Johnson Boat Works was a builder and developer of racing sailboats of the scow design in

White Bear Lake, Minnesota White Bear Lake is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota, United States. A small portion of the city also extends into Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County. The population was 24,88 ...

. It was founded in 1896, by

John O. Johnson John O. Johnson (January 10, 1875 - February 1963) was a Norwegian-born, American boat builder, early aviator, and inventor in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Early life and boat building Johnson was born in Oslo, Norway. His mother died when he ...

who had emigrated from Norway in 1893. After working with Gus Amundson for three years, Johnson started his own boat-building business in 1896. His first major success was the "Minnezika" a 38 ft scow design which won the championship on White Bear Lake in 1900. This sailboat was the beginning of the A-Class. As more classes were founded, Johnson moved on to B's, C's, D's, and

E's is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in '' Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003, to Febr ...

. Johnson was commissioned to build the 16 ft X-Boat for youth in the 1930s. Johnson designed the J-Scow in the mid-1950s which was converted to the MC. Through the years, the boat builder built Optis and 420s. In 1994, the builder brought out the Johnson 18. In 1998, two years after JBW turned 100 years old, the family sold the company. The scow molds were sold to their competitor Melges Boat Works (now called

Melges Performance Sailboats Melges Performance Sailboats, is an American sailboat manufacturer founded by Harry Melges, father of former Olympic sailor Buddy Melges. Melges Boat Works, Inc. was founded by Harry C. Melges, Sr. in 1945. The company was originally named '' ...

) in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The other molds, including the Johnson 18 mold, were sold to

Catalina Yachts Catalina Yachts is a U.S.-based builder of fiberglass monohull sloop-rigged sailboats ranging in sizes from eight to 54 feet in length. It was founded in 1969 in Hollywood, California by Frank Butler (founder), Frank Butler . Catalina Yachts is ...

in California. The repair and storage part of the company was sold to a family member who renamed the company White Bear Boat Works.

References

White Bear Boat Works and the history of Johnson Boat Works
Retrieved August 29, 2005. * {{Sailing Scows Johnson Boat Works