Tripp Design

Tripp Design is a US-based team of Engineers, Naval Architects, and Project Managers that together specialize in the process of designing and engineering modern superyachts.

Founded by William H Tripp III in 1984, Tripp remains the Head Designer of the design studio today. Tripp Design is noted for its quality race boat designs that have participated in events such as the IMS Championships and in prestigious venues including Fastnet, Hobart, and Bermuda.

Philosophy of Tripp Design
Addressing an owner’s particular vision is essential to our design process because each client, and by extension each project, is unique. Our goal as naval architects is to realize their expectations by exploring ideas and finding solutions that fuse emotive visual styling with high-performance hull design.

Sailboats have a truly dynamic quality – they are about motion as well as architecture. The sea dictates a set of constraints that must be respected – our designs are lived in while continually tested by the oceans. Our mandate is to draw from our extensive experience, utilize evolving technologies, and maintain strict weight control to create keenly responsive high-performance sailing yachts whose comfort and ease of handling are paramount.

Next Generation
As yachts increase in size, we are challenged with making these large yachts true sailboats. Sailing simplicity, light air performance, and ocean-trotting abilities are at the core of our designs and technological innovations.

With this next generation boat, the balance of proportions is very important. As we take advantage of the latest engineering advances, the boat will become lighter, with a lower centre of gravity from the lifting keel, lighter materials and better weight control. This lighter boat will be narrower to keep the beam/depth canoe hull proportion suitable for good sailing in waves. The narrow hull is more easily driven, and faster, requiring less rig height. Thus the design spiral is completed, for a faster, safer boat.

Experience
Our engineering experience assures a sound project and successfully developed new ideas. Over the last ten years, we have developed working relationships with structural engineers, boat yards, mast makers, interior stylists, project managers, hydrodynamicists and universities. These relationships help us access state-of-the-art ideas across the range of design and technology. These collaborations have fostered development, synergy and expanding views in design, technology and performance.

A sailing yacht provides a more immediate interaction with the sea’s landscape, and the pleasure of being driven by the wind brings an added dimension – a synthesis of the sport with the lifestyle. We see this as the point of having a yacht.

The Current Team

William H. Tripp, III
Founder & Head Designer

Bill Tripp spent his childhood on the water sailing and racing in boats his father designed. Bill studied Naval Architecture at the University of Michigan (M.E. & B.E. in Naval Architecture) and joined up with Doug Peterson right out of school, working on designs that would be victorious in regattas such as the SORC, the Admirals Cup, the Sardinia Cup, and the Southern Cross series. After spending several years as chief designer with Peterson, and as a construction engineer for Maxi Yachts Kialoa, and Condor, as well as a brief stint at BalticYachts, Bill struck out on his own and founded Tripp Design in 1984.

Naval Architects/Engineers
David Fogg
Ran Goldstein
David Hulse
Stephane Leveel
Nate Yeater

Business & Marketing Manager
Krista Stanley