Johnson 18
Description
The Johnson 18 (designed and built by Johnson Boat Works, White Bear Lake, Minnesota, 1979–1990s, ~400 hulls) is a fast, trailerable, high-performance daysailer/weekender that still enjoys a strong one-design following in the Upper Midwest and beyond. With an LOA of 18′0″, 7′0″ beam, light displacement of ~1,450 lbs (500 lbs ballast in a fixed stub keel with daggerboard), and a tall fractional sloop rig carrying 195–210 sq ft (SA/D ≈ 25–27), it planes easily in 10 knots, points remarkably high, and regularly hits double-digit speeds in a breeze—making it one of the quickest fixed-keel 18-footers of its era. The open cockpit seats five comfortably, there’s a small cuddy forward for gear or two kids overnight, and the hull is built in rugged hand-laid fiberglass with foam-cored deck. Simple, tough, and car-toppable or trailered behind anything, the Johnson 18 remains actively raced in fleets from Minnesota to Michigan and is prized for its exhilarating performance and classic lines.
Construction Details
| Designer | Rodger Martin |
|---|---|
| Builder | Johnson Boat Works |
| Length | 18.000 ft |
| LOA | 18.000 ft |
| Beam | 6.580 ft |
| Displacement | 480 lb |
| Max Draft | 4.500 ft |
| Min Draft | 0.420 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Johnson 18 - MAINSAIL
| Luff | 20.5 ft - (6248 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 8.5 ft - (2591 mm) |
| Leech | * 21.47 ft - (6544 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 86.8 ° |
| Diagonal | 21.75 ft - (6629 mm) |
| Head (inches) | 6 in - (152 mm) |
| Area | * 91.47 ft² |
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Johnson 18 - JIBSAIL
| Luff | 17.19 ft - (5240 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 7.24 ft - (2207 mm) |
| Leech | 15.6 ft - (4755 mm) |
| Length Perpendicular | 6.57 ft - (2003 mm) |
| Area | * 56.47 ft² |
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Johnson 18 - ASYMMETRICAL
| Luff | 22.31 ft - (6800 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 15 ft - (4572 mm) |
| Leech | 17.42 ft - (5310 mm) |
| Area | * 251 ft² |
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Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.