Do you remember the moment you got hooked on sailing? Jumping behind the helm of the new J/40 brought all of that rushing back for me. This new design is beautifully balanced and responds to even the subtlest changes in the wind. Like many J/Boat designs before her, she is a true racer/cruiser.
Not to be confused with the classic J/40, built between 1984 and 1994, this new design, launched in 2024, aims to push the envelope as an offshore worthy, high performance cruising yacht capable of double-digit speeds. While the breeze never even hit double digits the day we sailed, I have no doubt she would accelerate well into her promised performance range off the wind.
I joined the first sail of hull No. 1 in the U.S., just before the Annapolis Sailboat Show last October. The boat had arrived from production days earlier and the Incidence sails were bent on the night before. Jeff Johnstone joined us onboard and was as excited as we were to put the new J/40 design through her paces. With light to moderate air in the forecast, there was no hesitation loading a large A2 spinnaker onboard.
I nearly walked right past this new boat on the docks, because its twin wheels aren’t the typical large, single wheel I’d seen on nearly every other J/Boat I’d ever sailed on or raced against. This arrangement is a direct lineage from the boat’s older sister, the J/45 (a Top 10 Best Boats winner in 2023), with which she shares many similarities. In profile, the boat has adopted the plumb bow, fixed sprit, and low-slung deckhouse common to many performance-oriented production boats we see now. But the similarities end with a subtle sheer, a smooth, chineless run aft, and a 63-foot carbon spar as standard.
It was an easy step from the dock to the drop-down transom swim platform (optional—standard is a low, fixed transom) and into the cockpit, with the adjustable hydraulic backstay providing a nice hand hold. For cockpit ergonomics, the twin helms mean clear fore and aft movement around a centerline table that’s easily removed for racing mode; they also mean better outboard steering options for the helmsperson and excellent visibility in all directions.
Just aft of the companionway, a locker below the floor provides line tail storage while also satisfying current offshore racing standards and allowing for a lower companionway threshold, a smooth transition between the cockpit and cabin, and room for a self-storing companionway door.
Stowing some gear below deck, I found the layout familiar, but the textures and styling accents were a departure from the traditional J/Boat feel. It was more on trend with European production builds: simple, functional, and warm. That felt fair given this J/40’s French birth at J/Composites and its interior styling by Isabelle Racoupeau.
A mahogany finish is standard, while white oak and walnut are optional. The design incorporates plenty of light with fixed hull ports throughout the main cabin in addition to ports and hatches in the cabintop. This boat featured the “comfort package” that provides additional fixed hull ports in the forward and aft berths fitted with sliding shade panels, as in the salon.
The L-shaped galley, immediately to port of the companionway, is across from the starboard forward-looking navigation station. A white Corian countertop holds a double stainless sink, a molded DC refrigerator, and straddles an ENO two-burner gas stove and oven. A prominent fiddle around the entire countertop adds the practical safety component.
Likewise, overhead handrails run the length of the salon, a rarity in today’s production boats and a nod to the J/40’s intended use offshore in potentially no-nonsense conditions. Cabinets ran the full length of the salon, just above the fixed hull ports; these are also part of the comfort package and would add an important level of storage if an owner were to lean more into cruising than racing. The salon features a foldout table with L-shaped settee to port and a straight settee to starboard. With lee cloths fit, each side could make a suitable sea berth.
The boat comes in two layouts—three cabins (which hull No. 1 was) with twin aft cabins and a large V-berth, plus one head forward; or two cabins, which replaces the starboard aft cabin with a big storage garage and adds a second head with shower aft. Storage space is limited in the aft cabins, as is headroom above the plush mattresses, but that is the nature of a performance cruising boat. Less is more. Presumably, an owner with extended cruising in mind might opt for the two-cabin layout with the extra storage aft.
Air conditioning is available, but it is handled as an aftermarket install in the U.S. The same carries true for any electronics packages, allowing the owner to get exactly what they would like from their J/Boats dealer.
I could see fiberglass construction details in some of the storage lockers. These areas are smooth and painted, but it’s important to understand that this boat is built that way for a reason. In line with amenities being kept at a manageable and simple level, it’s part of the tradeoff for high-end performance in a 40-foot boat. Extra equipment and joinery aren’t fast. The J/40 delivers what is needed, with strategically designed comforts, to keep performance levels up.
The fiberglass hull and deck are foam cored, with three different densities in the hull and two variations in the deck. The hull, deck, structural grid, and main bulkhead are all built using an infusion process, further optimizing weight. This first hull carried a 7-foot, 3-inch draft, but there is a shoal draft option.
We fired up the 50-hp Volvo Penta on a saildrive and cruised into the open waters of the Chesapeake Bay, where the breeze was holding at 7-9 knots on the nose. Despite the direction, we were easily making 6 knots at 2,000 rpm into the light wave action. A boost to 2,500 rpm jumped our speed to 7.3 knots.
Certain aspects of the J/40 leave unequivocal the racer in the racer/cruiser concept, for instance, the six Harken Performa winches (optionally electric) in the cockpit. I love this. It means dedicated winches for important control lines, like the mainsheet and headsail. It also adds a level of redundancy. The new J/40 is a boat that is meant to be sailed. So, without hesitation, we did exactly that: raised the main, unfurled the 103% jib on the Harken MkIV furler, and silenced the engine. The two-blade (three optional) Gori propeller feathered.
She accelerated. The apparent built. She accelerated some more. We slowly trimmed in and put her hard on the wind. The J/40 is beautifully balanced, and at 8 knots of wind, we had a boatspeed of 6.6 knots at 28 degrees apparent. Riding the shifts and working the puffs was more like dancing than sailing; she responded eloquently to a light touch of the helm, exhibited nice stability, and gave just the right amount of feedback.
The Lewmar chain and wire steering is affixed to twin low-profile pedestals with optional Carbonautica composite wheels. On hull No. 1, a B&G direct drive autopilot is secured via a draglink to a separate tiller arm on the rudderpost, providing steering redundancy. The steering compartment, accessed through a flush molded hatch between the pedestals, is isolated, ensuring that equipment cannot get jammed in the steering system. With all the space here, it’s tempting to use it for stowage. It would just require some modifications to do so safely.
Additional deck storage is found in a shallow locker under the starboard cockpit bench (deep if one chooses the garage layout). A dedicated liferaft locker is to port, and an oversized anchor locker forward lends itself to doubling as a hanging locker for fenders and lines.
Sitting comfortably outboard of the helm, small changes to the cockpit-wide Harken traveler or the German mainsheet system were within comfortable arm’s reach. The mainsheet runs inside the boom and below deck before it pops out near the aftmost set of winches and traveler control lines. Inhaulers for the jib provided trimming flexibility up front.
Tacks were smooth and the J/40 carried her momentum through each one. Spinning her in two full circles without touching a sail was just as easy; she is remarkably nimble.
Some of that can be attributed to limited weight aloft. The J/40 comes standard with an Axxon tapered carbon mast, discontinuous rod rigging, and an aluminum boom. This keel-stepped mast includes a pre-molded mast collar made in the factory for a perfect fit in the mast partner and a drain hole above deck for a dry cabin. Wires are routed through a gland at deck level.
Curious to see the performance off the wind, we hoisted the asymmetrical spinnaker and instantly felt the boat shift into a new gear. The tack is secured to a fixed carbon bow sprit (which also integrates an anchor roller). The sheets run aft through Harken blocks, matching the rest of the hardware on deck, except for the Antal clutches. The halyard is routed aft, mostly hidden by flush deck panels.
The J/40 was gliding across the Bay at 7.2 knots, 110 to 130 apparent wind angle, with only 8-9 knots of breeze. Smiles all around.
For heavier weather days the main is set up for slab reefing, with reefing lines led inside the boom—a simple, seaworthy, and reliable arrangement. The J/40 also has an optional inner forestay system for flying a staysail or storm jib.
Heading back toward the barn, we completed a quick leeward takedown. We had four onboard but easily could have pulled it off with two in that breeze. The last of the red spinnaker disappeared through the flush hatch and we were next turning into the wind to drop the main. It was a beautiful finish to a near perfect day on the water.
The balancing act inherent in the concept of a racer/cruiser isn’t easy to execute, but J/Boats has done an admirable job here. With its standard carbon spar, emphasis in the build on weight control, and a deck layout and sailplan clearly geared toward the sailor who feels the need for speed, the boat also maintains a level of comfort and practicality that’s appealing for cruising. It embodies the idea that the easier and more fun a boat is to sail, the more you will sail it. Not quite as much boat to handle or maintain as her big sister the 45, this new 40-footer fills a worthwhile niche.
LOA/LWL 40’11” / 37’
Beam 12’8”
Draft 7’3” (std), 6’ (shallow)
Air Draft 63’7”
Displacement 16,900 lbs (light)
Ballast 6,300 lbs (std)
Sail Area 918 sq ft (main and 103% Jib)
Engine 50hp Volvo Penta
Designer Alan Johnstone, J/Boats
Builder J/Boats, www.jboats.com
Price $625,000 as sailed
January/February 2025
