The J/109 is a 35-ft. boat that races well and has some comforts for short term cruising. It is a true racer/cruiser. The first time I won a sailing race was on Kind of Blue, a J/109 sailing out of Tiburon, California. It made an impression. I’d raced on a few different mid 30-ft. monohulls in the San Francisco Bay area by then, but this was my first time on a J/Boat and my first “pursuit” style race. That meant the faster boats started after the slower boats, and everyone raced to the finish line and hoped to cross first.
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John Harries at Attainable Adventure Cruising at age 70+ went from world cruising with his life partner on their McMurdy and Rhodes aluminum 54’ sloop to coastal cruising on a J/109 and there is a LOT of information on his website (www.morganscloud.com) about making a J/109 a viable coastal cruiser that can be double handed by older sailors. Worth a look if you are serious about a J/109 for a similar purpose.