The open house at US Watercraft / Waterline Systems was a big  success with a strong showing by the J/30 Class.  There were fifteen J/30 owners represented.  Below is a picture of J/30 owners taken at the event.

The following J/30 owners attended with an annotation on those included in the group photo:

In Photo		Name		Boat		Hull
*		Tom Bobbin		Special Sauce		470
*		Bill Kneller		Rhapsody		348
*		Ken & Mary Deyett		Jeroboam		496
*		Halsey Bullen		Laser Beam		192
*		John McArthur		Smiles		115
*		Catherine & Georges Brun-Cottan		Foot Loose		467
*		Chris & Jim Buydos		Magan		389
*		Kathy & Mark Rotsky		Nemesis		435
*		Mark Thornhill		No Quarter Given		46
*		Kevin Coughlin		Flying High		327
*		Chris Tate		Blitz		357
		Brian Hall		Bobsled		542
		Bob Wareham		Chardonnay		460
		Vic Mott		Slow Dance		301
		Bob Rude		Mmmmm		352

The factory tour provided an opportunity to see a combination of the technologies and craftsmanship required to build the boats.  There were breakout seminars covering boat design, boat maintenance, diesel engines, navigation instruments, construction techniques, and many more.  J/Boats had a strong showing by boat owners and a number of Johnstone family members attended including Rod & Jeff.  Randy Borges, the owner and president of Waterline Systems spoke briefly to the group after lunch.  Much credit goes to the success of US Watercraft and Waterline Systems due to Randy’s extensive experience in the boat building industry, his vision for creating a premier boat building and service business, and partnering with quality boat companies including J/Boats, Alerion and True North.

I spoke with Sarah Angell from Waterline Systems who has been working to develop the J/30 parts and service page that should be ready soon.  This page will be a great asset to J/30 owners as a source of parts.  Waterline Systems also provides a full spectrum of services for boats that include hull and fiberglass repair, painting, keel templating and of course the famous Waterline Systems bottom fairing.  Mike Trindade is the parts manager and has offered to help locate sources for some of the semi-custom parts used on the J/30.  He took an order on the spot with some parts required for J/30 Magan.

Thanks very much to US Watercraft / Waterline Systems for the hospitality shown at the open house, and continued support for the J/30 class.