J/24 For Mom

[jpmathieu]

Every spouse should have their own boat, mine chose a J/24. Of Course I get to bring it back to shape to race as my wife is active in the local J/24 Race fleet.
The Project: 1977 J/24 Hull number 167. I picked up this boat locally for short money, the problem is it needs a good amount of work to bring her back to racing shape, which is the goal.



The Bad:
The keel fairing is flacking off and the entire keel will need to be refaired.

There is a war wound on the starboard side that needs attention.

The interior needs a paintjob.


The OK:
The Sails are at my good friends loft, Sperry Sail in Marion being checked over.
The sheets need to be replaced soon.
The companionway rails need to be replaced.

The Good.
The Rig looks good.
All the Harken Hardware is there.
The rudder is in good shape.

The boat came on a trailer which will be a small project on its own, but the 90 day goal is as follows:
1. Refair the keel;
2. Sand and repaint the bottom;
3. Change the color of the topsides to fighting lady yellow (per my wife's request);
4. Re-bed two leaking stantions;
5. Build floatation compartments into the v-berth;
6. Sand and paint the interior;
7. Re-wire the boat:
8. Build new cabin sole.

These projects will allow me to get the boat race ready for the season and have the boat remeasured.

Long term projects will be:
1. Replace original forward hatch;
2. Replace original 2 piece companionway;
3. Repaint deck.

The gear
Luckily we have another boat so I will be able to "borrow gear" from the other boat as it will not be in the water due to a bad A4, which I am rebuilding.

The boat has been in the yard covered with snow up until a couple of days ago, so I have been unable to do any work in the boat. To get in the mood I salvaged two of the three cabinet doors from the boat. The Doors were shot as the original cane-work had been cut out and screen had been taped in. I neglected to take a picture of the doors before I started. But here is a picture of one of the finished doors, complete with freehand cutout logo.


Finally yesterday I was able to get in the boat and start sanding. I was only able to sand for a short time due to the fact I ran out of disks and I am waiting for a order to arrive this week along with a new pad for my trust PC7335. But I started in on the v berth floation project:


To wrap up for this morning here are some random photos of the pre project boat.





More to follow!

[Hirilondë]

If the urge to race is too great to resist then one-design is the way to go. The J-24 will prove one of the easiest classes to find a competitive local fleet to race in. They are no frills below at all, and no need to change that. Have fun.

[Tim]

Great boat, instant and enduring classics. I logged many hours on one during several enjoyable years a while back.

And the old ones can be just as competitive as the new ones, given the chance.

Vermiculite?

[jpmathieu]

Vermiculite?

My initial answer is no. I just removed the ice from the bilge yesterday. The bilge is completely glassed with a 4 x 6 inch bilge sump behind the lifting strap. In my research It appears that some of the first boats were spared from the now terrible idea. I am hoping this one was pre-vermiculite. I however plan on drilling a couple of holes just to be sure.

As far as everything else the boat is definitely no frills and I plan on keeping it that way.

I have never sailed a j/24 before. I am looking forward to the different ride I will experience from my Renegade. It will also be interesting for me to have my wife bring me for a ride on her boat.