[longboater]

I have a J-28 for Sale

I have had J-28 hull #6 for 15 years it is a great boat. We sail it out of Menominee Michigan. Please contact me for price and equipment. This boat has all the equipment for crusing and by the way is ready to race with Quantum kevlar racing sails, spinnakers and reaching chutes..

John Engel

owner of Blue J

 

[asdf38]

I spend a lot of time idly planning my sailing future and somehow I had never come across this boat. I've recently been browsing the Morris Linda, Shannon 28 and Com-pac 27 which all share the same simple aft head arrangement that seems to maximize the space in a boat this size. The J is intriguing because it's a great example of this arrangement and in a really fast boat. I'm almost always attracted to more classic boats but arguably I've never seen more boat in 28' LOA. Neat Boat.

 

[RobGallagher]

I know this is an old thread, but, I'm gonna just ask here rather than start something new as I only need one J28 owner to answer.

How much head room in the salon and head of a J28? I'm 6'2" and need a boat I can stand up in.

Don't need to do jumping jacks, just not stoop

 

[Faster]

Rob.. there are at least a couple of current or former owners earlier in this thread.. have you tried to PM or email them?

 

[Sail The World]

J-28 is a great boat, it can take some pretty rough wind and waves. this is the sailboat on which i learned to sail. i recommend.

 

[speedjunkie]

How well does the J28 sail to her rating with the standard 5' draft? I have also seen the shoal draft, 3'11". How well does the shoal draft sail to her rating?

 

[CBinRI]

How well does the J28 sail to her rating with the standard 5' draft? I have also seen the shoal draft, 3'11". How well does the shoal draft sail to her rating?

In my admittedly limited experience the ratings adjustment for a shoal draft will never make up for the loss of performance of not having a fin keel.

 

[puddinlegs]

For any type of racing, draft is your friend. Learn to love it... unless you're cruising extensively in shallow water.

 

[KiteRider]

I have recently took a position as captain on a J28. The owner told me it is hull #75, which according to the Jboat website would make it the last one. It is missing it's owners manual, and the placard is completely unreadable.

By chance do any of you J28 owners have a digital, or paper, copy of the owners manual?

 

[Alex W]

I'm surprised by the displacement of the J/28 considering that it is a cored hull. It is 7900lbs, which is pretty heavy for a 28.5' boat. C&C 29 and Pearson 28-2 (my boat) are the same length by about 1000lbs lighter.

Where is the weight?

 

[JimsCAL]

Yes a bit heavy for a higher performance boat. My previous boat (30 foot Cal 9.2) was only 7000 lbs. And still with that extra weight, the J28 rates almost 20 seconds a mile faster than the P 28-2 in PHRF.

 

[KiteRider]

I'm surprised by the displacement of the J/28 considering that it is a cored hull. It is 7900lbs, which is pretty heavy for a 28.5' boat. C&C 29 and Pearson 28-2 (my boat) are the same length by about 1000lbs lighter.

Where is the weight?

The C&C is only 400lbs lighter and the difference is all in the keel. 3000lbs vs 2600lbs. Don't know about the additional 500-600lbs difference in the Pearson, but it has the least ballast of the three.

 

[Jeff_H]

To put the J-28's and its 7900 lb displacement in perspective, the Laser 28 (which was designed a little before the J-28) has a design weight 3,950 lbs. (I actually owned one and mine actually weighed in around 4100 lbs with sails on board and some fuel in the tank)

To continue the comparison, and as an alternative to the J-28, the stock J-28 carried more fuel and water than the stock Laser 28, but I was able to add a second water tank taking mine up to around 40 gallons or water. The J-28 has more headroom. The Laser 28 had a more usable cockpit and was tiller steered.

The Laser 28 rates 42 seconds a mile faster, and is wildly faster in light or heavy air. But the Laser 28 takes more skill to sail in gusty conditions where the J-28 would be a lot more forgiving. The Laser 28's came equipped for racing and cruising. The deck plan on the Laser was fabulous in terms of hardware and hardware layout.

Build quality wise, the Laser 28's used a closed cell foam core, kevlar laminate, vacuum infusion, and some had vinylester resin (the order form for my boat indicated that the original owner had opted for that), making them a lot less prone to delamination and core damage. They were amazingly tough boats in most respects. The one thing I did not like was the hull to deck joint on the Laser 28.

Jeff

 

[asdf38]

Interesting that this thread popped up.

I posted here back in 2012 saying how I thought the J-28 was a particularly attractive (if different) upgrade to my Contessa, given the additional speed and size with little extra length.

Now I'm scheduled to see one this weekend. Though I have a hard time imagining that I'd pull the trigger given my attachment to the Contessa. But there is a logical case to be made for jumping to a boat that's 1) larger 2) in better shape and 3) has more equipment all without significantly increasing my fixed expenses.

I may post back with my opinion of the boat after viewing.

 

[Alex W]

Thanks.

I don't mean my weight comments to be a negative, it is just interesting to me. It is a significantly heavier boat than the J/29 or J/30 (which is also often used as a cruiser) and doesn't fit into the normal J/boat mold. That doesn't mean that it is a bad boat, I'm just surprised to see a J/boat so heavily in the cruiser spec's camp.