The J/Boats story is a classic entrepreneurial tale: With a $20,000 investment and a fast 24-foot sailboat built in Rod Johnstone's garage, Rod and his brother, Bob Johnstone, went into business. The year was 1977. Now, that boat—the J/24—has become the most popular recreational offshore keelboat in the world. The Johnstone family has left an undeniable mark on the sailing world. In addition to the 5,500 J/24s plying the waves, there are more than 9,500 J/Boats, ranging from International J/22s to J/65s, that enthusiasts purchase at prices ranging from $10,000 to $2,000,000.
ABOUT US
While other brands might sell more boats, Johnstones won the performance-oriented segment of the market. Theirs is the so-called racer/cruiser category: boats that perform well on the racing circuit but are comfortable and easy enough for family day sailing and cruising. Johnstones did best with knowledgeable, experienced sailors.
OUR VISION
PRODUCTION
The story begins in 1975. Rod, then an advertising salesman for the sailing trade magazine Soundings and an active one-design sailor, decided to build a sailboat he had been designing since completing a correspondence course at the Westlawn School of Yacht Design in the '60s. With $400 worth of fiberglass and wood, along with some leftover rigging and hardware from Soling of Bob's, he built the 24' x 9' RAGTIME on weekends in his three-car garage at his home in Stonington, Connecticut. By the summer of 1976, with his entire family crew, RAGTIME had conquered everything in sight. Rod realized he had created something special.
OUR MISSION
Enter Everett Pearson, owner of Tillotson Pearson, Inc., a highly respected boatbuilder in Warren, Rhode Island. He was so impressed with Rod's design that he agreed to build the boat to spec in exchange for U.S. building rights. Display ads in Soundings announced the news. That winter, they set up a makeshift factory in a former textile mill near Fall River, Massachusetts, and began cranking out J/24s.