Posted on 12/15/2015
In the boat building industry, the name Johnstone is about as close to a royal family as you can get. Ever since the first J/24 Ragtime was cast in the garage of 1975 by Rod, the family has dominated the boat building scene. Boat building has continued to stay in the family, with a board of directors made up of Johnstones, as well as a myriad of individual projects, including Peter Johnstone’s well-known Gunboat International.
The company that grew from the garage project, J/Boats, was in its infancy when Peter Johnstone was just 12 years old. When asked about how he got his start, his reply was, “Osmosis. Nightly dinner discussions with the family take over your thoughts at a young age.” He caught the bug early, learning to sail with his sister. “My older sister was very supportive of my s...