USWatercraft LLC snags Alerion Yachts, True North, and North Rip

by Randy Borges on 12 Dec 2012 USWatercraft LLC of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, an international leader in the building of racing and cruising sailboats, is ecstatic to announce that it has acquired the Alerion Yachts, True North, and North Rip brands from Pearson Marine Group.

USWatercraft is the licensed boat builder of the J/22, J/24, J/80 and J/105 lines of J/Boats as well as the Farr 30 and Farr 40. Through this acquisition, USWatercraft LLC will service and manufacture Alerion Yachts, True North, and North Rip. Pearson Marine Group has a 50 year old heritage and was formerly a division of TPI Composites that manufactured both sail and power boats until 2004 when TPI sold its name and wind energy divisions but retained its marine division.

The USWatercraft acquisition of these brands includes all of the manufacturing assets, including the records and parts necessary to construct the Pearson Marine Group boat lines, as well as, the specific tooling that can be used to build and service the larger and currently out of production J/Boats and related parts. Additionally, USWatercraft has entered into a lease on 42,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space at the current PMG/TPI Warren, RI facility. USWatercraft will continue to apply its experience in building world class performance sailboats in the manufacture of the Alerion Yachts, True North and North Rip boat lines as well as the licensed J/Boat models.

This acquisition essentially returns the J/24 to its roots as this is the same facility where most of the world's 5,500 J/24s were manufactured prior to 1998.

USWatercraft will continue to provide service and repair work for sailing and power boats through its affiliate company Waterline Systems. The Waterline Systems service work will remain at its current facility in Portsmouth, RI.

'We are extremely excited about this wonderful opportunity to add these high quality brands to the USWatercraft family. We can provide a full line of world-class sailing and power boats that are backed by the highest quality customer support.' said Randy Borges, President of USWatercraft LLC.