1947 - 1951

• Jakob apprentices under Willy Empacher where he designs and builds his first boats. He completed his training and received his papers as a Certified Rowing Shell Designer.

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1958 - 1968

• Arriving in Canada in 1958, Jakob began his boat building career by building eights for London Rowing Club in his new home town of London Ontario.

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• Jakob's first two eights racing each other on Fanshawe Lake London circa 1960

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  Launching one of the first eights on Fanshawe Lake, London Ontario. It was after completing these eights that Jakob decided to turn to boatbuilding full time. In 1969 he started Kaschper Racing Shells LTD.
  

1969

• Kaschper Racing Shells began production in 1969. The molds and tooling had to be produced for singles through eights, and much of the first year was spent on these tasks. Jakob made several visits with Willy Empacher in Germany and the two exchanged many design ideas. The shells were made of Spanish cedar veneer, formed by laminating under vacuum pressure. These boats became known as Vac-shells, and are still a viable part of rowing club fleets worldwide.

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1970-1975

• Now in full production, Jakob established himself as one of North America's premiere boat builders. At this point the only other builder in North America was George Pockock in the Seattle Washington area. Below a mid 1970's look inside the factory in Lucan Ontario.

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• Building a wooden Vac-shell eight....

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1975-1985

• In the late 1970s, composite shells with a glass laminate hull and wooden structure were introduced. In 1980 some very striking Kaschper shells were being produced: these black hulls had semi-transparent carbon glass hulls and were called "tiger stripe" boats by rowers. One of these shells was requested by the Ontario Science Centre to be displayed in a hi-tech exhibition that toured Canada. Below is an example of an early glass laminate hull.

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• The Canadian National Team women rowed a tiger stripe eight at the World Championships in Munich, Germany. It was the lightest sectional eight at the competition, weighing only 198 pounds. This was before FISA enforced a minimum weight rule and is a testament to Kaschper's early composite technology.

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1990-1995

• A major construction change occurred about 1990. The wooden structure was eliminated and replaced by the monocoque shell. The carbon honeycomb material was lighter, stronger and stiffer than previous non-wood materials. Maintenance of boats for rowers was reduced by the change to man-made materials. Always evolving with the technology Jakob was already thinking of the next major advancements.

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1996

• To utilize the wing rigger (Ted Vandusen), a complete redesign of all the models was required. New molds were built and an advanced curing oven was installed.

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• Brian Thorne rowing a winged rigger single

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1999

• 30 Years In Business
  Kaschper develops Bio-Rig design
  
  MORE TO COME, UNDER CONTRUCTION

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