{"id":18288,"date":"2023-03-08T20:49:53","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T21:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/?p=18288"},"modified":"2023-03-18T19:35:05","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T19:35:05","slug":"j-boats-celebrating-international-womens-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jboatssouthwest.com\/j-boats-celebrating-international-womens-day\/","title":{"rendered":"J\/Boats Celebrating International Women’s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Women<\/p>\n

(Newport, RI)- As long-time advocates of equal opportunity for all in the amazing sport of sailing, J\/Boats celebrates the participation of women in sailing all over the world on International Women’s Day on March 8th, 2023.<\/p>\n

The history of J\/Boats support for women’s sailing dates back to its co-founder’s activity in sailing as married couples. Both Bob J. and Rod J. sailed often with their wives in all kinds of boats from dinghies to keelboats since the late 1950s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bob<\/p>\n

Bob Johnstone<\/span>
Bob J. met his wife Mary on a dock at Hay Harbor Club on Fisher’s Island in the summer of 1953. Subsequently, they married and sailed often with their growing family, cruising in Maine for 10+ years straight. As their kids grew into their teenage years, sons Stu and Drake sailed 470s while Mom & Dad sailed 470s, too. Sometimes, Mary steered the trapeze boat with Bob J. on the wire (no “tea-bagging, please, OK honey?)! Imagine that! LOL!<\/p>\n

\"Bob<\/p>\n

With everyone growing older, the move to keelboats was inevitable. As a family, the first keelboat was a Rainbow called “C-Bird”, the crew of Bob & Mary, and the “cookie monsters” (Stu, Drake, Helen, and Peter). Then Solings with Bob, Mary, and Stu. That didn’t last long, since the “fat guys” killed us once it was a hiking breeze.<\/p>\n

\"Rod<\/p>\n

Later, with kids now in college, Rod J. designed and built an innovative 24-footer in his garage that became the\u00a0J\/24<\/a>\u00a0(above- Rod J and Mary sailing RAGTIME above off Stonington). Soon, brothers Bob and Rod co-founded J\/Boats to market the\u00a0J\/24<\/a>. After the remarkable, early success of the\u00a0J\/24<\/a>, which included a LOT of women sailors as crew and skippers at the time, it was back to proactively including more women in sailing in 1985.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Helen's<\/a><\/p>\n

Daughter Helen “aka Wheels” loved sailing J\/24s with her girlfriends (above) and was quite successful in the famous\u00a0J\/24<\/a>\u00a0Fleet #50 in Newport, RI- famous for producing over a dozen-plus\u00a0J\/24<\/a>\u00a0World Champions (Ken Read, Brad Read, Jens Hookanson, Tim Healey, John Mollicone, etc, etc). The occasion that rocked the world of women’s sailing was the creation of the inaugural IYRU Women’s World Keelboat Championship in 1985. Hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island, 35 women’s teams from a dozen nations sailed the first women’s keelboat worlds in a fleet of J\/24s! Since that time, many more women’s worlds were sailed in J\/24s and J\/22s. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Rod Johnstone<\/span>
Rod J. met his wife Lucia while sailing at various events at the Wadawanuck Club in Stonington, CT. Incredibly, the two of them followed a somewhat similar path as Bob and Mary J., sharing a passion and love for sailing with each other and their families, as well as an extended network of friends around the world.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/p>\n

Rod and Lucia also sailed dinghies, starting in the 470s like Bob and Mary. They also sailed the International 505 dinghy class, a very powerful, very fast, planing, trapeze boat. Lucia was fast and nimble on the wire. But, after a few years of “living in a wet suit on a wire”, she decided it was not exactly her “cup of tea”. She volunteered to stay ashore or watch from a powerboat while Rod sailed with his son Jeff. Recognizing this meant leaving the family behind, Rod ultimately decided to create a boat that could include sailing with the whole family, too. Yes, that decision presciently led to creating that homemade 24-foot garage rocketship that became the\u00a0J\/24<\/a>\u00a0(seen above on launching day). Rod loved the planing speeds of the 505, so his new creation was an attempt to mimic that thrill in a small keelboat that could plane, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Lucia<\/p>\n

In short, it can be said the\u00a0J\/24<\/a>\u00a0was the “big brother” to the 505, but with a 935 lb. lead keel, and bunks inside to go daysailing and cruising in comfort! Hahaha… yes, I can hear you all laughing now. But, true story! Lucia loved the idea so much she apparently said, “I’m commissioning her, she’s mine!”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"First<\/a><\/p>\n

In the first year of\u00a0J\/24<\/a>\u00a0production, Bob J and Rod J sailed their J\/24s at Block Island Race Week and both stayed on board, sleeping on them every night for a week with the full crew! Rod and Lucia and the two boys- Jeff and Al. Bob with son Stu J., David Curtis (yup, that guy who won multiple Worlds in Lightnings, Etchells, J\/24s), and Major Hall (Sunfish World Champion). Famously, those two J\/24s went 1-2 in their very tough MORC class at the time.<\/p>\n

Rod and Lucia often cruised their J\/24s and all subsequent J’s from Stonington to Maine and back. Lucia loves sailing in the peace and quiet offshore and often enjoys steering the boats. She still does today, having been sailing their new\u00a0J\/9<\/a>\u00a0daysailer a lot!<\/p>\n

J\/Composites & J\/Boats Europe<\/span>
Ironically, the creation of J\/Composites in\u00a0France<\/a>\u00a0as the European partner\/builder of J\/Boats also had its founding because of the inclusion of a women’s keelboat division in the first IYRU World Championship sailed in La Rochelle,\u00a0France<\/a>\u00a0in 1994. J\/Boats Europe founder- Stu Johnstone- partnered with the IYRU to supply a dozen J\/24s (from Italy) for the Men’s division and a dozen J\/22s (from South Africa) for the Women’s division.<\/p>\n

Appreciating such visionary initiatives, a top French sailor and boat builder- Didier Le Moal- approached Stu J. about becoming a partner for J\/Boats in Europe during the 1994 IYRU Worlds. The rest, as they say, is history. Didier became the long-time partner for J\/Boats in Europe and he, too, also supported multiple initiatives in\u00a0France<\/a>\u00a0and the rest of Europe to support women’s sailing ever since.<\/p>\n

As Didier commented, “women love to sail J’s because they are easy to sail. They’re not intimidating and they are a lot of fun to sail in any weather, whether it’s light and flat, or big winds and waves. Women appreciate and enjoy the “feel” of the helm on a good sailing boat, too!”<\/p>\n

\"women<\/a><\/p>\n

Segue to today, and you see J\/22s, J\/24s, and J\/80s being sailed in Women’s World Match Race Championships around the world. And, with the advent of\u00a0J\/70<\/a>\u00a0sailing leagues taking the world by storm, the level of equity and inclusivity for women, in particular, has skyrocketed into the stratosphere!<\/p>\n

WOW (Women On Water) Series<\/span>
Around Europe, there are now twelve nations (Germany, Sweden, Finland, Monaco, Norway, Denmark,\u00a0United Kingdom<\/a>, Netherlands, Spain, Italy,\u00a0France<\/a>, & Switzerland) hosting WOW (Women On Water) sailing league events on\u00a0J\/70<\/a>\u00a0class sailboats for thousands of women sailors every summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"J\/70<\/a><\/p>\n

In fact,\u00a0Yacht Club de Monaco has also announced the inaugural “Women Leading Sailing Trophy” that will take place from March 25-26, 2023<\/span><\/em>. Sailing is in J\/70s. See the announcement below.<\/p>\n

Pip Hare Celebrates Women in Sailing<\/span>
Experiencing this phenomenon herself is a famous British woman offshore sailor and pioneer- Pip Hare. She has been collaborating with J\/U.K. and Yachting World to produce a “how to sail doublehanded” video series (see more below). \u00a0<\/p>\n

Here is Pip Hare’s commentary on #womensailing on International Women’s Day- March 8th, 2023. “On this International Women’s Day, I want to celebrate what embracing equity and balance brings to a team.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pip<\/a><\/p>\n

Watch her video here on Facebook.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Newport, RI)- As long-time advocates of equal opportunity for all in the amazing sport of sailing, J\/Boats celebrates the participation of women in sailing all over the world on International Women’s Day on March 8th, 2023.
\nThe history of J\/Boats support for women’s sailing dates back to its co-founder’s activity in sailing as married couples. Both Bob J. and Rod J. sailed often with their wives in all kinds of boats from dinghies to keelboats since the late 1950s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bob JohnstoneBob J. met his wife Mary on a dock at Hay Harbor Club on Fisher’s Island in the summer of 1953. Subsequently, they married and sailed often with their growing family, cruising in Maine for 10+ years straight. As their kids grew into their teenage years, sons Stu and Drake sailed 470s while Mom & Dad sailed 470s, too. Sometimes, Mary steered the trapeze boat with Bob J. on the wire (no “tea-bagging, please, OK honey?)! Imagine that! LOL!<\/p>\n

With everyone growing older, the move to keelboats was inevitable. As a family, the first keelboat was a Rainbow called “C-Bird”, the crew of Bob & Mary, and the “cookie monsters” (Stu, Drake, Helen, and Peter). Then Solings with Bob, Mary, and Stu. That didn’t last long, since the “fat guys” killed us once it was a hiking breeze.<\/p>\n

Later, with kids now in college, Rod J. designed and built an innovative 24-footer in his garage that became the\u00a0J\/24\u00a0(above- Rod J and Mary sailing RAGTIME above off Stonington). Soon, brothers Bob and Rod co-founded J\/Boats to market the\u00a0J\/24. After the remarkable, early success of the\u00a0J\/24, which included a LOT of women sailors as crew and skippers at the time, it was back to proactively including more women in sailing in 1985.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Daughter Helen “aka Wheels” loved sailing J\/24s with her girlfriends (above) and was quite successful in the famous\u00a0J\/24\u00a0Fleet #50 in Newport, RI- famous for producing over a dozen-plus\u00a0J\/24\u00a0World Champions (Ken Read, Brad Read, Jens Hookanson, Tim Healey, John Mollicone, etc, etc). The occasion that rocked the world of women’s sailing was the creation of the inaugural IYRU Women’s World Keelboat Championship in 1985. Hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island, 35 women’s teams from a dozen nations sailed the first women’s keelboat worlds in a fleet of J\/24s! Since that time, many more women’s worlds were sailed in J\/24s and J\/22s. \u00a0
\nRod JohnstoneRod J. met his wife Lucia while sailing at various events at the Wadawanuck Club in Stonington, CT. Incredibly, the two of them followed a somewhat similar path as Bob and Mary J., sharing a passion and love for sailing with each other and their families, as well as an extended network of friends around the world.<\/p>\n

Rod and Lucia also sailed dinghies, starting in the 470s like Bob and Mary. They also sailed the International 505 dinghy class, a very powerful, very fast, planing, trapeze boat. Lucia was fast and nimble on the wire. But, after a few years of “living in a wet suit on a wire”, she decided it was not exactly her “cup of tea”. She volunteered to stay ashore or watch from a powerboat while Rod sailed with his son Jeff. Recognizing this meant leaving the family behind, Rod ultimately decided to create a boat that could include sailing with the whole family, too. Yes, that decision presciently led to creating that homemade 24-foot garage rocketship that became the\u00a0J\/24\u00a0(seen above on launching day). Rod loved the planing speeds of the 505, so his new creation was an attempt to mimic that thrill in a small keelboat that could plane, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In short, it can be said the\u00a0J\/24\u00a0was the “big brother” to the 505, but with a 935 lb. lead keel, and bunks inside to go daysailing and cruising in comfort! Hahaha… yes, I can hear you all laughing now. But, true story! Lucia loved the idea so much she apparently said, “I’m commissioning her, she’s mine!”\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the first year of\u00a0J\/24\u00a0production, Bob J and Rod J sailed their J\/24s at Block Island Race Week and both stayed on board, sleeping on them every night for a week with the full crew! Rod and Lucia and the two boys- Jeff and Al. Bob with son Stu J., David Curtis (yup, that guy who won multiple Worlds in Lightnings, Etchells, J\/24s), and Major Hall (Sunfish World Champion). Famously, those two J\/24s went 1-2 in their very tough MORC class at the time.
\nRod and Lucia often cruised their J\/24s and all subsequent J’s from Stonington to Maine and back. Lucia loves sailing in the peace and quiet offshore and often enjoys steering the boats. She still does today, having been sailing their new\u00a0J\/9\u00a0daysailer a lot!
\nJ\/Composites & J\/Boats EuropeIronically, the creation of J\/Composites in\u00a0France\u00a0as the European partner\/builder of J\/Boats also had its founding because of the inclusion of a women’s keelboat division in the first IYRU World Championship sailed in La Rochelle,\u00a0France\u00a0in 1994. J\/Boats Europe founder- Stu Johnstone- partnered with the IYRU to supply a dozen J\/24s (from Italy) for the Men’s division and a dozen J\/22s (from South Africa) for the Women’s division.
\nAppreciating such visionary initiatives, a top French sailor and boat builder- Didier Le Moal- approached Stu J. about becoming a partner for J\/Boats in Europe during the 1994 IYRU Worlds. The rest, as they say, is history. Didier became the long-time partner for J\/Boats in Europe and he, too, also supported multiple initiatives in\u00a0France\u00a0and the rest of Europe to support women’s sailing ever since.
\nAs Didier commented, “women love to sail J’s because they are easy to sail. They’re not intimidating and they are a lot of fun to sail in any weather, whether it’s light and flat, or big winds and waves. Women appreciate and enjoy the “feel” of the helm on a good sailing boat, too!”<\/p>\n

Segue to today, and you see J\/22s, J\/24s, and J\/80s being sailed in Women’s World Match Race Championships around the world. And, with the advent of\u00a0J\/70\u00a0sailing leagues taking the world by storm, the level of equity and inclusivity for women, in particular, has skyrocketed into the stratosphere!
\nWOW (Women On Water) SeriesAround Europe, there are now twelve nations (Germany, Sweden, Finland, Monaco, Norway, Denmark,\u00a0United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain, Italy,\u00a0France, & Switzerland) hosting WOW (Women On Water) sailing league events on\u00a0J\/70\u00a0class sailboats for thousands of women sailors every summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact,\u00a0Yacht Club de Monaco has also announced the inaugural “Women Leading Sailing Trophy” that will take place from March 25-26, 2023. Sailing is in J\/70s. See the announcement below.
\nPip Hare Celebrates Women in SailingExperiencing this phenomenon herself is a famous British woman offshore sailor and pioneer- Pip Hare. She has been collaborating with J\/U.K. and Yachting World to produce a “how to sail doublehanded” video series (see more below). \u00a0
\nHere is Pip Hare’s commentary on #womensailing on International Women’s Day- March 8th, 2023. “On this International Women’s Day, I want to celebrate what embracing equity and balance brings to a team.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watch her video here on Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jboats_news_reviews"],"yoast_head":"\nJ\/Boats Celebrating International Women's Day - JBoats Southwest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2023-blog\/j-boats-celebrating-international-women-s-day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"J\/Boats Celebrating International Women's Day - JBoats Southwest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Newport, RI)- As long-time advocates of equal opportunity for all in the amazing sport of sailing, J\/Boats celebrates the participation of women in sailing all over the world on International Women's Day on March 8th, 2023. The history of J\/Boats support for women's sailing dates back to its co-founder's activity in sailing as married couples. Both Bob J. and Rod J. sailed often with their wives in all kinds of boats from dinghies to keelboats since the late 1950s.\u00a0\u00a0 Bob JohnstoneBob J. met his wife Mary on a dock at Hay Harbor Club on Fisher's Island in the summer of 1953. Subsequently, they married and sailed often with their growing family, cruising in Maine for 10+ years straight. As their kids grew into their teenage years, sons Stu and Drake sailed 470s while Mom & Dad sailed 470s, too. Sometimes, Mary steered the trapeze boat with Bob J. on the wire (no "tea-bagging, please, OK honey?)! Imagine that! LOL! With everyone growing older, the move to keelboats was inevitable. As a family, the first keelboat was a Rainbow called "C-Bird", the crew of Bob & Mary, and the "cookie monsters" (Stu, Drake, Helen, and Peter). Then Solings with Bob, Mary, and Stu. That didn't last long, since the "fat guys" killed us once it was a hiking breeze. Later, with kids now in college, Rod J. designed and built an innovative 24-footer in his garage that became the\u00a0J\/24\u00a0(above- Rod J and Mary sailing RAGTIME above off Stonington). Soon, brothers Bob and Rod co-founded J\/Boats to market the\u00a0J\/24. After the remarkable, early success of the\u00a0J\/24, which included a LOT of women sailors as crew and skippers at the time, it was back to proactively including more women in sailing in 1985.\u00a0 Daughter Helen "aka Wheels" loved sailing J\/24s with her girlfriends (above) and was quite successful in the famous\u00a0J\/24\u00a0Fleet #50 in Newport, RI- famous for producing over a dozen-plus\u00a0J\/24\u00a0World Champions (Ken Read, Brad Read, Jens Hookanson, Tim Healey, John Mollicone, etc, etc). The occasion that rocked the world of women's sailing was the creation of the inaugural IYRU Women's World Keelboat Championship in 1985. Hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island, 35 women's teams from a dozen nations sailed the first women's keelboat worlds in a fleet of J\/24s! Since that time, many more women's worlds were sailed in J\/24s and J\/22s. \u00a0 Rod JohnstoneRod J. met his wife Lucia while sailing at various events at the Wadawanuck Club in Stonington, CT. Incredibly, the two of them followed a somewhat similar path as Bob and Mary J., sharing a passion and love for sailing with each other and their families, as well as an extended network of friends around the world. Rod and Lucia also sailed dinghies, starting in the 470s like Bob and Mary. They also sailed the International 505 dinghy class, a very powerful, very fast, planing, trapeze boat. Lucia was fast and nimble on the wire. But, after a few years of "living in a wet suit on a wire", she decided it was not exactly her "cup of tea". She volunteered to stay ashore or watch from a powerboat while Rod sailed with his son Jeff. Recognizing this meant leaving the family behind, Rod ultimately decided to create a boat that could include sailing with the whole family, too. Yes, that decision presciently led to creating that homemade 24-foot garage rocketship that became the\u00a0J\/24\u00a0(seen above on launching day). Rod loved the planing speeds of the 505, so his new creation was an attempt to mimic that thrill in a small keelboat that could plane, too.\u00a0 In short, it can be said the\u00a0J\/24\u00a0was the "big brother" to the 505, but with a 935 lb. lead keel, and bunks inside to go daysailing and cruising in comfort! Hahaha... yes, I can hear you all laughing now. But, true story! Lucia loved the idea so much she apparently said, "I'm commissioning her, she's mine!"\u00a0 In the first year of\u00a0J\/24\u00a0production, Bob J and Rod J sailed their J\/24s at Block Island Race Week and both stayed on board, sleeping on them every night for a week with the full crew! Rod and Lucia and the two boys- Jeff and Al. Bob with son Stu J., David Curtis (yup, that guy who won multiple Worlds in Lightnings, Etchells, J\/24s), and Major Hall (Sunfish World Champion). Famously, those two J\/24s went 1-2 in their very tough MORC class at the time. Rod and Lucia often cruised their J\/24s and all subsequent J's from Stonington to Maine and back. Lucia loves sailing in the peace and quiet offshore and often enjoys steering the boats. She still does today, having been sailing their new\u00a0J\/9\u00a0daysailer a lot! J\/Composites & J\/Boats EuropeIronically, the creation of J\/Composites in\u00a0France\u00a0as the European partner\/builder of J\/Boats also had its founding because of the inclusion of a women's keelboat division in the first IYRU World Championship sailed in La Rochelle,\u00a0France\u00a0in 1994. J\/Boats Europe founder- Stu Johnstone- partnered with the IYRU to supply a dozen J\/24s (from Italy) for the Men's division and a dozen J\/22s (from South Africa) for the Women's division. Appreciating such visionary initiatives, a top French sailor and boat builder- Didier Le Moal- approached Stu J. about becoming a partner for J\/Boats in Europe during the 1994 IYRU Worlds. The rest, as they say, is history. Didier became the long-time partner for J\/Boats in Europe and he, too, also supported multiple initiatives in\u00a0France\u00a0and the rest of Europe to support women's sailing ever since. As Didier commented, "women love to sail J's because they are easy to sail. They're not intimidating and they are a lot of fun to sail in any weather, whether it's light and flat, or big winds and waves. Women appreciate and enjoy the "feel" of the helm on a good sailing boat, too!" Segue to today, and you see J\/22s, J\/24s, and J\/80s being sailed in Women's World Match Race Championships around the world. And, with the advent of\u00a0J\/70\u00a0sailing leagues taking the world by storm, the level of equity and inclusivity for women, in particular, has skyrocketed into the stratosphere! WOW (Women On Water) SeriesAround Europe, there are now twelve nations (Germany, Sweden, Finland, Monaco, Norway, Denmark,\u00a0United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain, Italy,\u00a0France, & Switzerland) hosting WOW (Women On Water) sailing league events on\u00a0J\/70\u00a0class sailboats for thousands of women sailors every summer.\u00a0 In fact,\u00a0Yacht Club de Monaco has also announced the inaugural "Women Leading Sailing Trophy" that will take place from March 25-26, 2023. Sailing is in J\/70s. See the announcement below. Pip Hare Celebrates Women in SailingExperiencing this phenomenon herself is a famous British woman offshore sailor and pioneer- Pip Hare. She has been collaborating with J\/U.K. and Yachting World to produce a "how to sail doublehanded" video series (see more below). \u00a0 Here is Pip Hare's commentary on #womensailing on International Women's Day- March 8th, 2023. "On this International Women's Day, I want to celebrate what embracing equity and balance brings to a team."\u00a0 Watch her video here on Facebook.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jboatssouthwest.com\/j-boats-celebrating-international-womens-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JBoats Southwest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-08T21:49:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-18T19:35:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/1e470f10-3b2c-761e-e09a-15b79bf461b8.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stuart Johnstone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stuart Johnstone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2023-blog\/j-boats-celebrating-international-women-s-day#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/j-boats-celebrating-international-womens-day\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Stuart Johnstone\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/#\/schema\/person\/77bcb7a5f0ec0fa3acd43f83ef11755a\"},\"headline\":\"J\/Boats Celebrating International Women’s Day\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-08T21:49:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-18T19:35:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/j-boats-celebrating-international-womens-day\/\"},\"wordCount\":1215,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2023-blog\/j-boats-celebrating-international-women-s-day#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jboatssouthwest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/1e470f10-3b2c-761e-e09a-15b79bf461b8.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"J\/Boats News & Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/j-boats-celebrating-international-womens-day\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2023-blog\/j-boats-celebrating-international-women-s-day\",\"name\":\"J\/Boats Celebrating International Women's Day - 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JBoats Southwest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2023-blog\/j-boats-celebrating-international-women-s-day","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"J\/Boats Celebrating International Women's Day - JBoats Southwest","og_description":"(Newport, RI)- As long-time advocates of equal opportunity for all in the amazing sport of sailing, J\/Boats celebrates the participation of women in sailing all over the world on International Women's Day on March 8th, 2023. The history of J\/Boats support for women's sailing dates back to its co-founder's activity in sailing as married couples. Both Bob J. and Rod J. sailed often with their wives in all kinds of boats from dinghies to keelboats since the late 1950s.\u00a0\u00a0 Bob JohnstoneBob J. met his wife Mary on a dock at Hay Harbor Club on Fisher's Island in the summer of 1953. Subsequently, they married and sailed often with their growing family, cruising in Maine for 10+ years straight. As their kids grew into their teenage years, sons Stu and Drake sailed 470s while Mom & Dad sailed 470s, too. Sometimes, Mary steered the trapeze boat with Bob J. on the wire (no \"tea-bagging, please, OK honey?)! Imagine that! LOL! With everyone growing older, the move to keelboats was inevitable. As a family, the first keelboat was a Rainbow called \"C-Bird\", the crew of Bob & Mary, and the \"cookie monsters\" (Stu, Drake, Helen, and Peter). Then Solings with Bob, Mary, and Stu. That didn't last long, since the \"fat guys\" killed us once it was a hiking breeze. Later, with kids now in college, Rod J. designed and built an innovative 24-footer in his garage that became the\u00a0J\/24\u00a0(above- Rod J and Mary sailing RAGTIME above off Stonington). Soon, brothers Bob and Rod co-founded J\/Boats to market the\u00a0J\/24. After the remarkable, early success of the\u00a0J\/24, which included a LOT of women sailors as crew and skippers at the time, it was back to proactively including more women in sailing in 1985.\u00a0 Daughter Helen \"aka Wheels\" loved sailing J\/24s with her girlfriends (above) and was quite successful in the famous\u00a0J\/24\u00a0Fleet #50 in Newport, RI- famous for producing over a dozen-plus\u00a0J\/24\u00a0World Champions (Ken Read, Brad Read, Jens Hookanson, Tim Healey, John Mollicone, etc, etc). The occasion that rocked the world of women's sailing was the creation of the inaugural IYRU Women's World Keelboat Championship in 1985. Hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island, 35 women's teams from a dozen nations sailed the first women's keelboat worlds in a fleet of J\/24s! Since that time, many more women's worlds were sailed in J\/24s and J\/22s. \u00a0 Rod JohnstoneRod J. met his wife Lucia while sailing at various events at the Wadawanuck Club in Stonington, CT. Incredibly, the two of them followed a somewhat similar path as Bob and Mary J., sharing a passion and love for sailing with each other and their families, as well as an extended network of friends around the world. Rod and Lucia also sailed dinghies, starting in the 470s like Bob and Mary. They also sailed the International 505 dinghy class, a very powerful, very fast, planing, trapeze boat. Lucia was fast and nimble on the wire. But, after a few years of \"living in a wet suit on a wire\", she decided it was not exactly her \"cup of tea\". She volunteered to stay ashore or watch from a powerboat while Rod sailed with his son Jeff. Recognizing this meant leaving the family behind, Rod ultimately decided to create a boat that could include sailing with the whole family, too. Yes, that decision presciently led to creating that homemade 24-foot garage rocketship that became the\u00a0J\/24\u00a0(seen above on launching day). Rod loved the planing speeds of the 505, so his new creation was an attempt to mimic that thrill in a small keelboat that could plane, too.\u00a0 In short, it can be said the\u00a0J\/24\u00a0was the \"big brother\" to the 505, but with a 935 lb. lead keel, and bunks inside to go daysailing and cruising in comfort! Hahaha... yes, I can hear you all laughing now. But, true story! Lucia loved the idea so much she apparently said, \"I'm commissioning her, she's mine!\"\u00a0 In the first year of\u00a0J\/24\u00a0production, Bob J and Rod J sailed their J\/24s at Block Island Race Week and both stayed on board, sleeping on them every night for a week with the full crew! Rod and Lucia and the two boys- Jeff and Al. Bob with son Stu J., David Curtis (yup, that guy who won multiple Worlds in Lightnings, Etchells, J\/24s), and Major Hall (Sunfish World Champion). Famously, those two J\/24s went 1-2 in their very tough MORC class at the time. Rod and Lucia often cruised their J\/24s and all subsequent J's from Stonington to Maine and back. Lucia loves sailing in the peace and quiet offshore and often enjoys steering the boats. She still does today, having been sailing their new\u00a0J\/9\u00a0daysailer a lot! J\/Composites & J\/Boats EuropeIronically, the creation of J\/Composites in\u00a0France\u00a0as the European partner\/builder of J\/Boats also had its founding because of the inclusion of a women's keelboat division in the first IYRU World Championship sailed in La Rochelle,\u00a0France\u00a0in 1994. J\/Boats Europe founder- Stu Johnstone- partnered with the IYRU to supply a dozen J\/24s (from Italy) for the Men's division and a dozen J\/22s (from South Africa) for the Women's division. Appreciating such visionary initiatives, a top French sailor and boat builder- Didier Le Moal- approached Stu J. about becoming a partner for J\/Boats in Europe during the 1994 IYRU Worlds. The rest, as they say, is history. Didier became the long-time partner for J\/Boats in Europe and he, too, also supported multiple initiatives in\u00a0France\u00a0and the rest of Europe to support women's sailing ever since. As Didier commented, \"women love to sail J's because they are easy to sail. They're not intimidating and they are a lot of fun to sail in any weather, whether it's light and flat, or big winds and waves. Women appreciate and enjoy the \"feel\" of the helm on a good sailing boat, too!\" Segue to today, and you see J\/22s, J\/24s, and J\/80s being sailed in Women's World Match Race Championships around the world. And, with the advent of\u00a0J\/70\u00a0sailing leagues taking the world by storm, the level of equity and inclusivity for women, in particular, has skyrocketed into the stratosphere! WOW (Women On Water) SeriesAround Europe, there are now twelve nations (Germany, Sweden, Finland, Monaco, Norway, Denmark,\u00a0United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain, Italy,\u00a0France, & Switzerland) hosting WOW (Women On Water) sailing league events on\u00a0J\/70\u00a0class sailboats for thousands of women sailors every summer.\u00a0 In fact,\u00a0Yacht Club de Monaco has also announced the inaugural \"Women Leading Sailing Trophy\" that will take place from March 25-26, 2023. Sailing is in J\/70s. See the announcement below. Pip Hare Celebrates Women in SailingExperiencing this phenomenon herself is a famous British woman offshore sailor and pioneer- Pip Hare. She has been collaborating with J\/U.K. and Yachting World to produce a \"how to sail doublehanded\" video series (see more below). \u00a0 Here is Pip Hare's commentary on #womensailing on International Women's Day- March 8th, 2023. \"On this International Women's Day, I want to celebrate what embracing equity and balance brings to a team.\"\u00a0 Watch her video here on Facebook.","og_url":"https:\/\/jboatssouthwest.com\/j-boats-celebrating-international-womens-day\/","og_site_name":"JBoats Southwest","article_published_time":"2023-03-08T21:49:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-18T19:35:05+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/1e470f10-3b2c-761e-e09a-15b79bf461b8.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Stuart Johnstone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stuart Johnstone","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2023-blog\/j-boats-celebrating-international-women-s-day#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/j-boats-celebrating-international-womens-day\/"},"author":{"name":"Stuart Johnstone","@id":"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/#\/schema\/person\/77bcb7a5f0ec0fa3acd43f83ef11755a"},"headline":"J\/Boats Celebrating International Women’s Day","datePublished":"2023-03-08T21:49:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-18T19:35:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/j-boats-celebrating-international-womens-day\/"},"wordCount":1215,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2023-blog\/j-boats-celebrating-international-women-s-day#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jboatssouthwest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/1e470f10-3b2c-761e-e09a-15b79bf461b8.jpg","articleSection":["J\/Boats News & Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/southwest.jboats.com\/j-boats-celebrating-international-womens-day\/","url":"http:\/\/jboats.com\/2023-blog\/j-boats-celebrating-international-women-s-day","name":"J\/Boats Celebrating International Women's Day - 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