J-Class - Superyacht Cup 2014

[@MrLittlj]

Thank you - I may never get to experience one of these boats first hand but with your film, I experience a sense of their magnificence most every morning. It makes me feel good just to see and know that they are out there somewhere, sailing as they were designed to. When people marvel at my little Ericson 35', I show them this video of what a real boat looks like.

[@polyphony72]

Most beautiful boats ever!

[@CarlLindeberg]

Magnificent! Raced against Endeavour in Barbados years ago, truly an amazing sight. Would love to sail a J-class once in my life.

[@janprins1886]

+Carl Lindeberg Do you like wet classical sailing? Well we need a team .... so ...... when it depends on us... you are welcome!!

[@johnadams7402]

Beautiful boats from a time long ago. Just amazing. Great racing.

[@briane173]

The appeal of these J-Class boats is that the hull design, steerage, and tackle are a throwback to a bygone era of sailboat racing. What they design today -- these technological marvels that barely qualify as boats, literally "flying" above the water surface -- it's fun to work tech to get sailing up to freeway speed, but the boats themselves don't have any beauty or sleekness to them. They're machines; most of them have sails that aren't even sails really, just big airplane wings. These J-Class are SAILBOATS, in the most classical sense. The craftwork on these boats are simply a work of art; if I were an owner I'd be afraid to put a crew on it to race it. Can't imagine the money tossed down to maintain these things. But MAN are they pretty -- sleek, majestic, works of art.

[@insolentstickleback3266]

Brian E F 1 Racing suffers the same fate. I haven't been interested in watching it for years.

[@kilimli8824]

Agreed with both of you guys. In the pursuit of excellency, we lost parts of our souls day by day.

[@briane173]

@@kilimli8824 I believe it all started with the Kiwis' challenge to the Deed of Gift in an unorthodoxed America's Cup regatta in 1988. Anytime you go to the NY State Supreme Court to sue for rules that favor your club, that's where the mischief starts. Both sides gave the spirit of sportsmanship a slap in the face that year; and yacht racing hasn't been the same since.

[@insolentstickleback3266]

Wonderful short film Thank You!

[@stub2022]

Amazing boats, great footage. Might as well be a space shuttle in terms of who gets to play on theses boats, lol. I had to chuckle at 3:50 when the lads are below decks wrestling a sail past the crystal cabinet, hahaha.

[@peterlarsen7779]

My love affair - if it can be called that - started in the early 80s. My memory is a bit fuzzy now and I can't find evidence of it, but I _do_ recall an article one of the major Danish newspapers - _Politiken_ - had brought about *_Velsheda_***. I was mesmerized with her size....her mast height and boom length were mentioned as well as the size of the crew to sail her back in her heyday. The one thing I can't find evidence of, is that ***_Velsheda_* had been tied up by a quay in Copenhagens inner harbour for at least a few months, hence the article. When driving out to visit my grandparents, we would pass this magnificent beauty and my face would be pressed to the window in the backdoor taking in every second of her I could see.

[@billcole5935]

Awesome beautiful yachts!

[@kenmaxwell8927]

really nice to see real sailboats racing again.

[@alcabriphotography]

Great Job, Great team, Keep up you'll win 👍

[@seasmurf1878]

Hi, J-Class Lionheart A REAL MEAN RACING MACHINE!!! LET'S SAIL!!!!

[@vva2211]

Почему все работают с веревками без перчаток? У них что, запасные руки есть?!

[@denieldiniz9422]

E esse som do Olodum aí? quem é esse grupo tocando percussão?

[@brianfulford6379]

Go go Valsheda....

[@jacobinao]

Where is Endeavour located?

[@diogoeiro]

+Jacobina Trump It's currently in the Cascais Marina, near Lisbon, Portugal. It stays there a lot!

[@janprins1886]

+Jacobina Trump USA normally now in Portugal, but Endeavour comes back to the Netherlands. We have bought the Endeavour. Endeavour looks like you. Even so charming and gorgeous!! But that's not the reason that we have bought them!! Are you family of mighty Donald?

[@jacobinao]

+Jan Prins. Thanks for the compliment Jan. I will cherish it. Congratulations with such an extraordinary purchase. When you are willing to accept me as a crew member to sail her back to Holland, I hope you'll contact me. [e-mail]. I sailed to the Azores on the Nordwind and have experience with ocean swells. No I am not in the Donald crew, I am my own Trump.

[@АндрейТюменев-щ4и]

Круто

[@charliemiller9741]

M

[@szaki]

Look beautiful, but too slow for modern day technology and speed! It's for the rich to play around with!

[@martinavaslovik3433]

Sad that you cannot appreciate these magnificent boats for what they really are.

[@raincoast2396]

"Its hard. Its really hard work". Give me a break! Rich boys sailing toys. Get a real job and find out what hard work is REALLY about.

[@GaryBickford]

These are classic museum pieces, or reconstructions thereof. They were either scrapped or left for dead at the beginning of WWII, and only came back to life in the last few years - for 70 years nobody got to see these wonders of 1930s-era boating science, engineering, and craftsmanship. When they race, literally thousands of people get to see these boats in action. The owners are doing it for fun of course, but also because they love to see and participate, and allow the many fans to experience this. The race crew of 35 are all volunteers except for the five permanent full time crew, and yes they are working hard.

[@totlamad23]

Easy to say coming from someone who has probably never sailed competitively. Maybe read up on who Ken Read is before passing uninformed judgements.

[@hijtohema]

Or Bouwe Bekking (Seven Volvo Ocean races of which three as skipper) All of these crews are professionals. That is how it goes: multi-gazillionaire buys a super yacht. And hires a pro crew to sail it in competitions. The J class has its roots in the America's Cup. They were designed as racers.