JS 9000 Just Listed

This rare racing yacht comes from the board of renowned yacht designer and has been describe as the perfect racing yacht. Designed with the aid of 12m yacht research this unique design is fast and easy to sail. Sailing world says List the characteristics you want in a sportboat in addition to speed and that is what Swarbrick Yachts promises with the JS 9000: lifting keel for trailering, easy to singlehand or race with a crew of three or four, self-tacking non-overlapping jib, asymmetric chute tacked to the bow, no backstay, and good stability. Add to that the pedigree of designer John Swarbrick, the brains behind the 12-Meters Kookaburra I and II and Chris Dickson's Whitbread 60 Tokio. This one has a bow pole added and is on a yard trailer which has been fully restored. It has a carbon mast and bow pole, aluminium boom, 2 spinnakers, 3 jibs and a fully battoned main. My first encounter with the JS 9000 happened on terra firma. While staring up at its ridiculously narrow canoe body, its needle nose, its plumb bow, and thin appendages that seemed to stretch into eternity, I realized an adolescent dream had come true: I was standing in front of the ultimate "baaad-ass" boat. And this term is not to be taken lightly. It's the highest decoration bestowed upon cool, unusual, mean, and fast-moving objects. The boat comes to U. S. Shores from Down Under, and is designed by John Swarbrick, member of an established boat-building family in Western Australia. Swarbrick apprenticed under Alan Payne, worked on Chris Dickson's Whitbread 60 Tokio, and for Team New Zealand's recent AC campaign. Earlier this year, Swarbrick had an injunction upheld against Boldgold Investments, an unauthorized builder of the JS 9000. It isn't easy to copyright a boat design, but the judge considered "the original handcrafted model of the yacht, and the yacht itself... Works of artistic craftsmanship. " If nothing else, the incident is proof that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Given Swarbrick's pedigree, it's not exactly surprising the JS 9000 looks a bit like an ACC boat, drawing its performance from a light, narrow hull with deep appendages and a massive bulb at the business end of the keel. It's a low-drag machine with little form stability and absolutely no intention-or necessity-to get on a plane. Two people in the huge cockpit may get lonely, but two pairs of hands is all this boat needs. The self-tending jib and a trim pod on the centerline in the forward half of the cockpit keep the throttles within the crew's reach. There are no hiking straps or trapeze wires because what's the point of hiking when the boat heels more than 30 degrees and the 1,500-pound keel bulb projects much farther to windward than any butt ever could?