From David Warren
I was recently asked
to sail a newly designed dinghy, the JB5/50 with the only request to
give some feedback, so I jumped at the chance. Having sailed
dinghies for a number of years, most recently Tasars where I usually
sail towards the front of the fleet the JB according to literature
is designed for people like myself who may want to get a little more
performance, while still enjoying a one design boat.
The weather forecast for the day was for strong
northerly winds however we managed to start early in around 10knots
of breeze which steadily built to a good 20 over the course of an
hour or so.
My first impressions of the boat is that it is
a modern looking skiff with a lot of sail area, with both myself and
crew weighing in around 66kgs. each, I was wondering how I was going
to hold this down especially if the wind got to its forecast 20-30
knot northerly.
After launching the boat and sailing out past
the marina we settled down in about 10knots heading up wind. We were
fully powered up and hiking in flat water. The boat responded well
to control changes and we soon found that jib cars all the way in,
mainsheet on firmly and very little boom vang had the boat gliding
along effortlessly upwind. Tacking at first proved a little slow as
the boat is significantly bigger than the Tasar 18’ long and 7’
wide however I found if I slowed the entry into the tack, sheeting
in to centre allowing the boat to heel and come up high on the
breeze prior to putting the helm down the boat completed the tack
much quicker and came out with speed.
After sailing upwind for some time we extended
the bow pole, turned and hoisted a very large masthead spinnaker.
The spinnaker despite it size went up easily and set quickly (not
bad for a Tasar sailor.) The boat responded, quickly getting to the
plane. The acceleration was gradual rather than explosive making it
very easy to control.
The boat was a delight to sail in this breeze,
it was very stable and responsive while still being exceptionally
quick for the amount of wind we had, we were continuously skipping
over the backs of the waves. The gybe proved effortless as we
entered with plenty of speed and therefore very little weight on the
main. The asymmetrical spinnaker tacked easily and reset with no
fuss. I did note that there was a little lee helm, however in
hindsight if I had raked the centreboard back I think this would be
eliminated (for the next test sail perhaps).
When we turned to go back on the wind I was
surprised to find the wind had built to 15 knots. With our old
settings the boat felt a little choked, however was still easy to
sail. We reset some things, jib track, boom vang and mainsheet to
get a little more twist off in the top of the sails and the boat
responded, quickly on the plane and pushing effortlessly through an
increasing chop. The
plan was to head back up hill and try the masthead again. It
didn’t take long to get to our turn around point however the wind
kicked in at a good 20knots so I erred on the side of caution and
had a broad two sail reach in, and what a ride. The boat really took
off continuously crashing through and over the back of
waves at a rapid rate. The
boat was surprisingly easy to sail at this speed, I was able to
point it exactly where I wanted it, we were able to move around and
make adjustments and keep it flat while never slowing. Fantastic
ride.
In short the boat does what the
designer said it would. It performs exceptionally well both planing
up wind as well as down in surprisingly little wind. My female crew
and I are both very light and had no problem controlling the large
sail area. the top end performance is exhilarating however much
easier to control than anything else I have sailed at that speed. It
was also easy to make go fast as I was probably only on the water
for an hour and a half and at times felt the boat to be sailing free
and fast.
Can’t wait to have another go.
David Warren
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