William H. Tripp Jr (1920–1971) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

who created many popular wooden and later

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

designs. Tripp used the

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

, ''Bill'', as his usual first name.

Life

Tripp was a native of

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. He started as a

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

designer working for Phillip Rhodes, before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After returning from his military service in the war he worked for

Sparkman & Stephens Sparkman & Stephens is a naval architecture and yacht brokerage firm with offices in Newport, Rhode Island and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. The firm performs design and engineering of new and existing vessels for pleasure, commercial, and milit ...

. In 1952 Tripp started his own design firm with Bill Campbell, Tripp & Campbell, located in a small office on the seventh floor of 10 Rockefeller Plaza. One of his early wooden boat designs, a 48-foot flush-deck sloop was built by German shipbuilder Abeking and Rasmussen designed for Jack Potter of Oyster Bay, Long Island and named ''Touche''. It accumulated a successful race record and elevated Tripp's reputation as a designer, bringing him many commissions for new boats. Tripp began experimenting with a new material for hull construction and began designing boats for

, becoming a pioneer in the field. Tripp was not only a designer, but also an accomplished

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

and sailed many of his own designs. Cruising World listed his Columbia 50 as number 17 of the 40 best sailboats of all time. Tripp was not happy with his professional partnership with Campbell and dissolved the company and formed his own, based in his home town of

Port Washington, New York Port Washington is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), No ...

. Campbell found a new partner, Dick Sheehan and carried on as Campbell/Sheehan. Biographer Ted Jones wrote of Tripp's designs: "Thinking back, I can see many innovations Bill’s fertile imagination introduced. While he did not create the wide beam, shallow draft centerboarder ... he surely refined the type to the extent that he became associated with centerboard racing/cruising boats. The wide transom, low counter design of his boats’ sterns were quite new in the late 1950s, causing many derisive comments among traditionalists, but I don’t hear anyone laughing about the shape of the Bermuda 40’s stern anymore ... He designed boats to stay together under the most difficult circumstances. I cannot recall one of his designs ever being dismasted or suffering structural damage at sea."

Death

Tripp died in 1971 in an automobile accident, at age 51. Tripp was killed by a drunk driver on the

Connecticut Turnpike The Connecticut Turnpike (officially the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike) is a freeway and former toll road in the U.S. state of Connecticut; it is maintained by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT). Spanning approximately ...

. The other driver lost control of his car and crossed the road divider, colliding with Tripp’s

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

. Tripp's son, William H. Tripp III is also a yacht designer. Biographer Ted Jones wrote, "Bill’s son, Billy, was too young at the time of his father’s death to be able to understand what it was that made his father’s boat designs special, yet he has now exceeded his father in this specialized field."

Designs

* Bermuda 40-1 (Hinckley) - 1959 * Bermuda 40-2 (Hinckley) - 1968 * Bermuda 40-3 (Hinckley) - 1971 * Block Island 40 - 1957 * Block Island 40 (Migrator) - 1984 * Columbia 26 Mark II - 1969 * Columbia 27 - 1970 * Columbia 30 - 1971 * Columbia 32 - 1975 * Columbia 34 Mark II - 1970 * Columbia 35 - 1975 * Columbia 39 - 1970 * Columbia 41 - 1972 * Columbia 43 - 1969 * Columbia 43 CB - 1969 * Columbia 43 Mark III - 1973 * Columbia 45 - 1971 * Columbia 45 Ketch - 1971 * Columbia 50 - 1965 * Columbia 52 - 1971 * Columbia 56 - 1974 * Columbia 57 - 1969 * Coronado 27 - 1970 * Coronado 32 - 1973 * Coronado 34 - 1966 * Coronado 35 - 1971 * Coronado 35 MS - 1971 *

Coronado 41 Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) * Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred to simply as "Coronado" * Coronado Chávez (1807–1881), President of Honduras from 1845 to 1847 Places United S ...

- 1972 * Coronado 45 - 1974 * Galaxy 32 - 1957 * Galaxy 32-3 - 1970 * Grampian 46 - 1969 * Hinckley 48 - 1965 *

Hughes 36 The Hughes 36 is a Canadian sailboat that was designed by William H. Tripp Jr. and first built in 1971. The Hughes 36 is a development of the Columbia 34 Mark II hull design, being built using tooling and moulds acquired from Columbia Yacht ...

- 1971 *

Hughes-Columbia 36 The Hughes-Columbia 36 is a Canadian sailboat that was designed by William H. Tripp Jr. and first built in 1979. The Hughes-Columbia 36 is a development of Hughes 36, which is in turn derived from the Columbia 34 Mark II hull design, built u ...

- 1979 * Invicta (Tripp) - 1960 * Invicta II (Tripp) - 1964 * Javelin 38 (Tripp) - 1960 * Le Comte 52 - 1965 * Le Comte ALC 35 - 1968 * Le Comte ALC 35 Mark II - 1971 * Le Comte Medalist 33 Mark I - 1962 * Le Comte Medalist 33 Mark II - 1965 * Le Comte Ocean Racer 52 - 1968 * Mercer 44 - 1959 * Northeast 38-1 - 1962 * Northeast 38-2 - 1966 * Northeast 38-3 - 1969 * Oceanic 48 (Tripp) - 1962 * Paceship 32 (Tripp) - 1968 * Polaris 26 (Tripp) - 1960 * Tripp Resolute - 1955 * Sailcrafter 32 - 1977 * Sailcrafter 50 - 1971 * Sailmaster 26 - 1963 * Santander 30 (Tripp) - 1966 * Seafarer 31 Mark I - 1968 * Seafarer 31 Mark I Yawl - 1968 * Seaman 30 - 1955 * Tripp 30 (Seafarer) - 1963 * Tripp Lentsch 29 - 1963 * US Yachts US 41 - 1963 *

US Yachts US 46 US or Us most often refers to: * ''Us'' (pronoun), the objective case of the English first-person plural pronoun ''we'' * US, an abbreviation for the United States US, U.S., Us, us, or u.s. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Albums * ...

- 1968 *

Watkins 32 The Watkins 32 is an American sailboat that was designed by William H. Tripp Jr as a cruiser and first built in 1982.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 250-251. Houghton Mifflin Company ...

- 1982 *

Watkins 33 The Watkins 33, also marketed as the Seawolf 33, is an American sailboat that was designed by William H. Tripp Jr and Watkins Yachts as a cruiser and first built in 1984. The Watkins 33 is a development of the Watkins 32, with a reverse trans ...

- 1984 * Watkins 36 - 1981 * Watkins 36C - 1981

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tripp, William H. William H. Tripp Jr