After two seasons with the J/99, we’re pretty happy with our sail setup, and a lot of people have asked us for specifics.

So here goes: what we chose, why, and what the data says after a season that included Gotland Runt and the RORC Baltic Sea Race. Including the one crossover we still haven’t figured out.

Learnings from the Incidence sails

The boat raced as J Lance in France in 2024 with an Incidence inventory. The setup was the result of multiple J/99 campaigns and a two-boat development program with J/99 AxeSail and Incidence designer Jean-Baptiste Boullet. I had several discussions with both teams and Jean-Baptiste to really understand the thinking behind it, and what improvements and optimizations could be done.

We also made an early decision to race the 2025 season without changing anything. Many teams rush to configure a new boat based on prior experience, but we saw this as a unique opportunity to learn from two of the best J/99 teams in the world. And then build on those learnings. This, together with our 35 000 nm in the J/111, would give us a unique perspective.

The Incidence wardrobe was fast, and we proved that by winning both Marstrand Big Boat Race and Færderseilasen. But it was put together for a different program: full crew, French coastal racing, with a J1, J2 and J4, a small code and an A5 that were great for what they were built for. Our program would focus on doublehanded offshore racing. We also had to consider the lighter Scandinavian conditions.

So none of the old sails survived. Not because they were slow, but because the structure was wrong for us. What we learned from a season with them was simple: we didn’t need more sails, we needed fewer sails with more range.

For 2026 we started over with North Sails Gothenburg. Here’s what we chose, why, and what the data says after a season that included Sandhamn Open, Gotland Runt and the RORC Baltic Sea Race.

As a side note, it’s always kind of scary to leave something that’s working very well. We were very fast with the Incidence sails, and I had a few moments during the winter wondering if we had made the right decision…

Doublehanded priorities

The brief to North was short:

• We wanted to be all-round, to match the J/99 performance profile.
• We wanted as few sail changes as possible, which means big overlaps between sails.
• We wanted redundancy if something happened to a specific sail.

We landed on one full-size jib on soft hanks. One heavy-weather jib with a reef. A main with a deep second reef. A downwind sail besides the S2 for more wind that could also do other jobs. And something to plug the hole in light VMG and reaching.

HELIX structured luffs are a big part of maximizing the overlap, because cunningham tension on the jib buys range that used to require a different sail. The same thinking runs through the downwind inventory, where S2, A3 and S5 are meant to bleed into each other rather than have narrow crossovers.

The J/99 is good upwind in 10–25 knots and on a medium-air run. The wardrobe should make it better at what it already does, and remove the weak spots, rather than chase conditions it will never love.

Two things we said no to. A staysail, because IRC counts headsails and because a staysail only pays if somebody trims it, which is hard doublehanded. And an A6 on the pole, which was the alternative to the S5. We judged the fractional S5 more all-round: it can do the A6’s job in a blow, and it can stand in for the S2 if the S2 blows up.

Rating considerations

Since all the big 600 nm races are run under IRC, this was the main priority. With the J/111 we continuously adapted the boat to whatever rule we were racing (SRS, NOR Rating, DH, ORC, IRC, ORR, PHRF…), which was expensive and time consuming. This time we’ll stick to IRC and hope it works in whatever rule we end up racing.

For us this means:

• as few jibs as possible
• no staysails
• moderate downwind area
• shorter sprit (STL = SPL)
• possible to mix and match symmetrical and asymmetrical kites.

Finally getting into the groove after the start in Gotland Runt.

Upwind sails

The J/99 is a mean upwind boat; it points well and is pretty easy to sail to its targets. Especially compared to the J/111, which was very sensitive to both trim and steering. This makes the J/99 a much better doublehanded boat. The challenge is to shift gears throughout the wind range without too many costly sail changes.

Mainsail MN-B

Pretty much standard dimensions and very similar to the Incidence main. The reefs are where the doublehanded thinking shows. Reef 1 is maybe 30 % bigger than a normal first reef. Reef 2 is pretty much a reef 3 on a fully crewed boat, because with two people you reef earlier and want each reef to last longer. In practice reef 1 goes in around 18–20 knots upwind. This is very similar to what we had on the J/111. I’m always surprised how often we end up with reef 2…

If you look at the sail above you can see that it has what North Sails call “NW Reef Zone”, an Endurance-type outer layer that makes the sail more durable when reefing.

J1.5-B

One jib from 4 to 20 knots. Challenging from a design point of view, but that’s the whole point. The J1.5 is where a J1 and a J2 used to be, and HELIX is what makes it possible: ease the cunningham in light air for depth and power, crank it on in 12–16 knots and the draft moves forward and the sail flattens without changing anything else. It’s on a halyard lock, which makes this even more powerful.

It also has a reef, but that’s mostly for emergencies; think front passage with 30 minutes to the mark. Not the ideal place for a sail change.

Soft hanks to keep things light. Also, you know the jib is going to stay on the boat when you lower it. It makes sail changes harder, but it’s a trade-off we’re willing to make.

Checking out J3.5 at North Sails Clinic before Marstrand Big Boat Race in May.

J3.5-A Heavy Weather Jib

Built to the OSR limit as a heavy-weather jib, so it doesn’t count towards the number of jibs you bring. Low aspect rather than tall and narrow, and it ends up with the exact same sheeting position as the big jib.

RAW 360 polyester rather than 870, because the sail lives in the bottom of the boat 80 % of the season and needs to withstand some serious abuse. It also has the NW Reef Zone, like the main. With the reef it covers most of what the weather can throw at us, short of the storm jib. We made it a little fuller to overlap with the J1.5 in flat water and to give us more punch in a seaway.

Great theories meet reality in this year’s RORC Baltic Sea Race.

Bags in different colors is a great way to separate them when it’s messy below.

Downwind sails

As many of you know, putting together a balanced downwind inventory is hard. No matter what you do, there’s always a new sail that would make it even better. We also see boats with very few downwind sails doing really well, and others with a full container also performing really well. There are no right answers.

Naturally, a lot of the same reasoning went into our downwind inventory. One big difference is that many of the lessons from the J/111, a sportier planing boat, had to be unlearned in this project.

A great opportunity to benchmark the Code 0 vs the jib top on First 36.7 Pro4U.

Code 0 (C0-24)

The Code 0 is first and foremost a light-air weapon on any angle from 75 to 110, and with the top-down setup it furls reliably even when conditions get fruity. Seventeen kilos in the bag is real weight on a 3,900 kg boat, but it’s the sail that gets us moving.

In many rating rules you’re allowed to tweak the mid girth to get a more upwind-oriented shape. On the J/111 we experimented with 50 and 55 %, which made sense on a faster boat, but in IRC you’re pretty much stuck at 75 %. These used to be pretty terrible sails, as it’s hard to get the shape right in such a wide sail. But with modern technology like HELIX structured luffs and new materials, they have become really useful.

Looks serene. But Gotland Runt was one of the most stressful finishes of my life.

A3-A

This sail plugged a big hole for us: light and medium wind reaching, where the old A5 was too small, and light air VMG running, where we felt a longer luff would give us more power. The photo above is from the last leg of Gotland Runt, which turned into a 2–5 knot VMG run.

We chose polyester over nylon because it holds its shape better at tight angles (see below). We had tested a jib top in the same material on the J/80 Han Solo and were very happy with the performance.

Aerotech P vs N

First long downwind leg of Gotland Runt. Life is pretty good.

S2-A

The workhorse. On a J/99 with a sprit, a symmetric on the pole is still the fastest way downwind in 8–18 knots. We weren’t really sure when we got the boat, but naturally the French had done their homework. There’s a reason they put a pole on most boats this size.

We were super happy with the Incidence S2, but if there’s one thing North knows how to do, it’s runners.

The data from the Baltic transport on 1 August (below) shows the median boat speed sitting on or above the polar from 16 to 19 knots, which is about as good as it gets doublehanded with an autopilot doing most of the steering.

Yup. The S5 works. Video here.

S5-A fractional

The chicken chute, except it’s meant to be raced. In 2025 we had a couple of races where we opted for the A5 above 20 knots, mainly W/L races with a few messy roundings. Offshore, where you get to pick a safe angle, we feel the S2 works higher up the range. But sometimes you want to take less risk while still keeping the average speed up.

Fractional hoist keeps the centre of effort low, N55 nylon means it survives being dragged through the water, and 72 m² is enough to keep the boat planing in 25 knots without the wipeouts. It’s also the backup if the S2 goes.

This shows two data sets, both at TWA 135–155: the S2 on our transport to Finland in 16–20 knots, and the S5 on 28 August in 19–26 knots. Best quartile per knot of TWS against our v5DH polar.

What it shows: at 20 knots the two sails are equal, both on the polar at about 9.6 knots. Below that the S2 is ahead, as it should be. Above 20 the S5 median sits under the polar until 23–24 knots, where the best quartile finally catches the target and then beats it. The polar table ends at 24 and freezes at 12.43, and the S5 data at 25–26 knots goes straight through that number.

So the honest reading is this: the S5 doesn’t sail to the polar in 20–23 knots, which suggests the S2 would be faster there if we dared. We have no S2 data above 20 because we’ve never left it up that long. That’s the experiment for next season. Somewhere between 20 and 24 there’s a crossover we haven’t found yet, and the answer probably depends more on sea state and how tired we are than on the sails.

Also, the ORC polar probably overstates our planing ability 😀

The sail chart

After a full season the chart is mostly confirmed. This sail chart is what we started out with in May, and it should be updated in the next few weeks. The overlaps turned out bigger than expected, which is exactly what we wanted. Plus we found some sweet spots:

• The J1.5 works upwind in 20 knots.
• The J3.5 works in 12 knots if the water is flat.
• The S2 is still a great all-round sail that fits the J/99 very well.
• The A3 works at much tighter angles in light air (TWA 100 in 4–6 knots). The C0 has the proper shape, but the A3 has the area.
• The A3 works really well in light air VMG. The crossover to the S2 is probably around 7 knots.
• The A3 has a real sweet spot at TWA 130–135 in 10–15 knots, where we get to use our stability.
• The S5 does what it was supposed to do, and apparently has enough power to pitchpole the boat in a gust.

The one open question is when to use the S2 over 20 knots.

What’s next

We’re super happy with this setup, and feel we can be competitive in most conditions. Seven sails, no gaps we know of, and fewer sail changes than we’ve ever had on a race boat.

Naturally there are areas where we can improve. The S2 above 20 knots is the obvious one, and there are probably a few sweet spots we haven’t found yet. Having another J/99 for two-boat testing next year will help with both.

If you’re putting together a doublehanded inventory for a boat this size, the short version is this: fewer sails, more overlap, and let the rule you actually race under decide the edges.

The rest is, as always, time on the water.