cdoyle

Does the hull number start with “TPI”?  If so, it was built by Tillotson Pearson in Rhode Island. Most of the 1200-series boats were built at Tillotson Pearson. 

Put the batten back in. Pull the traveler all the way to weather and then ease the sheet until the boom is on the centerline. Make sure the vang is eased. 
 

Also, make sure your battens are inserted with the tapered ends forward. 
 

if the above doesn’t work, it may be time for a new sail.  
 

it would be good if you could take a picture and post it here. 

We never have the bottom of the backstay attached when we put the mast up. The swept-back spreaders and aft placement of the shroud chainplates are usually all you'd need to keep the mast from going too far forward.  Even with the backstay detached we almost always need to use a line tied between the mast ring and bow cleat to pull the mast forward enough to get the forward pin in.  So, try putting the mast up without the legs of the backstay attached and with the shroud turnbuckles eased.  After you get both pins of the mast step installed, the headstay on and the shrouds tensioned, then attach the backstay.  If the backstay is till too short, add some link plates or toggles (westmarine .com) at the bottom of the legs, or attach shackles to the backstay chainplates and use spectra to attach the legs to the shackles. Easy-peasy.

I wouldn't trust any measurements you get from other owners since there were a lot of different manufacturers involved over the years and I am sure there were differences in the measurements.

Can’t confirm the efficacy of your plan B. In our fleet, we used nuts that were partially milled-down on the shorter stud so the threads would engage.  One of those boats is still around. I’ll try to get som pix and post them here. 

I am not a fan of life lines on the J 22. I don’t see the point of them on a boat so small. If you said your kids were under ten, that would be different. 
 

Save your money and buy your kids (and yourself) really comfortable life jackets and where them all of the time. 

Yes. The seats and floorboards are required to be on board and installed in their standard locations for the boat to be a legal J22. 

You can usually extend the turnbuckle or add a toggle to get the right length for the headstay.  The more difficult problem is often that the backstay is so long that you can't adjust it.  The best fix for that is cutting about 6 inches off the long (upper) part of the backstay at the bottom, and then cut the ring off of the part where the three parts of the backstay intersect.  Swage (professionally) a new fitting onto the bottom of the upper section and use spectra line to connect the three sections of the backstay.   The added benefit is that it makes it super easy to remove the backstay for launching/hauling. 

I think that you are talking about the "roll pins".  The same instructions provided by J/22 geek.  Make sure you save the pins.  It might be difficult to find replacements.

A used Nissan, Tohatsu or Mercury 3.5 HP 2-stroke long shaft (all the same outboard) is light and has plenty of power for your boat and to tow one more.

West Marine will have this.  Repost here if you need a part number.

If you still have my number, call me.  I did the keel, so I know it is in the right place in the fore/aft dimension (i.e. it should be within 2-3 MMs of the full-forward position). The keel would benefit from re-shaping.  And if you are going to re-shape the keel, there are other aspects that could use some attention.

I did this when I needed to fix something or other. The plates (both upper and lower) have circular inserts that fit inside the tube. You only need to deflect the deck 1/2” to pop out the post. You can use a car jack and a cut-down 4 x 4.  

Or you can pop out the bolts and just slide it out. 

 1/8” spectra. 

There is a 1/4" bolt that runs athwartships at the forward end of the boom about 9" from the gooseneck..  The forward end of the block and tackle attaches there.  How you orient the 4:1 purchase depends on whether the line exits the underside boom pointed forward or aft.  The boat comes with the line exiting aft, but most folks like it better exiting forward.

You can make the two jigs that establish MPA and MPB out of hard board. Or a measurer may have a set.  Where are you located?

They have not changed since the reduction from 8mm to 6mm.

I have a set of used Hall Spar spreaders in my basement off of Hull #1026.  Happy to give them to you.  My email is j221026@roadrunner.com.

Interesting. I have never used anything other than the class sails. But I find that the boat has plenty of oomph upwind with the standard configuration. Were I you, I would use the standard class sails for your upwind work: they're easy, they're only too little sail in less than five knots or so, there is lots of tuning information available from the various sailmakers, visibility is awesome, etc.

The masthead asym, however, is intriguing. Waterline (actually US Watercraft) built some J/22s in an asymmetric configuration a couple of years ago for some European lake sailors. It might be interesting to reach out to Will or Randy to see how that experiment worked out. They may even have some tooling or suggestions regarding a retrosprit (a phrase I just coined) for the front end.

Definitely report back, please.