I had been sailing at Pleasant Point Yacht club for about three years and took notice of the boat, admiring the lines and performance. I said to Leon that if he ever wanted to sell her to let me know. Sometime last year he said he had decided to retire from sailing (84’s not a bad age) and would I like her. Well of course I would! But with a stable of three boats already I didn’t think I would stand a hope in heck of sneaking another one into the barn.
I’m getting a bit older myself and the ‘Finn’ was more than a handful to get in and out of the water. How things turn out as someone came to my house right at that time and said they must have the ‘Finn’. Who was I to argue, so now being down to only two in the stable the ‘Janette’ must take its new place? The (Chancellor of Exchequer) wouldn’t know the difference between a Finn or a Janette?
The main reason I’m putting pen to paper is that in our Group, Canterbury Classic Yachts there are now three of these boats. The picture (left) shows the Janette as I got it. The rig is a slightly cut down “Europe” sail with a Sunburst mast. It’s a handful, but it goes very well in the right conditions. It out-points other similar boats and leaves the shellback fleet well in its wake.
John Welsford designed the original boat in 1985 and called it “Jane”. Four years later he made some adjustments to the plan and then called it the ‘Janette’. If you have a boat with a beam less than 4’5” (1.34m) you have a ‘Jane. The design plan calls for 76 sq ft of sail. So if you’re not a (wooss.) Like me you may want to persevere with the larger sail. I quite like the option of both and may choose the larger rig on a 5k sunny warm day. Otherwise I’m out there whenever.....
Regards, Ian Kington