Jay Kantola

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Jay Kantola was an American naval architect who is most known for his work designing multihull sailboats. He began designing multihulls in the 1960's. [1] Kantola was an early proponent of a vessel construction technique called cold molding and cored construction. Cold molding involves bending strips of wood at room temperature to form a desired shape. The shape is then retained by gluing the wood together using epoxy. When the shaped construction is coated with layers of fiberglass saturated with epoxy, the final construct is termed a cored or composite construction. Kantola was one of several designers that worked closely with Meade Gougeon, Joel Gougeon, and Jan Gougeon. These brothers are collectively known as the Gougeon brothers. [2] They also designed vessels and founded a line of epoxy products called West System. [3]

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Kantola primarily produced the plans and blueprints for others to construct the final product. One builder he worked closely with for many years was Richard Barrie of Western Boatworks of Reseda, California. [4] Perhaps the most famous vessel that resulted in this collaboration was the 1/8th scale model of the stern section of the vessel RMS Titanic. The 60 foot (18.3 meter) long stern section was utilized in the sinking scenes shot for the movie Titantic. A second model of the entire vessel at a scale of 1/20th actual size now resides in a museum. To construct both models Kantola utilized drawings of the Titantic's sister ship the RMS Olympic. [5]

Scale model of the Titanic designed by Jay Kantola and built by lead builder Richard Barrie Titanic Portside Diagram.jpg
Scale model of the Titanic designed by Jay Kantola and built by lead builder Richard Barrie

Kantola also designed the personal sailing vessels built by Ricard Barrie and his wife Kris Barrie for their own use. The Barrie family weathered a storm aboard the Kantola designed trimaran named Fifth Fox in May 1984 that had winds over 50 knots. [6] In the 1990's, they built a much larger trimaran named Windswept. Windswept is believed to have been the largest trimaran designed by Kantola. It took the Barrie couple 8 years to build the 65 foot (19.8 meter) long by 40 foot (12.2 meter) wide vessel. It was ultimately launched in 2000. The vessel featured four cabins, two heads, a large living area, and a 79 foot tall mast. It could sail at speeds in the low 20 knot range.

65 foot trimaran sailing vessel designed by Kantola. She launched as Windswept and at the time of this photograph was known as Hot Buoys. It is still sailing as of 2022 in Langkawi Malaysia and now known as Erika. Trimaran Sailing Vessel Hot Buoys, formerly known as Windswept.jpg
65 foot trimaran sailing vessel designed by Kantola. She launched as Windswept and at the time of this photograph was known as Hot Buoys. It is still sailing as of 2022 in Langkawi Malaysia and now known as Erika.

For sheer poetry and performance, Jay Kantola's tris are a class apart. Spaceity, a 32-foot sloop encountered in Pago Pago, presented a symphony of lines, from matched transoms to triple bows. Flat-bottom planing floats give her 180-mile days. A large centerboard provided sportscar handling, but severely restricted her main cabin.

Randy Thomas, Yachting (1985) [7]

Other vessels designed by Kantola

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References

  1. ewadmin (2014-08-13). "TITANIC, the Model". Epoxyworks. Archived from the original on 2022-07-24. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  2. "HISTORY". Gougeon Brothers, Inc. Archived from the original on 2022-07-24. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  3. "WEST SYSTEM". WEST SYSTEM. Archived from the original on 2022-07-24. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  4. ewadmin (2014-08-13). "TITANIC, the Model". Epoxyworks. Archived from the original on 2022-07-24. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  5. ewadmin (2014-08-13). "TITANIC, the Model". Epoxyworks. Archived from the original on 2022-07-24. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  6. SWANSON, Noel (2022-04-21). "S/T-17 TRIMARAN, KANTOLA". Archived from the original on 2021-07-25. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  7. Randy Thomas (1985). "Multihulls Discovered: Part 1: Their origins, myths, magic, mana... and caveats that go along with these craft that have evolved from ancient heritage". Yachting. Archived from the original on July 24, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2015.