=center colspan=3 | JH1 | Starling Burgess & Olin Stephens | Harold Goddijn | original design (model "77F", 1937) built by Claasen Jachtbouw | |
| 2012 | Rainbow | align=center colspan=3 | JH2 | Starling Burgess | Chris Gongriep, ZZV | replica of Rainbow (1934) built by Holland Jachtbouw | |
| 2015 | Topaz | align=center colspan=3 | J8 | Frank Cabot Paine | original design (proposal "A", 1935) built by Holland Jachtbouw | ||
| 2017 | Svea | align=center colspan=3 | JS1 |  Tore Holm | Thomas Siebel, StFYC | original design (1937) built by Vitters Shipyard |