J/111 for Sale, Review and Buying Advice for the 36-Foot Speedster

The J111 for sale market, small and specialized

Anyone hunting for a J111 for sale learns quickly that it is a small market. J/Boats counts more than 120 boats sailing in at least 12 countries, so at any time there are usually only a handful listed worldwide, and the best ones often sell inside the class before they reach a broker. That scarcity, combined with an active one-design circuit, has kept prices firm.

What buyers are paying for is a 36-footer that does something few boats this size can: win one-design championships with an amateur crew, then race offshore under handicap, then take six friends for an afternoon sail with the jib on a furler. My estimate for 2026 is roughly $150,000 to $275,000 for most used boats, with condition and sails driving most of the spread.

Alan Johnstone's numbers, read like a race boat

Launched in August 2010, the J111 was drawn by Alan Johnstone, who had already led the J109 design a decade earlier. J/Boats lists it at 36 feet 6 inches overall with a long 32.7-foot waterline, 10 feet 10 inches of beam, and a displacement of 9,300 pounds. The lead bulb keel carries 3,515 pounds and draws about 7 feet 2 inches.

Run those through the usual ratios and you get a sail area to displacement ratio of about 24, a displacement to length ratio of about 119 (J/Boats' own figures) and a ballast ratio around 38 percent. That combination, light and long with a lot of righting moment, is why the boat can carry its 663 square feet of upwind sail in a breeze and then set a 1,399-square-foot gennaker downwind. The rudder is an internal spade rather than transom hung, and the reverse transom and carbon mast mark it as a generation newer than the J105 and J109.

• Upwind sail area about 663 sq ft, main and non-overlapping jib
• Gennaker about 1,399 sq ft on a retractable sprit
• Sail area to displacement about 24
• Displacement to length about 119
• Ballast ratio about 38 percent

How fast it actually goes

J/Boats says the J111 slices to windward at better than 7 knots and reaches double-digit speeds downwind, and owners and reviewers agree that it is balanced and easy to drive upwind with precise helm control. The 60-inch wheel gives the helmsman good leverage and sightlines, and the floor-mounted traveler and foot braces keep the trimmers working efficiently.

Its handicap record is long. Between 2010 and 2020 the class reports wins under PHRF, ORC, IRC, AMS, ORR and CSA in regional and international events. For a buyer, that versatility matters: even if the one-design fleet near you is thin, the boat will be competitive in whatever handicap system your club uses.

The international one-design circuit

World Sailing granted the J111 international class status in 2012, just two years after launch. The first North American championship was sailed out of Chicago Yacht Club in 2013, and the first Europeans in Le Havre, France the same year. World championships have since visited Cowes twice, Newport, San Francisco, Breskens in the Netherlands and Chicago.

The class remains active in 2026. The J111 North American championship was held at Youngstown Yacht Club on Lake Ontario with 14 teams over ten races and won by Bravo, and boats race in the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and across the Great Lakes and the US coasts.

Why a small crew can handle 36 feet of race boat

J/Boats argues that the asymmetric gennaker can be handled by two crew rather than the five or six a conventional spinnaker needs, and in practice the sprit setup does make sets and douses simpler. The jib lives on a furler and the mainsail runs on slides, so a short-handed crew can leave the dock quickly and put everything away without a foredeck team.

Full one-design racing still needs a proper crew to get the most out of the boat, but for daysailing, evening races and coastal passages the J111 is easier to run than its speed suggests. That is a large part of why owners keep their boats for many seasons.

Below deck, built for racing weekends

The interior is an open plan designed for overnighting rather than cruising. There is an L-shaped galley, a forward-facing navigation station, a wet locker, two full-length settee berths, two aft quarter berths and a private head forward, with a removable V-berth. Seating at the table works for six.

Systems are minimal: a 13-gallon fuel tank, a 26-gallon water tank with pressure water, and a Volvo Penta D1-20 saildrive diesel that J/Boats rates at 21 horsepower. Expect to add battery capacity if you plan to spend nights aboard.

Budgeting for a J111 program

A J111 is a big-boat program even when sailed by amateurs. Slip fees for a 36-footer, insurance, hauling, bottom preparation, saildrive service and a rotating set of laminated race sails put a club racing budget around $20,000 to $35,000 a year. A full one-design circuit with new sails each season, coaching and boat transport for championships can exceed $60,000.

Resale is the counterweight. Because the boat is still in production, supported by an international class and coveted in handicap racing, well-kept J111s have held their value better than most performance boats of the same age.

My advice on negotiating is simple. Price the sail inventory and the age of the standing rigging first, then the engine hours, then the electronics. A boat that needs a full new one-design inventory and a rig refresh can easily hide $40,000 to $60,000 of work behind an attractive asking price, which is often more than the gap to a fully sorted boat.