Calming down a J24

[ahighroad]

Hello;
Just found this site, and was wondering if someone could steer me in the right direction.
I recently inherited a J24 - great, fast, fun boat, but a little tender (I'm at that stage of life where cruising beats racing). After reading about their propensity to capsize, I started to look into their ability to recover from a knockdown. According to IMS, they have a righting moment (?) of 90 degrees.
I'm trying to determine if it would be worth the time and expense to add a "bulb" to the existing lead keel to increase stability, or if that would just put her down on her lines and mess up her sailing ability. I'm not interested in OD racing, so have no problems with changing things, but like all sailors, "faster is funner".
I really enjoy her other sailing qualities, so if it is practical to modify her (vs sell her and buy a different boat), I'd like to try that route.
Thanks for any opinions!

[alan white]

I'd sell that boat to someone who doesn't mind crawling into the cabin rather than stepping into it. Even if you were to somehow alter the design to get a bit more stability (at what cost?), the accomodations are so sparten, I doubt you'd make her into much a cruiser anyway.
There are loads of small cruisers under 25 ft with far bigger cabins. They might not perform as well as a J24 in terms of what appeals to a racer, but a lot of them come close while still providing a great deal more comfort.
The J24 is a commodity and shouldn't therefore be difficult to sell if that's what you want to do.

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by ahighroad

Hello;
Just found this site, and was wondering if someone could steer me in the right direction.
I recently inherited a J24 - great, fast, fun boat, but a little tender (I'm at that stage of life where cruising beats racing). After reading about their propensity to capsize, I started to look into their ability to recover from a knockdown. According to IMS, they have a righting moment (?) of 90 degrees.
I'm trying to determine if it would be worth the time and expense to add a "bulb" to the existing lead keel to increase stability, or if that would just put her down on her lines and mess up her sailing ability. I'm not interested in OD racing, so have no problems with changing things, but like all sailors, "faster is funner".
I really enjoy her other sailing qualities, so if it is practical to modify her (vs sell her and buy a different boat), I'd like to try that route.
Thanks for any opinions!

I would not add the bulb. You'll be wasting money. Older J24s are not worth much. I've seen them sell for a couple of thousand dollars.

Learn to sail the boat well. In most conditions for "cruising" or daysailing the jib is going to be enough, no need to use the genoa. Learn to use the backstay to flatten out the main, travel down, and you'll have no problems with stability. Don't put the kite up in a big breeze.

If it is an older boat be sure to secure the lockers in the cockpit anytime you are sailing. That means locks or some sort ot pins that will not come out. The J24 has a nasty habit of sinking if the boat is knocked down and the leeward locker flops open.

I sailed J24s for about 10 years and the only time things got out of control was in a big breeze with the kite up. The ones I was on always came back from getting knocked down, well beyond 90 degrees. The only ones that I ever knew of that didn't had the lockers open and then the problems started. In good weather and/or daysailing mode thay are really nice sailing boats.

[PAR]

Agreed there are "personality" issues with the early 24's, but the boat is capable, not tender.

If this boat is tender, you'll never feel comfortable with it, so clean it up and get the best price you can. Personally, I hang onto it until the market came around again, then sell. In the mean time find a cruiser, not a racer.