J/Boats Explained

Type:Privately held company
Foundation:1977
Founders:Rod & Bob Johnstone
Hq Location City:Newport, Rhode Island
Hq Location Country:United States
Key People:Jeff Johnstone (president)
Industry:Boat building
Products:Sailboats

J/Boats is an American boat builder based in Newport, Rhode Island and founded by Rod Johnstone in 1977. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats.[1] [2] [3]

The company's model names all start with "J/" and then the design's length overall (LOA), in feet (such as the J/24), or beginning in 1994 in decimeters (J/130), or starting 2021 in meters (J/9). All J/Boat designs are monohull, sloop-rigged keelboats constructed of cored sandwich fiberglass.[3] The current product line consists of eight models, ranging from the J/70 to the J/122E, ranging in length from 22.75to. A new 9 meter model has been announced for 2021.[4] Past models have ranged from 22.5to, from the J/22 to the J/65.[1]

The company's initial design, the J/24, is their most successful, with over 5,500 built.[5] The J/24 is sailed 27 countries and is the world's most popular one design keelboat.[6] [7] [8]

As Sailboatdata described, "the J/Boats company, a family affair started with brother Bob Johnstone, is arguably the most successful producer of performance-oriented boats in the world with nearly 10,000 boats built to Johnstone designs."[2]

History

Rod Johnstone had completed a correspondence course at the Westlawn School of Yacht Design in the 1960s and in 1975 was working selling advertising for Soundings, a sailing trade magazine, when he started a homebuilt boat project. His first boat design, named Ragtime, was built on weekends, in his garage in Stonington, Connecticut. He raced the boat in the summer of 1976, with a crew made up of family members and amassed a very successful racing record. The co-founder of Pearson Yachts and owner of TPI Composites, Inc, Everett Pearson, made an agreement with Johnstone to produce the design in a new factory, in return for the exclusive United States building rights. The factory was established in an old textile mill in Fall River, Massachusetts. The design was designated as the J/24 and Johnstone arranged display advertising for the new boat in Soundings.[1] [9]

Rod Johnstone's brother, Bob Johnstone joined the new company to handle marketing and also invested $20,000 in start-up costs. He had been working as vice president of marketing for AMF/Alcort, the builders of the Sunfish sailboat at that time, but was unable to interest them in the J/24 design. The two Johnstone brothers became business partners in J/Boats.[1]

The company intentionally avoided the production aspect of the business, leaving that to Pearson Yachts and instead concentrating on design and marketing.[9]

Production of the J/24 started in 1977 and the new partners expected to sell 250 boats that first year, and actually sold 750.[1] By early 1978 the class was popular enough to hold a one-design regatta in Key West with twenty boats competing and by that summer sixty-eight competed in Newport, Rhode Island.[3]

Early successful designs included the 1983 J/22, the 1982 J/29 of which 298 were produced with a design first of either a Fractional Rig (FR) or Masthead (MH) rig, and the 1983 J/35 with 330 produced. The company classifies its designs into one design, offshore cruisers, offshore cruiser-racers, day sailers and weekend cruisers and pure racing designs[10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

By 1992 a new generation of the Johnstone family was running the company, while the elder Johnstones remained involved. Rod Johnstone's son Jeff Johnstone became president, while his son Alan Johnstone was named vice-president, while Phil Johnstone is legal counsel. Rod Johnstone's nephew, Jim Johnstone, became sales director. Five of Jim and Bob Johnstone's sons serve as members of the board of directors: Jeff, Alan, Stuart, Drake and Phil Johnstone. All the family members involved in the company are serious sailors.[1] [9]

By 2020 the company had built almost 10,000 boats and had eight designs in production: the J/70, J/80, J/88, J/99, J/111, J/121, J/112E and the J/122E.[1] [15] In December 2020, a new model, the J/9, was announced for 2021.[4] [16] [17]

Boats

Summary of boats built by J/Boats, by year:[1]

Boat Of The Year awards

Beginning in 1985, Sailing World magazine began awarding Boat Of The Year (BOTY). J/Boats has been the overall winner five times, and a segment winner 16 times.[58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64] [65]

Overall BOTY:

Segment Winners

Further, between 1994 and 2008 Cruising World magazine[66] awarded two J/Boats high honors:

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: J Boats. 14 January 2020. Browning. Randy . sailboatdata.com. 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20200113224009/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/j-boats. 13 January 2020. live.
  2. Web site: Rod Johnstone. 14 January 2020. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20200113224009/https://sailboatdata.com/designer/johnstone-rod. 13 January 2020. live.
  3. 'J/Boats: Sailing to Success' by Anthony Dalton, Voyageur Press;,
  4. Web site: J/Boats- Better Sailboats for People Who Love Sailing.. 2020-12-06. jboats.com.
  5. Web site: Knauth. Steve. Classics: J/24. 2020-12-06. Soundings Online. en-us.
  6. Web site: J/24 class association. https://web.archive.org/web/20091004224427/http://www.j24class.org/J24History/tabid/56/Default.aspx. 4 October 2009. 2020-12-06. live.
  7. Web site: 2011-10-08. J24 The Royal Motor Yacht Club. 2020-12-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20111008161114/http://www.rmyc.co.uk/?q=sail/J24. 8 October 2011. live.
  8. Web site: 2010-01-24. J24: The Worlds Most Popular One Design Keelboat. 2020-12-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20100124072354/http://jboatssouthwest.com/new_boats/J24/j24.html. 24 January 2010. live.
  9. Web site: J/35. 14 January 2020. Practical Sailor. https://web.archive.org/web/20200113222459/https://www.practical-sailor.com/reviews/boatreview/J_35-1201-1.html. 13 January 2020. live.
  10. Web site: J/22 sailboat . 14 January 2020. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20200113224052/https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/j22. 13 January 2020. live.
  11. Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 280-281. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.
  12. Web site: J/35 sailboat . 14 January 2020. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20200113224013/https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/j35. 13 January 2020. live.
  13. Web site: Classic J/Models. 14 January 2020. J/Boats. jboats.com. 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200113225717/https://www.jboats.com/boats/classic-j-models. 13 January 2020 .
  14. Web site: 2020-01-13. J/29 FR Sailboat. 2021-02-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20200113224018/https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/j29-fr. 13 January 2020. live.
  15. Web site: Current J/Boats sailboat models in production worldwide. 6 December 2020. J/Boats. jboats.com. 2020. https://archive.today/20201206135925/https://www.jboats.com/boats/summary. 6 December 2020. live.
  16. Web site: 2020-11-22. J/9 seeks to reimagine sailing >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News. 2020-12-06. Scuttlebutt Sailing News. en-US.
  17. Web site: 2020-12-05. Getting techie to build the plug >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News. 2020-12-06. Scuttlebutt Sailing News. en-US.
  18. Web site: J/Boats . J/24- World's Largest One-Design Sailboat Class . 2024-06-16 . J Boats . en-GB.
  19. Web site: J30. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  20. Web site: J36. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  21. Web site: J/Boats . Performance . 2024-06-16 . J Boats . en-GB.
  22. Web site: J/22 One-Design Sailboat- Family Sailing Worldwide. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  23. Web site: J35. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  24. Web site: J27. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  25. Web site: J40. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  26. Web site: J/41 Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  27. Web site: J34. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  28. Web site: J/28 Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  29. Web site: J/Boats . Performance . 2024-06-16 . J Boats . en-GB.
  30. Web site: J/37. jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  31. Web site: J33. jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  32. Web site: J/Boats . Performance . 2024-06-16 . J Boats . en-GB.
  33. Web site: J39. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  34. Web site: J/44Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  35. Web site: J/80 is the world's most popular 26 ft one-design keelboat.. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  36. Web site: J/92Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  37. Web site: J/130 Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  38. Web site: J/105- World's Largest 35 ft One-Design Sailboat Class. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  39. Web site: J/110Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  40. Web site: J/46Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  41. Web site: J/160Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  42. Web site: J/32 Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  43. Web site: J/125 Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  44. Web site: J/90Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  45. Web site: Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  46. Web site: J/42Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  47. Web site: J/124Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  48. Web site: J/145 Performance. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  49. Web site: J/65. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  50. Web site: J/111 Offshore Speedster- High-Performance 36 ft sailboat. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  51. Web site: J/70 is the world's most popular sportboat.. www.jboats.com. 25 June 2021.
  52. Web site: 10 Years of Growth and International Success: J/70 Celebrates its 10th Anniversary – J/70 INT . 2024-06-17 . j70ica.org.
  53. Web site: J/112E Offshore High-Performance 36 ft cruiser racer sailboat. www.jboats.com.
  54. Web site: J/121 Offshore High-Performance 41 ft sailboat. www.jboats.com.
  55. Web site: J/99 Speedster- A Family Friendly High-Performance 32 ft sailboat. www.jboats.com.
  56. Web site: J/9 - The Most Comfortable Cockpit Ever?. www.jboats.com.
  57. Web site: The NEW J/45 is a true sailing yacht. www.jboats.com.
  58. Web site: Boat of the Year Winners (1985-2008). 2020-12-06. Sailing World. 17 October 2001. en.
  59. Web site: Announcing 2010 BOTY Winners. 2020-12-06. Sailing World. 22 December 2009. en.
  60. Web site: Announcing SW's 2011 Boat of the Year Winners. 2020-12-06. Sailing World. 16 December 2010. en.
  61. Web site: Boat of the Year 2013. 2020-12-06. Sailing World. 14 December 2012. en.
  62. Web site: 2013-12-19. Sailing World Announces 2014 Boat of the Year Winners >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News. 2020-12-06. Scuttlebutt Sailing News. en-US.
  63. Web site: 2016-12-19. 2017 Boat of the Year Winners Announced >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News. 2020-12-06. Scuttlebutt Sailing News. en-US.
  64. Web site: 2017-12-19. 2018 Boat of the Year Winners >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News. 2020-12-06. Scuttlebutt Sailing News. en-US.
  65. Web site: 2019-12-10. 2020 Boat of the Year Winners >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News. 2020-12-06. Scuttlebutt Sailing News. en-US.
  66. Web site: Boat of the Year Winners, 1994-2008. 4 June 2008.

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