Kay of Göteborg

History

Commissioned by Arne Frisell in 1974 she was designed by Arne’s personal friend, Rod Stephens who recommended she be built by Aage Walstead of the renowned Walsteads Baadevaerft of Thuro, Denmark. Upon completion in 1975 and after declaring she was to be his last yacht, Frisell departed in her, more than satisfied, for the Mediterranean. On arrival there, in short order as he tied up, the man who took his lines, apparently already seduced by KAY, invited Arne to sell her to him. After much discussion with this potential buyer who was unwilling himself to get another built, Arne decided to accept his offer. Taking considerably more than he had paid, plus expenses and sufficient incentive Arne went back to Walsted to have another yacht built. Thus two near identical yachts were built for the same owner, the second being launched in 1978. 

The name KAY was first used by Arne’s father Sven who named all of his Sparkman and Stephens designed racer/cruisers KAY after his wife Katherine. Arne continued the tradition with his yachts. The name was always removed upon sale with the exception of the last KAY, KAY of GÖTEBORG which Arne sold around 1993. 

The Frisell’s sailed KAY extensively throughout the Baltic and Mediterranean seas and spent many seasons in the Caribbean. Kay’s third owner, Nikita Kushelevsky, found her in France before crossing the Atlantic, transiting the Panama Canal and then single handing her across the Pacific to Hawaii and then to California. Kushelevsky, a merchant mariner, lived aboard KAY for 20 years spending time in the San Francisco Bay area, Monterey and San Diego. 

Her present owner acquired her in 2018 and has been personally restoring her ever since. 

She is double planked with 3/4” teak on laminated oak frames with copper rivets. The offset planks are face and edge glued with bronze screws joining the planks from the inside. Bronze and white oak floors. The main mast step and chain plates are joined and reinforced with three stainless steel ring frames. Webbed hanging knees at all frame to deck beam joints. The keel, backbone and rudder are Iroko. The rudder is clad in copper sheet. Kay is rigged as a Yawl with her original Sitka Spruce spars. 

Designed for high latitude Arctic sailing complete with a cast iron coal burning stove, Kay has been sailed extensively throughout the Baltic and Mediterranean seas and crossed the Atlantic several times. She spent many winter seasons in the Caribbean before transiting the Panama Canal prior to being sailed across the Pacific to Hawaii and then single handed to California.