Page 6. MAINE COASTAL NEWS May 2016 M S H B R J
Mystic, CT — Mystic Seaport will present its 2016 America and the Sea Award to Bob and Rod Johnstone – J/Boats. Given annu- ally by the Museum, the prestigious award recognizes individuals or organizations whose contribution to the history, arts, busi- ness, or sciences of the sea best exemplify the American character. The Johnstones will receive the award
Saturday, October 22, at a gala dinner held in their honor at Mystic Seaport. The gala will be the fi rst and only dinner held in the Col- lins Family Gallery of the new Thompson Exhibition Building prior to its ongoing use to display exhibits. The America and the Sea Award Gala is the single largest fundraising event for the Museum. Proceeds from the event benefi t the mission of the Museum to inspire an enduring connection to America’s maritime heritage. “Over the past 39 years, the Johnstone
family and their company have infl uenced American yachting and sport of sailing in incomparable ways. They have established a record of accomplishment that few will ever challenge, and they have instilled in count- less Americans a passion for enjoying time on the water with family and good friends aboard good boats,” said Steve White, pres- ident of Mystic Seaport. “For these reasons
and many more, Mystic Seaport is proud to bestow its America and the Sea Award to Bob and Rod Johnstone – J/Boats.” The J/Boats story began in 1974 when
Rod, then an ad salesman for Soundings Magazine, designed and started building the 24-foot sailboat Ragtime in his Stoning- ton, CT garage. Launched in the Spring of 1976, it beat everything in sight. Bob, then vice president of marketing at AMF Alcort, saw the potential in Rod’s design and a 50/50 partnership was formed in February 1977 to build and market the J/24. Today, some 14,000 “J’s” in 40 diff erent designs are sailing in more than 35 countries. “J” owners have won silver in major sailing events worldwide including Fastnet, SORC, Transpac, Pacifi c Cup, Swiftsure, Ensenada, Middle Sea, Sydney-Hobart, OSTAR, Chi- cago-Mac, and the Bermuda Race. The J/24 was named “Best Keelboat in 30 years” by SAIL Magazine in 1981. A decade later, the J/105 revolutionized keelboat design with its retractable bowsprit and asymmetrical spinnaker. Nineteen other “J” designs have earned Boat-of-the-Year or Hall of Fame recognition. Five designs have achieved World Sailing’s International Class status. J/Boats Inc. was named by Fortune in 1991 as one of America’s Best 100 Products. J/
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Bob Johnstone (left) and Rod Johnstone (right). Photos courtesy of J/Boats.
Boats in the USA are built in Rhode Island and by licensed builders in France, Italy, South Africa, Argentina, and China. J/Boats remains a family business. Bob and Rod grew up racing LI
One-Designs and Lightnings at the Wad- awanuck YC in Stonington CT, where from 1947 to 1954 they took home many club and ECYRA trophies. With their father, Rob, they built Lightning #3310 in a suburban Glen Ridge, NJ, garage, setting them on a course of sailing for life. After Princeton (’56), Bob spent 17
years managing Quaker Oats subsidiaries in Colombia and Venezuela. Returning to Chi- cago, he became Quaker’s Marketing Man of the Year. Later at AMF Alcort, he acquired marine market experience, a key to start-up success of J/Boats. In 2002, with the next generation in place at J/Boats, he founded MJM Yachts. The MJM 50z received the 2014 AIM Editors Award for Best Down East Cruiser 50 Feet Plus. Bob has won the 1969 Penguin Internationals, National Hospice Regatta, Maine Retired Skippers Race, New York Yacht Club Queen’s Cup plus Antigua, Block Island, Charleston, Key West and Down East Race Weeks. He
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was runner-up in the 1983 J/24 Worlds, served as Secretary/Treasurer of the United States Olympic Sailing Committee and was founding chairman of both the United States Youth Sailing Championship and J/24 Class Association. Bob and his wife, The Rever- end Mary Johnstone, reside in Newport RI. He is a member and Past Commodore of the Northeast Harbor Fleet and a member of the New York Yacht Club and Little Cranberry Island Yacht Club. After Princeton (’58) Rod started
designing and building sailboats while teaching history at the Millbrook School in NY from 1959 to 1962. He then ran a yacht brokerage in Stonington, later becoming a planner for submarine builder Electric Boat Co. Rod sold ads for Soundings from 1970 to 1977 when he came to know the key players in the sailboat industry, especially Everett Pearson, whose role as builder of J Boats designs for over 25 years was key to their success. In 1988 Rod co-founded Johnstone Yachts, Inc. with nephew Clay Burkhalter to produce his JY 15 sailboat design. Nephew- in-law, David Eck, took over in 1991 and
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