Finding Trimarans for sale or builders. Ideally Kantola

[cmfisher]

My Dad, years ago, had a 38' Trimaran build by Kantola. It was a gorgeous boat but sold it due to our families interest levels at the time and his work schedule. We are all older now and miss the boat terribly. My Dad is retired now and having knee surgery but has shown interest in purchasing another Trimaran (he belongs on the water). We of course would love the old boat back but now are thinking a bit bigger. He doesn't know I have been searching for him and would love to find the perfect one for him but hunting down a Kantola built, or any for that matter, seems to be a tough task. Any idea or suggestions on where to search or who to talk to? Also does anyone know if the builder is still around and building boats? My Dad has the plans from the original boat, is there a current builder that I could speak with that might be able to give me an estimated cost or re-building and slightly larger? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you,

[snort]

There's one for sale in Hawaii:
1979 Trimaran Kantola Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[UNCIVILIZED]

cmfischer,
Welcome to the forums. And what you're doing for your Dad's surely a nice thing. Though I hope that you know that the cost of having a one off, custom, built by a pro, will be through the roof. 'Course I don't know what your budget is, but I figured it wise to state as much just in case.
That said, if you're set on the idea, you might try BoatSmith Or possibly, say, drop Kurt Hughes & some other multihull designers an email, or perhaps better, a phone call.

One other option perhaps worth entertaining, would be to purchase a used small'ish to mid-sized catamaran. Say 30-35' or so. You'll get a lot more room, & finding one will be geometrically easier. And the boat will be a lot newer than any Tri of the era which helped to make all of those memories.
Also, you can have a cat in that size range built/take over a build where the owner/builder is/has thrown in the towel due to being burned out, poor health, etc.

One other key infobit, is that having anything built, cat, or tri, could take a good bit of time. But take a look around on www.multihull-maven.com The site has a plethora of designers, boats for sale, etc.

Also, other buying search resources are:
www.yachtworld.com
Craig's List - Particularly in any City or Locale where sailing's real popular. For example; Newport, RI Annapolis, MD Florida bigger West Coast Cities.
kantola trimaran for sale - Bing

www.sailboatlistings.com
And of course your basic googlefu. That, plus if you can locate some which aren't currently for sale, it never hurts to find out who the boat's owner is, tell him your story, & make him an offer.

I'm kinda' doubting that this one will be around long, but it's worth a try (no pun intended).

Originally Posted by snort

There's one for sale in Hawaii:
1979 Trimaran Kantola Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Ah, & I almost forgot, post wanted ads more or less everywhere I listed, plus in every sailing magazine that you can think of. Especially the free ones. And also make inquiries with (multihull targeted) boat brokers.

Good Luck

PS: And if you decide to go the used cat route, & get stuck for where to go shopping, so to speak, just post here again, & we'll start throwing ideas & links at you.