The J109 was originally developed as a one design cruiser racer and one of the principal attractions of the class, for many, remains the opportunity to race head to head against each other in equally matched boats on a level rating basis.
In order to compete in one design events competitors must be a member of their national Class Association and comply with the current Class Rules (which can be found using the Document link on the main menu). The class rules are designed to keep the boats as equally matched as possible. This is particularly important as the class has evolved over time to embrace modifications to the original design and changes in sail plan to ease the transition between one design racing and IRC racing.
Whilst the number of boats regularly racing in one design events is not at the heights it once was the class aims to maintain as many one design starts as possible. We currently aim for at least for at least five events per season, specifically:
Many event organisers are happy to organise a specific class start if we can raise a field of at least six boats so more can be added to this list if the demand is there.
In addition many boats compete in both inshore and offshore racing under the IRC handicap system, giving them the opportunity to compete in a host of other events. The J109 has proven to be highly competitive when racing under IRC and as mentioned above the rule changes adopted over the past few years have substantially removed any impediment to moving seamlessly between one design and handicap racing.