George M. Irvine Jr, Chairman, purchased Pipewelders, Inc. in 1977, formed High Seas Technology in 1989, purchased Billfish Marina in 2000 and merged Pipewelders Canvas to form P&R Canvas in 2002. George began his career after serving in the U.S. army as a Sargent during WW II and later graduating from University of Maryland, B.S. in Business & Economics. He also completed specialized classes at M.I.T., John Hopkins University, IBM, Owens Corning Composites, and Sales Analysis Institute.

Employed by Owens Corning Fiberglass, Corp. from 1951-1968, George was given the market development assignment "To Convert the Boat Industry from wood to fiberglass." George also helped start-up many fiberglass boat companies including, Hatteras Yacht Company (while with Owens). Following Owens, George was the Executive V.P. for Hatteras Yacht Corp from 1968-1972. One of his 'many' responsibilities at Hatteras included designing and building the New Bern, NC Plant. After the owners sold their interest, George left NC and became President of Chris Craft Industries (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) from 1972-1977.

George has been an active and highly respected part of the Boating Industry for nearly 58 years. As a visionary who slipped cautiously into this industry pooling together his years of experience and talent for sophisticated design, Pipewelders has became a leader and "standard setter" world-wide!