J/80 becomes the 2nd most popular JBoat ever with hull #1700

New hulls continue to find their way into North America with 10 boats delivery to Hudson Sailing in time for the 2022 Worlds in Newport. This boat, 1632 joined the Fleet 1, NH fleet in the summer of 2020.

The molding of hull #1700 is in the works, making the J/80 the second most popular Jboat of all time, behind the J/24.  The legendary J/24 has some 6000+ hulls, so it is nice that the J/80 is mentioned in the same breath and continues to grow as a class. No offense to the venerable 24, but most people would prefer to race a J/80.

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Mark Girone's hull #1592 gets a Baltoplate finish and final assembly in Bristol, RI. 

J/80's on the used market are almost non-existant here in 2021. A new hull costs 55K without electronics or paint and still seems like a good deal given the cost of bringing an older boat back up to that level. Major fleets in Annapolis, Austin, Lake Winnepesaukee, NH, Toronto, Seattle, and Marion Massachusetts continue to grow.

A total year + rehab on hull #63 included a sprayed VC Epoxy finish. Ex Harmful 26 is joining the growing Massachusetts fleet in Marion this year. Used boats are difficult to find but worth the effort to rehab. The Toronto fleet found that importing a used boat from Europe helped build their fleet in 2020.

Nothing like a new bottom! Hull #1632 dangles from the fork truck during christening at Fay's boatyard in Gilford, NH.  Fay's and fleet 1 hosted the 2019 North Americans.