The J-24 is one of the  most popular one design classes, with tens of thousands of them sailing in fleets all around the globe. If a sailor has small boat (dinghy) experience, they will find that the J pretty much handles like an overgrown dinghy.  It is  fixed keel, drawing about 5.5 feet,  tiller-steered with the rudder mounted on the transom, and can be equipped with a small outboard motor. It has room for up to four good friends to sleep, a rudimentary galley, porta potti, and all of the USCG safety equipment.  It is suitable for what we refer to as "camp cruising", i.e. not the luxurious kind of cruising found in much bigger boats.