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Review of J/44


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The J/44 is a large sailboat designed by the maritime architect Johnstone.

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Hull
The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Rig
The boat equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Keel

The J/44 has been built with more than one type of keel.

One option is a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.But be aware that even though a Wing Keel keel is very good for speed racing, a fishing nets and the like in the water can easily make you into a troublesome situation.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.83 - 1.93 meter (6.00 - 6.30 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

The boat is typically equipped with an inboard Yanmar 4JH2-TE diesel engine at 64.0 hp (47 kW).


Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 8.3 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for J/44 is about 330 kg/cm, alternatively 1850 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 330 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1850 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.


Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for J/44 is 3.28.

Slim Wide 66% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 66% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.


Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 53m2 (570 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.


Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications headsail specifications

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale



If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.



Guiding dimensions of running rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 42.1 m(138.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard42.1 m(138.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard42.1 m(138.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet 13.7 m(44.9 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet13.7 m(44.9 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet 34.2 m(112.3 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet30.1 m(98.8 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Cunningham5.9 m(19.4 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap11.8 m(38.8 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul11.8 m(38.8 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what to look for.



Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for J/44 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.



References