The J/24 is an international One-Design keelboat class as defined by the International Sailing Federation. The J/24 was created to fulfill the diverse needs of recreational sailors such as cruising, one design racing, day sailing, and handicap racing.
The J/24 class has more than 50,000 people sailing 5,300 boats worldwide; is established in nearly 40 countries with well over 150 active fleets, and is still considered the "gold standard" for modern one-design keelboats around the world. It is the world's most popular One-Design keelboat as measured by hulls produced.
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History
In the summer of 1975 Rodney Johnstone designed and built hull number 1 in his garage in Stonington, Connecticut. "Ragtime" would serve as the master mould for the subsequent hulls. This design allowed him to start the very successful J-Boat company with his brother Bob Johnstone. By 1978 the class was popular enough to hold a one-design regatta in Key West with twenty boats on the line.
Early boats (hull numbers up to 3000) need a lot of work to rebuild their keel shape (move material forward) to make them point and sail fast in light wind. These older boats can be modified if one wants a competitive J/24. New boat manufacturing is done by multiple companies around the world in France, USA, Italy and Argentina. In the US, J/24s are built by US Watercraft.
As of January 2009, approximately 5,475 J/24s have been produced. Approximately 20 new boats were produced in 2008. The average price of a complete, new boat without sails was approximately £20,000. (31,370 USD)
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Authority, rules and regulations
The international authority for the class is the ISAF, which shall cooperate with the International J/24 Class Association on all matters regarding these rules. Interpretations of these rules shall be made by the ISAF, which in coming to its decision may consult the International J/24 Class Association and the copyright holder.
The International J24 Class Association (IJCA) has the sole authority worldwide for the conduct and management of the International J/24 Class. The IJCA Constitution, the By-laws and other regulations are binding on all members, and all registered J/24s shall conform to Class Rules and any limitations imposed by the IJCA and ISAF. IJCA is a "not-for-profit" organization.
Current rules (as well as the history of changes) for the International J/24 Class is available from the International Sailing Federation web site
Crew requirements
J/24s are usually raced with a crew of five, but class rules require three crew, with a total combined weight of under 882 lbs (400 kg).
Reasons for the J/24's popularity
The J/24 is no longer considered the most modern sailboat in its class, but it is still a very popular sailboat among keelboat racers. While some of the world's best J/24 sailors have the latest version J/24, a well-prepared 1977 model, built to the same shape and weight with rigid end-grained balsa core construction can still win sailing the class world championship even after 30,000+ miles of trailering. This is one of the many advantages of One-Design sailing that the J/24 is benefitting from.
Another reason for its popularity is that it is fairly easy and inexpensive to acquire a used boat and gear due to the large number of boats produced. There are 136 active fleets in the US alone, which offer a lot of race competition. This makes the J/24 a popular boat for beginners and experienced sailors.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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