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Top Gun: Maverick Finally Showcases The New J/125 Sailing Yacht

The long-awaited trailer for Top Gun: Maverick was released this week, giving fans a first look at the long-awaited sequel to the beloved 1980s blockbuster. One of the most highly anticipated scenes in the trailer is the sailing yacht scene, which features Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connolly.

It's no surprise that the scene was filmed on a J/125 sailing yacht, as the J/Boats shipyard is known for its high-performance racing yachts. The J/125 is a popular model among racing sailors and has been featured in several major films and TV shows.

This article takes a closer look at the Top Gun: Maverick sailing yacht scene and the J/125 yacht that was used in the filming.

What made the Top Gun: Maverick sailing yacht scene so iconic?

The sailing yacht scene in Top Gun: Maverick is one of the most iconic scenes in the movie. It's a beautiful, serene moment that starkly contrasts with the rest of the film, which is full of high-octane action and adventure.

But what makes this scene so iconic? Is it the beautiful location? The amazing cinematography? The fact that it's such a change of pace from the rest of the movie?

We believe it's all of these factors and more. The sailing yacht scene in Top Gun: Maverick is an iconic scene because it's a perfect example of how to use all the elements of cinema to create a truly memorable moment.

The J/125 sailing yacht that was used in the filming of Top Gun: Maverick.

The J/125 sailing yacht is a state-of-the-art vessel that was used in the filming of the 2020 movie Top Gun: Maverick. The yacht, which businessman John Pompa owns, was featured in a key scene in the film where it is seen sailing past the Golden Gate Bridge.  

The J/125 is a high-performance sailing yacht that is designed for long-distance cruising. It is equipped with a variety of features that make it ideal for sailing in rough conditions, such as a keel-stepped mast and a carbon fiber hull. The yacht also has a large onboard water tank that allows it to go for long periods of time without having to stop for fresh water.

How the J/125 yacht helped make the scene of Top Gun: Maverik so memorable.

In the film Top Gun: Maverick, the J/125 yacht plays a pivotal role in the iconic beach scene with Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connolly. The yacht, which is owned by Connolly's character, is central to the scene in which Cruise's character meets Connolly's.

The J/125 is a popular yacht among filmmakers due to its sleek design and its ability to turn on a dime. This makes it perfect for action scenes like the one in Top Gun: Maverick.

But the J/125 isn't just a pretty face. It's also a highly functional yacht that can accommodate several guests. This makes it perfect for entertaining.

Why the J/125 yacht is the perfect choice for a sailing adventure?

The J/125 yacht is the perfect choice for those looking for an exceptional sailing experience. This amazing yacht offers superb performance, unmatched comfort, and stunning good looks. Here are just a few of the reasons why the J/125 is the ideal choice for your next sailing adventure.

The J/125's extraordinary stability index of 143 degrees, with a stability curve ratio of positive to negative areas of 12.5:1, is what creates a sense of solidity and power when sailing it. This greater stability is paired with a balanced hull-form that has the right amount of reserve buoyancy forward. This makes the J/125 capable of safer and more controllable high-speed planing offshore in large waves. Also, the average helmsperson can maintain peak performance for sustained periods of time because the hull-form provides a wider steering groove upwind.

The J/125 is manufactured to ABS offshore standards by TPI Composites using the SCRIMP resin-infusion process. The US Naval Surface Warfare Center at Carderock, MD found that the properties of laminates created by TPI's patented SCRIMP resin-infusion process are better than the low-energy pre-pregs used by many custom boat shops--they're even twice as strong as hand lay-ups.

J/125 weighs in at 2700 pounds, which is 1500-2500 pounds lighter than its competitor designs, after subtracting the weight of the keel and adding 1000 pounds for the rig, engine, and hardware. This is not only due to the J/125's narrower beam. The Hull & Deck Laminate Design of the J/125 is stronger for its weight than E-Glass/epoxy laminates using slit CoreCell foam. J/125 uses epoxy with a combination Kevlar & E-Glass for the outer skin with two layers of carbon fiber (bi-axial & unidirectional) for the inner skin. The elevated strength of these exotic materials allows for a thinner, lighter skin than the equivalent E-Glass structure.

It's no surprise that the scene was filmed on a J/125 sailing yacht, as the J/Boats shipyard is known for its high-performance racing yachts. The J/125 is a popular model among racing sailors and has been featured in several major films and TV shows. In fact, the J/125 was also used in the film The World's End, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The J/125 is the perfect boat for cruising or racing, and it's no wonder that it was chosen for the Top Gun: Maverick film.

If you're looking for a high-performance sailing yacht, the J/125 is a perfect choice. Whether you're interested in racing or cruising, the J/125 will provide you with an amazing experience.

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Rufless appears to be moving very quickly, and Connelly looks to be in her element as she informs Cruise the conditions are, “A little rougher than I expected.” (Classic Bay Area sailing conditions.) After Maverick divulges his lack of sailing knowledge, he delivers another future classic movie line: “I don’t sail boats, Penny, I land on them.”

The boat scene had originally been filmed in San Diego amid beautiful conditions, and with dolphins! But the action was lacking, so it was reshot on San Francisco Bay, chosen for its windy reputation.

Here is the full interview, including a snippet of the co-stars sailing aboard Rufless :

The film is screening in theaters, and from what we’ve read, viewers are impressed!

10 Comments

The Top Gun Maverick Sailing Scene was exciting to watch, however it would have been even better with Tom Cruise wearing his life jacket outside his Tee Shirt and Jennifer Connelly wearing a tethered lifejacket and parka at the helm. The baylink ferry in the scene marked the location as San Francisco Bay being cast as a windy version of San Diego Harbor.

As can be inferred from his knowing nods and questions, Colbert is a legitimate sailor https://www.yachtingmagazine.com/stephen-colbert-sails-second/

Very interesting that the mainsail traveler is all the way to windward to avoid the mainsheet blocking Tom delivering his lines 🙂

They’re sailing on a tight reach – I think the traveler is in the correct spot. But it would make sense to move it if they needed to get a clean shot.

Just learning about trimming with a traveler. The only reason they left it there would be to get an attractive heel. Sliding it away from the wind would have made the sailing more pleasant and less dangerous…

The crew was down below

Don’t knit pick or whine about no PFDs…it’s just a movie.

We got a fantastic and very unexpected sailing scene in a mainstream movie. I was thrilled, so hopefully we can minimize the whining and critique and say yes thank you more sailing please!

Any one know who was on the crew below or when the scene was filmed?

A sailor and an aviator – They have much in common: As sailors know, a sail is an airplane wing on its end. See the fabulous movie “Wind” (1992) for the details!

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VIDEO: Top Gun: Maverick sailboat scene

Published on May 26th, 2022 by Editor -->

As Scuttlebutt HQ is located in San Diego, CA, this is very much a military town which proved to be a good backdrop for filming the Top Gun movie released in 1986. But the local locations weren’t limited to just the Navy bases for that movie, which is also the case for the sequel Top Gun: Maverick that gets released on May 27, 2022.

However, when they sought out San Diego Bay to film an action scene, nobody told them about the region’s light winds. “We filmed that sequence twice. We filmed it the first time in San Diego, and it was very beautiful,” describes actress Jennifer Connelly. “We got lovely shots, and there were even dolphins swimming alongside us. But Tom (Cruise) said, ‘No, this isn’t fast enough’.”

For the second attempt, somebody did their research and they went to San Francisco where Connelly and Cruise get a real taste of high wind sailing on a J/125.

“It was a very distracting environment,” said Connelly. “It was incredibly windy, with big waves. The boat was at an impossible angle, moving so fast, and we had to play the scene at the same time. I was so paranoid that I was going to forget something with all those distractions. I found myself standing on the coffee table in my living room, practicing with my kids spraying water at me and blowing on me while I ran my lines.”

Connelly shared the story on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and while Cruise is known for doing his own movie stunts, Connelly was pretty stoked to have taken on the role of a sailor. “I love it, it was great, it was amazing,” she said of the experience. “I was taking lessons to prepare for the role, starting in the New York harbor. Kind of like learning how to drive on the Autobahn.”

Tags: Jennifer Connelly , sailing movie , Top Gun

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Top Gun: Maverick

After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when he leads TOP GUN's elite graduates on a mission that demands the ... Read all After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when he leads TOP GUN's elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it. After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when he leads TOP GUN's elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it.

• Joseph Kosinski
• Jack Epps Jr.
• Peter Craig
• Jennifer Connelly
• Miles Teller
• 4.3K User reviews
• 437 Critic reviews
• 78 Metascore
• 107 wins & 234 nominations total

• Capt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell

• Penny Benjamin

• Lt. Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw

• Adm. Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky

• CWO4 Bernie 'Hondo' Coleman

• Adm. Beau 'Cyclone' Simpson

• Adm. Solomon 'Warlock' Bates

• Lt. Natasha 'Phoenix' Trace

• Lt. Robert 'Bob' Floyd

• Lt. Reuben 'Payback' Fitch

• Lt. Mickey 'Fanboy' Garcia

• Lt. Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

• Lt. Neil 'Omaha' Vikander

• Lt. Billy 'Fritz' Avalone

• Lt. Callie 'Halo' Bassett

• Lt. Javy 'Coyote' Machado

• Lt. Brigham 'Harvard' Lennox

• Lt. Logan 'Yale' Lee
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia According to Miles Teller , the cast got to choose their own call signs. He chose "Rooster" because it was in the same family as "Goose."
• Goofs At 1h12'10" Coyote is in G-LOC, releases the stick and his aircraft falls towards the ground. Super-hornet are equipped with auto GCAS (automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System), which would react to the situation and take control to climb and level at a safe altitude with no obstacles.

Rear Admiral : Maverick. Thirty-plus years of service. Combat medals. Citations. Only man to shoot down three enemy planes in the last 40 years.

[Cain looks through pages of Maverick's records]

Rear Admiral : 'Distinguished.' 'Distinguished.' 'Distinguished.' Yet you can't get a promotion, you won't retire, and, despite your best efforts, you refuse to die. You should be at least a two-star admiral by now, if not a senator. Yet here you are: Captain. Why is that?

Maverick : It's one of life's mysteries, sir.

Rear Admiral : This isn't a joke. I asked you a question.

Maverick : I'm where I belong, sir.

Rear Admiral : Well, the navy doesn't see it that way. Not anymore.

Rear Admiral : These planes you've been testing, Captain, one day, sooner or later, they won't need pilots at all. Pilots that need to sleep, eat, take a piss. Pilots that disobey orders. All you did was buy some time for those men out there. The future is coming, and you're not in it.

[Cain faces the officer by the door]

Rear Admiral : Escort this man off the base. Take him to his quarters. Wait with him while he packs his gear. I want him on the road to North Island within the hour.

[surprised look on Maverick's face]

Maverick : North Island, sir?

Rear Admiral : Call came in with impeccable timing, right as I was driving here to ground your ass once and for all. It galls me to say it, but... for reasons known only to the Almighty and your guardian angel, you've been called back to Top Gun.

Maverick : Sir?

Rear Admiral : You are dismissed, Captain.

[Maverick proceeds to leave Cain's office]

Rear Admiral : The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is headed for extinction.

[Maverick turns around]

Maverick : Maybe so, sir. But not today.

• Crazy credits "Top Gun 001: Tom Cruise" is listed among the other pilots who worked on the film.
• Connections Featured in Conan: Tom Cruise (2019)
• Soundtracks Danger Zone From Top Gun (1986) Original Soundtrack Written by Giorgio Moroder & Tom Whitlock Performed by Kenny Loggins Courtesy of Columbia Records By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

User reviews 4.3K

• May 25, 2022
• How long is Top Gun: Maverick? Powered by Alexa
• What is the strange-looking black-colored aircraft Maverick is test-piloting at the start of the film?
• Is there a post-credits scene?
• Is it realistic that Maverick would still be in the Navy on active duty as a captain (O6) 36 years after the events of this first film?
• May 27, 2022 (United States)
• United States
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• Phi Công Siêu Đẳng Maverick
• Eldorado National Forest, California, USA (Forested mountain aircraft staging area)
• Paramount Pictures
• Skydance Media
• Jerry Bruckheimer Films
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $170,000,000 (estimated)
• $718,732,821
• $126,707,459
• May 29, 2022
• $1,495,696,292

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 10 minutes
• Dolby Atmos
• IMAX 6-Track
• 12-Track Digital Sound

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Top Gun: Maverick's Jennifer Connelly On Learning To Sail, Flying With Tom Cruise And More - Exclusive Interview

If Jennifer Connelly 's character in "Top Gun: Maverick" could have a callsign, it might well be "Phantom."

Connelly plays Penny Benjamin, who was referenced but never seen in the original "Top Gun" as the "admiral's daughter" with whom Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) spent some sexy time. Flash forward 36 years, and Penny now appears in the flesh in "Top Gun: Maverick." It seems her relationship with Maverick has waxed and waned over the years even as she built an independent life of her own, became the owner of the local watering hole (The Hard Deck) and, in contrast to almost everyone who hangs out in her bar, learned to sail instead of fly.

The actor joins the "Top Gun" universe while continuing a career that began in 1984 with the crime epic "Once Upon a Time in America" and has included films such as "The Rocketeer," "Career Opportunities," "Requiem for a Dream," "Hulk," and "A Beautiful Mind," the latter of which landed her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress . More recently, she appeared in "Only the Brave" (for "Top Gun: Maverick" director Joseph Kosinski) and has spent three seasons as one of the stars of the sci-fi series "Snowpiercer."

Connelly tells us that she thinks the time is right for the world to revisit the lives of Maverick and the rest of the elite "Top Gun" pilots. "It's a spectacle of a movie," she says, "but it has a lot of heart, and it really delivers."

Who is Penny Benjamin?

Your character is mentioned in the first film.

She sure is.

Tell us a little bit about Penny .

She's Penny Benjamin, and clearly, in the original, Pete had been dating her. They've been in an on-and-off relationship all these years and have a lot of history. Then, he walks into her bar yet again, and they come back into each other's lives. I love the way she reacts to him and handles that unfinished business that they clearly have with so much playfulness and a little bit of mischief.

This is not a tortured relationship .

Not at all. She is someone who really wants to be happy and makes choices that move her in that direction. She looks out for herself. She's independent and strong, and she really adores Pete, but she knows him too, and she knows how to set her boundaries.

Jennifer Connelly learned to sail for a movie about flying

The sailing scenes are absolutely incredible. Did you have to go through training for that?

I did. I took sailing lessons, which was really fun and sometimes terrifying, because I live in New York City. I was taking lessons in New York Harbor, which is really insane. There's so many ferries and police boats and, believe it or not, kayakers and jet skiers in New York Harbor. Who knew? There's a lot of traffic, so that was pretty funny.

You also got to go up in planes .

I got to go up in Tom's plane, his P51, with him piloting , which was pretty extraordinary.

Would you have gone through the training if they'd asked you?

Yeah, I would have. I wasn't sorry that I wasn't one of the pilots, but I would have done it.

We do have to mention that you actually got to watch the beach scene .

I sure did. It was great. It was so important that they revisited that scene, because it's such an iconic moment in the original movie. They did a great job with this version.

Why the time is right for more Top Gun

Speaking of the original film, what sort of impact did that have on you?

The flying blew me away when I saw that. Tom Cruise is an amazing movie star. He was so charismatic as that rebellious Maverick. He made a huge impact as well.

He's very hands-on with his movies. Was there a good balance between Joe directing and Tom providing his input?

It definitely felt like a collaboration. Tom's also producing the movie with Jerry, who was part of the original movie. There was a team working on it, working together.

This was filmed in 2018 and 2019. How does it feel to finally have this movie come out?

It's great. Actually, it feels like such a great moment for it now. I know I'm so ready to be having a collective experience again. I feel like this is a celebratory movie. It's a spectacle of a movie, but it has a lot of heart, and it really delivers. If you want to go out and have an experience in a big theater with a group of people, it's so deeply satisfying.

So see this on the biggest screen that you can?

I think so. Absolutely.

"Top Gun: Maverick" is out in theaters this Friday, May 27.

Screen Rant

Top gun 2's challenging boat scene detailed by maverick director.

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski explained the difficult process of shooting the sailing boat scene between Maverick and Penny Benjamin.

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski details the challenges of shooting Maverick and Penny's sailing scene. In between all the high-flying action of the Top Gun sequel, Tom Cruise's rebellious pilot strikes up a romance with Penny (Jennifer Connelly), an admiral's daughter who runs a bar near the Navy flight school. During one sweet moment, Maverick joins Penny out on the open water as she steers her boat back home amid rollicking waves.

In a recent interview with Vulture , Kosinski reiterates that one of the most challenging scenes he shot wasn't one of the aerial sequences - even if he describes some planning challenges for the third act - but Top Gun: Maverick 's sailing boat moment between Maverick and Penny. At first describing how windy it was when they shot the scene in San Francisco, Kosinski also details the tricky logistics of having a camera in a Technocrane while strong winds are pushing a boat. The director says:

I mean, the hardest one, which is one that you wouldn’t think, was actually the sailing sequence. Because there was so much out of our control. I had to shoot that scene three times in three different places before we got it. I shot it off the coast of Los Angeles — there was no wind. Then two weeks later, I shot it off the coast of San Diego — there was no wind. Then we took the whole scene and crew up to San Francisco — and the wind blew like hell. So what you’re seeing is Tom and Jennifer Connelly on a very, very fast carbon-fiber racing boat doing 20, 22 knots. We had an America’s Cup team stuffed into the hull of that thing in case anything went wrong. And Claudio Miranda, the cinematographer, and I are on a boat next to it with a Technocrane. I’m literally holding on to Claudio’s chair for dear life, trying to look at the monitor, and he’s operating the camera. The logistics of being able to pull off a sailing sequence gave me so much more appreciation for … you remember that movie Wind with Matthew Modine and Jennifer Grey? I watch that movie now and go, Holy s--t, how did they do that? This is really, really difficult to pull off. So that was an unexpected challenge that was very different than the aerial stuff. But from an aerial point of view, the third act was a monster of logistics, planning, storyboarding, and working in a naval low-level training range up in the Cascades. So that was an extremely complex sequence to figure out. Mav’s low-level, when he proves that the course can be run in two minutes and 15 seconds, was probably the most extreme thing we shot. Just watching that footage, you can see Tom looking directly into the sheer rock face next to him and seeing the shadow from his own jet about 15 feet away. That tells you how extreme the flying was for that sequence. That was probably the most dangerous thing we did.

Related: Was Jennifer Connelly In The Original Top Gun?

Why Practical Action Was Top Gun: Maverick's Biggest Feat

While many invisible edits snagged Top Gun: Maverick a visual effects nomination at the Oscars, the movie contains numerous practical sequences that add authenticity and tension to the movie. Part of the reason the sailing boat sequence between Maverick and Penny is fun to watch is that it was done practically, and that the actors (and filmmakers) are braving the strong winds for the scene to feel as real as possible. The same can be said for Top Gun: Maverick 's aerial scenes, which required a great deal of preparation ahead of filming.

It's part of the reason why the movie resonated with so much with audiences. Many blockbusters contain plenty of CGI-driven sequences, while Top Gun: Maverick brought back the joys of having action sequences crafted practically. Not every scene is practical, and visual effects enhanced some practical scenes. However, most of Top Gun: Maverick 's stunts were filmed practically with several IMAX cameras inserted inside the fighter jets, which brought a level of realism cinema had been missing.

Top Gun: Maverick not only tells a gripping story and features incredible performances across the board, but its practical action scenes were made to be experienced on the biggest screen possible. Part of the reason why it was so successful in theaters was that it crafted action scenes to enthrall audiences and unite them to witness how great a film can be when it shoots action on camera and with minimal aid to enhance them. It's unclear if Top Gun: Maverick will win any Oscars , but it has already earned acclaim for its dedication to practical filmmaking.

Next: Top Gun 3 Replacing Tom Cruise Is Much Easier Than Mission: Impossible

Source: Vulture

Top Sailing – Top Gun: Maverick

Being a lady of a certain age it didn’t take me long to book tickets for the sequel to Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick . I grew up in the 1980’s along with permed hair, leg warmers and Tom Cruise, so a Top Gun trip back in time was always going to be on the cards.

Cruise reprises his role as ace top gun Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and that’s about as much as I’m going to tell you about the plot. Cruise does not disappoint and the film has everything the original had, and more, in spades. Fast jets, fast bikes, fast yachts (J/125), an absurd plot involving uranium (a hallmark of most 1980’s action films), leather biker jacket with patches, adrenaline and romance all wrapped up in a cinematic marvel. With cinemas in the UK lurching along since lockdown, we needed a blockbuster to burst onto our screens. Kosinski, Bruckheimer, Cruise et al have achieved this in supersonic style.

Even the sailing scene doesn’t pull any punches with some top sailing. Jennifer Connelly is at the helm of a beautiful J/125, guard rails in the water.  It will quicken the hearts of many sailors watching (the J/125 that is, sorry Jennifer!).  As with most sailing scene’s on the big screen they don’t get it quite right, but I’ll forgive them, the footage is realistic enough even if the skipper’s instructions do seem a little strange.  Seeing Maverick out of his comfort zone on the water provides some comedy gold moments and provides some light relief from the high octane jet fighter sequences. Rumour has it the sailing scene had to be filmed twice. The first time the crew chose San Diego Bay as their backdrop but with light winds common in the bay it was producing too many dolphins and not enough action. A switch to San Francisco provided the more challenging conditions required to satiate Cruise’s need for speed.

Better than the original I would most wholeheartedly recommend Top Gun: Maverick, you’ll leave the cinema/movie theater grinning from ear to ear and wondering whether your finances (and nerve) will run to a vintage Kawasaki GPZ 900!

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• Entertainment

The Hardest Day of Filming 'Top Gun: Maverick' Had Nothing to Do With a Plane

Director Joseph Kosinski on piloting the Tom Cruise sequel, the difference between Top Gun and a Netflix movie, and bringing back Val Kilmer.

Tom Cruise lit by golden sunlight in Top Gun: Maverick.

In the long-awaited Top Gun sequel , in theaters now, Tom Cruise is reunited with his co-star Val Kilmer from the original 1986 fighter plane flick. Another reunion takes place behind the camera, as Top Gun: Maverick is directed by Joseph Kosinski , who directed Cruise in 2013 sci-fi flick Oblivion.

Kosinski already had experience of updating a 1980s classic, having made his directorial debut with Tron: Legacy in 2010. And  producer Jerry Bruckheimer also told me the long-gestating Top Gun 2 finally came to fruition when Kosinski came up with the idea of focusing on the relationship between Cruise's hotshot pilot and the son of Maverick's best friend, Goose, who died in the original movie. 

I met Kosinski in London shortly before the film's release to talk about how he balanced nostalgia with a new story, shooting the film's eye-popping aerial combat scenes for real, the bittersweet scene with Kilmer (who can barely speak following throat cancer), and Kosinski's upcoming film, Netflix sci-fi chiller Spiderhead starring Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller . Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

CNET: What was your relationship with Top Gun, and how did you come up with the sequel story? Kosinski: My initial relationship was the same as most people. I saw it in a theater in 1986 as a 12-year-old kid, and obviously, it blew me away. It was the definition of what a summer movie should be. But at the same time, it was so beautifully made -- Tony Scott [the original film's director] came from art school out of UK, like his brother Ridley, and Jerry [Bruckheimer] made a career of hiring super-visual people and putting them on bigger movies. So it wasn't something that I watched like a thousand times, but it was certainly a movie I remember seeing.

Then in 2017 Jerry sent me an early version of the script [for a planned sequel, which had been stalled by Scott's death in 2012]. I think coming at it from the outside and looking at what they had, thinking about what I remembered from the first film, what resonated with me was that friendship between Goose and Maverick and how powerful that was, and to me that felt like that was ripe for mining in terms of an emotional story. So that's what I pitched to Tom as the core of the film and, you know, I could see as soon as I said that, Tom's wheels started turning in his head. And now here we are five years later.

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski (far right) with (left to right) co-writer Christopher McQuarrie, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and star Tom Cruise at the film's London premiere on May 19.

Having worked with Tom Cruise previously on Oblivion, did you ever talk about his old movies? Kosinski: I was certainly always trying to extract knowledge from him, because he worked with Stanley Kubrick, Michael Mann, Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, all my heroes. So you're always asking him for stories about making those movies, which he's happy to share. I don't remember hounding him about Top Gun, but he says we did talk about it during Oblivion. And our Oblivion crew shirt was the Top Gun logo with "Oblivion" instead. So maybe it was there subconsciously.

The original film has a lot of iconic quotes and moments, but I thought the sequel was surprisingly restrained in not throwing in these catchphrases constantly. Did you film everything and then take some out? Kosinski: Yeah, there were moments we felt obligated to at least try, but if it didn't feel right, we just cut it out in the editorial process. You have to do what's right for this story, and it was balancing how much to look backward and how much to look forward and tell a new story with new characters. You just never know until you put it in front of an audience.

Did you hold test screenings? Kosinski: We did have tests but never with the finished version. They're always works in progress, and you're trying different things and experimenting. But in Las Vegas [at CinemaCon ] was the first time we had the collective experience of being in a packed auditorium that's so important for this film.

Top Gun: Maverick focuses on the relationship between Cruise's hotshot pilot and Miles Teller as Rooster, the son of his late best friend, Goose.

What was the reaction to the scene featuring Cruise and Val Kilmer? Kosinski: You just felt the emotion in the room. It does everything we hoped it would. I think Jerry and I both remember that day being very emotional, being there and witnessing it and watching these two masters work together. It was great to see the audience felt the same.

Obviously it's a touching scene, but also I was quite surprised by how funny it is. What were the conversations about how to play the scene?  Kosinski: We had different versions, we worked on the script over and over trying to get it just right. The performances were amazing. It was actually not a hard scene to edit because of the performances. But yeah, the sense of humor is important because these two characters have so much history and we love the rivalry, and to see that they've now become friends looking out for each other is really what the fundamental theme of the film is.

Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise face off as hotshot rivals Iceman and Maverick in the original Top Gun (with Anthony Edwards, who played the ill-fated Goose).

I saw Maverick on an Imax screen, and it's such a spectacular film, clearly designed for the biggest screen. But you've since made Spiderhead, a streaming movie [which premieres June 17 on Netflix]. Did you approach that differently? Kosinski: My approach to every film is the same, you know? But yeah, that's a story that's not based on any known IP, it's definitely more idiosyncratic in terms of its tone, so I think that's the kind of movie that probably is better for streaming where you don't have the pressure of a huge opening weekend. It's different horses for different courses.

What was the what was the hardest day on set? Was it the aerial scenes or something else? Kosinski: There's so many challenges, and the hardest day, honestly, for me, this sounds weird, but the sailing sequence. That was a challenge because there's so many things out of your control. Like, you need wind. So we tried to shoot that scene two different times with no wind and were completely unsuccessful. So we moved the whole scene up to San Francisco and shot in the San Francisco Bay where apparently it blows most days. And everything you see is real -- that's Jen [Jennifer Connelly] steering the boat, that's Tom stumbling around on top, you know, I'm in a boat next to them holding on to my DP [director of photography] for dear life, trying to look at the monitor and listen to the scene at the same time. That was intense, but a really important scene for Jennifer's character.

Was there ever a moment when you were like, we can just go and greenscreen this? Kosinski: No, we weren't gonna give up. When you see what you get out of live-action filmmaking, you get like -- for instance, I remember Jerry and I were sitting behind the camera when the DarkStar [the test plane in the opening sequence] flies over Admiral Kane [played by Ed Harris]. We blew the roof off the set. That was not planned. It was a one-take thing because we destroyed the set! You'd only have that experience if you shot it for real. What we set out to do with this movie was shoot a classic film in-camera, but use the latest technology to show people things they've never seen before.

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J-Boats returns to its racing roots with an innovative lightweight speedster

The J/125 makes you feel young all over again. Remember sailing a J/24 for the first time? The boat seemed to defy gravity, or at least friction, as it surfed down waves in perfect control, blowing by 35-footers in the process. This new 41-foot flyer, designed by Rod Johnstone, delivers a similar thrill in a larger, brilliantly conceived package. Innovative designs and engineering excellence are certainly the key factors in J-Boats' ongoing success. Another reason the company often seems one step ahead of the competition is that it takes consumer research very seriously.

J-Boats surprised many in the sailing industry, including me, when a few years ago it changed its focus, adding performance cruisers to its line of one-design racers. Emphasizing easy-handling small headsails with asymmetric chutes, clean deck layouts, large cockpits, low maintenance and Spartan but well-thought-out interiors, designs like the J/42 and J/160 helped usher in a new age of cruising whereby sluggish sailing was no longer acceptable. The company has once again checked the pulse of J-Boat owners and potential owners and the results are intriguing. After conducting an extensive survey, J-Boats recognized the need for a very high-performance boat in the 38- to 42-foot-size range that offered an easy-to-handle alternative to grand prix designs with large campaign budgets. The result is the J/125, which I tested recently.

Light, fast, strong. At first glance the J/125 looks like other IMS 40-foot one-designs. However, a closer inspection reveals many differences, including a slightly softer look with less radical lines. In fact, the Johnstone brothers used the IMS rule more to determine what they didn't want in the boat than what they did. The J/125 was not designed to compete on the grand prix circuit where boats are often sailed by professionals and shipped to all corners of the world for one-design regattas. By its own admission, the J/125 is a big, fast, light, offshore racer/daysailer with minimal accommodations. Fast and light are the key words, and the numbers don't lie: LOA 41 feet; LWL 37 feet; beam 10 feet, 8 inches; draft 8 feet; displacement 8,350 pounds with a ballast ratio of 55 percent. To put it in perspective, the J/125 displaces nearly 3,000 pounds less than the Farr 40.

The J/125 is built by TPI Composites using its patented resin infusion SCRIMP process. The completed laminate, including stringers and floors, is placed in the mold dry. A vacuum eliminates air voids and then draws only enough resin to wet the laminate. The hull and deck are then post-cured in a closed oven at 140 degrees for 25 hours. The net result of this sophisticated construction method is a hull that has twice the strength of a conventional hand layup and is dramatically lighter. Just how light? Without the keel, engine, rig and hardware, the J/125 weighs 2,700 pounds. The laminate is composed of Kevlar and E-glass for the outer skin with biaxial and unidirectional carbon fiber making up the inner skin. CoreCell foam, which is thermoformed to the shape of the boat in a separate tool, is used between the skins. The bulkheads are also composite. The high-aspect keel is made from a nickel, bronze and aluminum alloy and the bulb is lead. The 10 keel bolts are stainless and the wide flange is well-supported by a solid E-glass and Kevlar backbone, although I would not be comfortable sustaining a hard grounding in a boat with a keel that is not supported with some kind of stub. A kelp cutter, which fits on the leading edge of the keel with a wand control on deck, is an interesting option. The rudder blade is reinforced carbon fiber as is the stock.

On deck The double-spreader, fractionally rigged carbon fiber mast is built by Hall Spars and the luff is set up to accept either Antal sliders or a bolt rope. The boom is also carbon, with a vang attachment and a webbed strap for the mainsheet systemÑremember, shaving extra weight, even a mere boom bale, is the mantra. The maststep is a custom epoxy piece, attached to a molded centerline stringer with stainless bolts and a tapped aluminum plate. The 8-foot, 6-inch retractable bowsprit is also carbon and controlled from the cockpit with Harken tackle. The standing rigging is continuous rod by Hall Spars, and a Sailtech hydraulic backstay is also standard. A TuffLuff headstay foil is also standard, but the Harken headstay furling is a popular option. This illustrates the way the most people sail the J/125.

A huge, scooped-out carbon fiber wheel trimmed in black foam dominates the long, open cockpit. The wheel weighs just 4 pounds. The cockpit is well-set-up for sail control and offers good foot support and visibility at the helm. Standard primaries are Lewmar 48ASTs, with 44ASTs chosen for the secondaries and for the mainsheet winch, which is mounted on the aft end of the deckhouse. Harken Speed Grip winch handles offer even more power. The Harken Big Boat series mainsheet traveler, which is forward of the binnacle, can be easily adjusted from the helm. Harken Black Magic blocks are standard on the halyards, checkstays and turning blocks. The genoa and jib leads are load adjustable. The deck nonskid is excellent, but I thought the stanchions could be taller. Although the cockpit can accommodate a handful of crew, you really don't need themÑthe boat can be sailed efficiently with two people, which makes it quite different from its IMS cousins.

Down below The interior is utilitarian. As Bob Johnstone told me, "If people want a cruising boat, they should buy the J/120." This boat places a high priority on the ultimate sailing experience, not liveaboard comfort. This boat includes four berths, a head, a hanging locker, a couple of drawers, a chart table, a sink, an Origo stoveÑin other words, just the bare necessities for sleeping aboard. Johnstone went on to explain that although the 120 and 125 are similarly priced, the difference is that the money that goes into a 120 interior is used in the higher tech construction of the 125.

The interior arrangement features sail lockers or optional adjustable pipe berths forward, followed by a head and hanging locker opposite. The galley is along the port main bulkhead across from a decent-size navigation desk, with room for repeaters above. The settees in the saloon serve as good sea berths. Most molded surfaces are finished with gelcoat. The headliner is a foam backed liner. Two quarter pipe berths are aft, with terrific access to the Yanmar Saildrive located between them. There are well-placed stainless steel handrails that run from the main bulkhead aft to the companionway.

The J/125 is powered by a Yanmar 20-horsepower diesel Saildrive. This is more than enough power for the boat and the 20-gallon fuel tank will probably not need to be refilled but once a season. Although the electrical system is basic, featuring two small gel-cel batteries and a Guest three-way switch, typical of all Js, the workmanship is first-rate and accessible.

J-Boats has every intention of creating a lively new one-design with the 125. They emphasize that it will be an owner-operated, family-oriented class that will work on a local level. Although the boat has a harsh rating under PHRF, the 125 is so fast that it will be extremely competitive under any rule. However, one-design racing will be the most fun with the 125. Establishing a successful one-design class is not as easy as one might think; careful control of the manufacturing process is paramount. The SCRIMP process allows J-Boats to keep the 125's weight tolerances to an astonishing plus or minus one percent of the total weight, and tight class rules have already been established. It is important for old boats and newer boats to compete on a level field if a one-design class is going to make it in the long run. J-Boats has a proven track record in developing and maintaining one-design classes.

On the water Carol Dean, Ed Hershman and I joined Bob Johnstone aboard a new J/125 in the Annapolis outer harbor. Johnstone had been happily sailing solo with a No. 3 on a Harken furler and a full main. After slowing to let us climb aboard, we trimmed up and eased off on a close reach. My initial impression was simply how smooth the ride was despite a moderate chop. Johnstone explained how an important design consideration was to make sure the boat could be made ready for sailing quickly. "You can be away from the dock or mooring and sailing in a matter of minutes," he claimed, "and not just sailing, but rocketing along." Johnstone also insisted that although the boat can generate speeds that will go boat to boat with anything in its class, the J/125 can be easily handled by a couple. And not necessarily a young couple at that. Although I can't reveal ages, Carol and Bob, who together have more than 120 years of sailing experience, quickly popped the asymmetrical chute off the retractable sprit as Ed and I watched. What was even more impressive was the instant acceleration as the 125 powered up to more than 8 knots in the 10-knot breeze.

The steering was fingertip control and the carbon fiber wheel felt uniquely in tune with the rudder as a small adjustment produced an immediate course change. Carol and Bob scooped up the chute and brought the 125 up for some close-winded work. The boat consistently topped 7 knots well inside 30 degrees apparent, and at times eased into the 8s. I was very impressed by the 125's motion through the water. The combination of deep draft and low center of effort with an extremely light rig and hull, made for a great ride. Fortunately, the wind increased as we sailed toward the Bay Bridge. We cracked the sheets and blasted over 8 knots. The 125 never felt overpowered, or even skittish, even when we brought the boat back on the wind and again tracked along inside 30 degrees apparent without losing much speed. Unlike other similar one-designs, the helmsman can readily trim the main and, with a bit of stretch, the headsail.

With the J/125, Rod Johnstone has changed the great performance equation. He has managed to avoid the necessity of putting a lot of meat on the rail to keep the boat on its feet (although it will help at times). This translates into less crew, and while the sailing is still exhilarating, it can also be more spontaneous. The J/125 makes grand prix sailing an option for those who don't want the hassles of organizing a large racing campaign. The Johnstones have always appreciated sailing performance for its own sake, and the new 125 is destined to become another boat by which others are measured.

Also in Boat Test

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• Seductive simplicity
• X 4.3 Pure Performance
• Beneteau Oceanis 40.1
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Also from John Kretschmer

• Hove to in the gales of Biscay
• Sailing's Promise
• Passage to nowhere
• Farewell to brothers of the sea
• Plotting a course to Caribbean sabbatical cruise
• Passage Planning
• Ready to Rumble
• Good vibrations
• Launching and boarding a life raft
• The Great Circle Route: Connecting the dots of a sailing life

Boats for Sale & Yachts

J boats j/125 1999 for sale $269,000 new 2022 boats for sale & yachts.

J Boats J/125 Boats Review and Specs

Table of Contents

The 41′ J/125 is as close to high performance big-boat sailing as one can find in a boat that’s manageable by two or three people… even with a spinnaker! Aunt Jessie provides a rare opportunity to get into what is one of J/Boats most thrilling designs. She has been professionally maintained and is race ready. Aunt Jessie has been sailed lightly since having undergone a complete refit in 2009 and has been a much loved family boat for the past 6 years. It is with great reluctance that the owner is selling “the best boat he’s ever been on”.

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Website: https://jboats.com/

J Boats Boats for Sale Craigslist & J Boats Specs & Pictures

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