Don Trask, founder of Performance Sailcraft – San Rafael, the first Laser production facility outside Canada, has died, aged 92.
The facility was founded in the early 1970s, and under Don’s leadership, the factory produced at conservative estimates around 11,000 Lasers carrying the hull code PSC — Performance Sailcraft Corporation.
It’s thought the number may have been closer to 30,000 Lasers produced.
“Whatever the exact count, what matters is clear: Don did not just build boats — he helped launch a global sailing phenomenon,” said the International Laser Class Association in a statement.
“Don’s influence extended far beyond just building boats. He understood that fleets are not built in factories — they are built in friendships.
Don was as competitive as they come, but he never lost sight of what our sport is really about, which is building lifelong friendships.
Chris Boome
“With his wife Nancy, he helped shape a community culture that defined West Coast Laser sailing for a generation.”
Among Don’s introductions was the Sir Francis Chichester Circumnavigation of Alameda Island, a 15-mile race where sailors could choose to sail round the island in either direction.
“The bridges were too low for a Laser mast, so competitors capsized to duck under, or — in Don’s case — famously picked up the entire rig like a windsurfer and walked it under, to the astonishment of the fleet,” said the Association.
“Stories from Alameda became part of class folklore: masts stuck in bridge grates, sailors grounding in the narrow tidal channels, and Don — already over 40 by then — showing what Masters sailing could be, decades before the term was even formalised.”
Missed but not forgotten
Don was a gifted sailor — as well as being involved in the Laser class, he was a Star champion who placed third at the Star World Championship in Sweden.
As Chris Boome wrote: “Don was as competitive as they come, but he never lost sight of what our sport is really about, which is building lifelong friendships.”
“Don will be missed but not forgotten — an example of what friendship, hard work, and commitment to a passion can accomplish,” said Bill Kreysler, Don’s partner in the San Rafael factory.
“The ILCA dinghy has continued Don’s legacy in this simple yet challenging little boat. Our class is not only about competition, but camaraderie — something Don understood from the beginning. He built boats, but he also built community,” concluded the Association.
