J Boats has delivered many hundreds of J 109s in the USA. The boat has established itself as one of the most active keelboat classes in the world and - when sailed well - is still considered hard to beat, both under IRC and ORC handicap. In England in particular, the J 109 is making big waves, even offshore.
Nevertheless, the Americans at J Boats have now decided to replace the model with a new model in the medium term. The J 112E is set to take over the difficult legacy. The E stands for Evolution, i.e. for the new visual appearance that the J 97 and J 122 have already received as part of a complete update. The features of the new look: longer superstructure windows and hatches in the fuselage as well, plus a new and modern styling for the interior.
The design by shipyard boss Alan Johnstone shows the typical J Boats hull shape with a moderate frame plan, relatively little freeboard and a comparatively slim stern. This means that two wheels are not structurally possible - the new J Boats also has just one large wheel. Also in keeping with shipyard tradition, the stern end remains open.
In contrast to the J 109, the shrouds are no longer positioned close to the cabin superstructure, but directly on the outside of the hull. This means that the aluminium rig with the two spreaders is braced wider, but can only carry a short overlapping genoa with 105 percent overlap. The J 109 has even more overlapping headsails. What remains is the extendable bowsprit made of carbon fibre, on which a gennaker with a sail area of 130 square metres can be set.
The interior has a conventional layout with two cabins and a wet room. The large forecastle on the port side will also be accessible from the inside through the bathroom. J Boats will veneer the furniture of the standard version with dark walnut wood. The look and layout of the interior of the J 112 E is the same as that of the J 122E.
It is interesting to note that the American shipyard is apparently expecting strong interest, particularly from Europe. For this reason, the J 112E will initially only be built at J Boats' subsidiary production facility in Les Sables d'Olonne (France). Only later will the ship also be produced in America.
The shipyard has not yet announced the price list. Dealer Henning Mittelmann from Mittelmann's Werft in Kappeln assumes a basic price of around 215,000 euros (including 19% VAT).
