Paul Sesto's TRIO: A Folding Boat Built from Passion, Family, and Hand Tools

COLLEEN GREEN The Standard

In a world where small boat innovation often means high-tech materials and factory-built solutions, Paul Sesto's TRIO folding boat stands out, quietly, cleverly, and completely self-made. Built in his apartment using only hand tools, TRIO is a three-part nesting boat designed for compact storage, easy transport, and surprising versatility on the water.

More than a feat of DIY engineering, TRIO is a deeply personal project born from Mr. Sesto's lifelong relationship with the water and creative collaboration with his family.

Paul Sesto's connection to boats started early and runs deep.

"I grew up on the water," he said in an interview. "I was in the sailing industry in my 20s, running a sailing school in Toronto. I'm rated as an offshore sailing instructor."

He was already designing sailboats in high school and dreamed of becoming a naval architect. "Originally, I wanted to be a naval architect, but you had to go to the United States and I didn't have the tuition and all that."

Years later, when his son moved away to attend university, Mr. Sesto saw the opening he'd been waiting for. "When he moved away for school eight years ago now, I decided it was time to get back on the water somehow."

That moment of reconnection led to the TRIO, a compact boat which nests in three sections and stores upright in a corner of his apartment.

"The first boat I designed, I called it TRIO because it's a boat in three parts. My brother, who I sail with, helped in the design. Then my father actually did all the paintings [of] the boat. So it had three parts for three people."

Using CAD patterns and scale models, Paul Sesto meticulously designed the 12' hull to nest like Russian dolls, ensuring each section fit neatly inside the next. The tools he chose to build the boat had unique considerations, out of respect for his neighbours.

"Most of it is made actually with hand tools. You use what's called a Japanese pull saw instead of a sabre saw and just a hand drill. There was no noise which was perfect because I built it in my apartment."

The final boat is finished with a marine epoxy coating and bright interior colours, applied with care and artistic flair by his father.

With a square stern, positive flotation chambers, and a cleverly engineered hull, TRIO is more than just a pretty prototype; it's a functional craft meant to go places.

"The aspect of having the square stern is so you can put a rudder on it. When I was in high school, I built a sail kit for a 16-foot freighter canoe. I always wanted to design a boat, you know, the naval architect dream, [using] just the knowledge of mechanical engineering, figuring out the buoyancy with the water line."

Thanks to its modularity, the TRIO is an exercise in the economizing of space.

"All of it fits on a small dolly so I can roll it around the apartment, put it in my bedroom to store and then it's ready."

While some spend half an hour taking a boat from their garage, and loading it atop their vehicle, Mr. Sesto is already in the water.

"In the same amount of time [it takes] people to go in the garage, lower the kayaks on the rack, set it all up and launch it, I've put my boat together."

Paul Sesto often uses the TRIO for fly fishing but not in the way most people picture.

"I always tell people I'm not the traditional fly fisherman. I don't go after trout, I catch catfish, carp, gar, spear, bass during the summer, [and] panfish, which is fun."

While his brother owns a popular Oru folding kayak, Paul's TRIO offers a custom-made platform for calm-water angling and recreational sailing. The TRIO even has space to add a sail kit with a leeboard and push-pull tiller, ideas pulled from his youth.

Perhaps most impressive is the boat's ability to embody so many of Mr. Sesto's passions: design, fishing, family, and hands-on craftsmanship, while living within the constraints of a small apartment.

"I can go anywhere with this," he said. "I always have it easily accessible in the trunk of my car."

That's the heart of TRIO: freedom and functionality, distilled into a lovingly hand-built package.

Paul Sesto's TRIO is a modern-day tribute to resourceful boat building. It proves, even in an urban setting with limited tools and space, a well-designed, seaworthy boat can still emerge, one section at a time.

For a deeper look into the TRIO and more on its design and construction, visit the Small Boats Magazine article on Paul Sesto, at https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/trio/.