Developing racing analysis software means having a platform on which to gather data and test our results. Not to mention that for this to sell (and sell well), it needs to work well on a winning boat. So we needed a development platform - a reasonably priced racing sailboat.

This spring we decided to start looking for a such a boat. I've always liked the J35 - they are fast and easy to drive, but also a big enough platform to try out a lot of different approaches.  So we took a look at some of them. There was one in Maine, but it turned out that the core was compromised. And we looked at one in Toronto, but we hemmed and hawed about the transport to Naptown when someone else jumped in with an offer. But then we found a third one locally.

Ballyhoo, an 1987 model in excellent condition and here in Annapolis. Wow. So we visited and took pictures and went for a sail. What a terrific boat.