Jimjams

Owners: The Reuter Brothers
Written by: Sander Reuter

One step bigger??

After bringing the first J/22’s to Holland 11 years ago and sailing them for that time, we thought it was time for something different. So, after selling our two boats we started looking for something else.

We checked all the big manufacturers and ended up again, like we did 11 years before, at the J family. We wanted to go fast and also a bit bigger then a J22, conclusion: a J/92. We agreed that we had grown up and that we were probably old enough to sail together again.

The decision made so let’s buy the boat! This was not as easy as we thought it would be. There are a couple of boats sailing in Holland already but we wanted our boat to be different. It was not possible to order the boat the way we wanted it so we thought lets do it ourselves.

We ordered the hull from the French manufacturer and waited. After about seven months it was time for the boat to be put on a truck and shipped to Holland, three days later the boat arrived at the boatyard near our village. The whole family was there to welcome her. She was big and white and not much else. At that moment we didn’t know what kind of project we had jumped into.

There was no motor, no mast, and no interior, nothing just the way we ordered her. So no reason to wait we started immediately on finishing the boat!!

Grinding the inside was quite a job and so was putting and making the floorboards, putting in the engine, toilet, table, etc. But after about 8 months she was ready to put the mast up, which we had made yellow, just like the boom. We really wanted something different. We put the mast up in Belgium and finally it all started to look finished. All we needed now were the sails and we were on our way to our first race. The next weekend we sailed her for the first time and only then did we know that all the hard work and lots of sweat and tears had paid off.

We start our first race season this summer and my brother and I along with the whole crew are looking forward to it. We’ll keep you posted on how we do.

Another enthusiastic J/92 sailor