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J24 Battery Location

7K views 15 replies 4 participants last post by  ste27 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I have received my boat and stored it for the winter. One thing I failed to locate while preparing it, was the battery location.

I did not spend a great deal of time following all the wiring, however while I plan all winter, it would be nice to know in advance where it naturally is placed.

Further, does anyone have experience with a solar trickle charger. We have a small outboard with the boat and I am thinking the pairing of a deep cycle marine battery, an inverter and a solar set up is probably the way to go if I want lights to operate at night.

Thanks in advance.

Greg
 
#2 ·
Its in the forward V-Berth under the boards on Starboard

I have a pretty small battery and just charge it 2 times a season ,I finish a lot of races in the dark and as the nav light only draw 30 watts i have never had and issue.
 
#3 ·
Its in the forward V-Berth under the boards on Starboard

I have a pretty small battery and just charge it 2 times a season ,I finish a lot of races in the dark and as the nav light only draw 30 watts i have never had and issue.
Uhhh, it could be anywhere

If the boat's ever been raced seriously it'll likely be under the port bunk as far forward and toward centerline as possible, and the engine will generally be stored under the starboard bunk with the power unit forward.

Battery up front like that will be dog slow compared to a position roughly over the keel and balancing out the engine.

Keep weight low, keep weight out of the ends of the boat
 
#6 ·
every bit matters, and given that the mast is too far forward on those boats, forward of the mast is non-good!

Anyway, something needs to balance the engine and anchor. Best to get a battery as close in weight to those two, and mount it to balance them out. Note that those mounting locations are as close to the middle of the boat as is practical, which means that any pitching moments are minimized. A really "sneaky" (competitive) owner would weigh his boat 100% empty and without corrector weights, and then figure out how much his optional "stuff" listed in rule 6 needs to weigh to get the boat up to 1270kg and then buy up to that weight before the boat is weighed for measuring. You'll note that the class rules specify a battery MAX weight of 25kg - why in the world would they specify a max weight, surely you'd want the lightest possible right... well, what if you had a light hull and wanted to get it up to weight without putting corrector weights in (which must go forward and aft of the bulkheads and are therefore BAD)? Note that your battery placement is forward of the bulkhead, something a lot of people fight to avoid.

Weight and weight placement matters a lot on a J/24

Similarly (and yes you weigh a lot more than a battery) the helm should only be aft of the traveller during a tack or a gybe. Weight should be as close to the area between the mast and the companionway as possible - ends of boat = baaaad! Downwind you could consider having someone sit forward of the shrouds (basically touching the shrouds and not a bit further forward) to help pull the back of the boat out of the water a bit but maybe your forward battery takes care of that one ;)
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the note. I will start my search again in the spring.

I want an inverter because I assume the entire system doesn't run on 12v.. maybe I am wrong on that one.. I am just learning.

As for balance and weight, etc.. we are not racers. We got a good deal on the J as our first boat. Worst case scenario we will sink it and go buy something else. (If that happens I will be sure to post the story here).

Best case scenario, it lasts us for the rest of our lives as our day sailor of convenience as the lake is about a 5 minute drive from our house.
 
#8 · (Edited)




My battery is BEHIND the mast under the V-Berth

"A really "sneaky" (competitive) owner would weigh his boat 100% empty and without corrector weights"

Having only owned two hulls since 1981 and run a large fleet i clearly lack any understanding other than CHEATER thinking like yours has caused the boat measurement process to become a FUBAR mess.

You have people having to stick quarters under there mast and dig illegally placed lead out of there keels :rolleyes: to measure in legal at the worlds this year On BOATS THEY USED TO MAKE THE WORLDS:hothead
 
#14 ·
My battery is BEHIND the mast under the V-Berth

"A really "sneaky" (competitive) owner would weigh his boat 100% empty and without corrector weights"

Having only owned two hulls since 1981 and run a large fleet i clearly lack any understanding other than CHEATER thinking like yours has caused the boat measurement process to become a FUBAR mess.

You have people having to stick quarters under there mast and dig illegally placed lead out of there keels :rolleyes: to measure in legal at the worlds this year On BOATS THEY USED TO MAKE THE WORLDS:hothead
Meh, we're clearly talking about racing at different levels, fair enough. Min length mast and max length forestay are fast man... there's no way around that. Just like there's no way around the fact that the mast and keel are in the wrong places on these things! If you think I'm crazy, guys like Stuart Jardine don't even bring their fenders racing
 
#9 ·
Drake
You will need an invertor for the microwave oven, toaster, and washer/drier :D but not for lights and other equipment normally installed on a J24. And if you had an invertor, the battery would last about long enough to make some toast and eggs before it would be flat.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I use a battery ABOUT 1/2 the size of a group 24 very easy to carry gotta look at when the rain stops :)

Way back when be bought New in 1981 it had a group 24 battery and we did weekends on the boat all the time BUT used a campstove to cook

We found a light set of curtians made the porta-potta much more user friendly and a 2 man tent rain-fly over the boom works wonders on rainy days at anchor OR the NO wind days in the blazing sun
 
#15 ·
You have no idea what level i USE to race at and was disgusted when famous people i will not name started showing up with cheater boats in the early 1980s to pimp there sails as i am NOW with the cheater boats made buy the Brazil builder that caused the class to have to remeasure ALL the boats with a new sheerline jig

The boat was the boat and the keels are ALL in the same place and = and NOW there NOT = and with the 10 boat makes it legal rule there really NOT =


I am tired of hearing the BS excuse about the keel from people who feel they need and advantage to make up for sailing skills :hothead
 
#16 · (Edited)
You have no idea what level i USE to race at and was disgusted when famous people i will not name started showing up with cheater boats in the early 1980s to pimp there sails as i am NOW with the cheater boats made buy the Brazil builder that caused the class to have to remeasure ALL the boats with a new sheerline jig

The boat was the boat and the keels are ALL in the same place and = and NOW there NOT = and with the 10 boat makes it legal rule there really NOT =

I am tired of hearing the BS excuse about the keel from people who feel they need and advantage to make up for sailing skills :hothead
It's simple physics man... a "stock" J/24 has lee helm in less than 10. The centre of effort and centre of lateral resistance are in the wrong spots.

I don't like cheater boats either but you've got to optimize what you've got available.

Say you could averate 5kt for one hour, you'd get 5nm. Now let's increase your speed by 1% to 5.05kt, you're now across the "finish line" 36 seconds ahead of the 5kt boat. Sorry but it all matters.

Now, in our case the boat lives in the water with a nice coat of antifoul (local class rules) - but we STILL optimize what we have to work with
 
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