Giancarlo (Carlo) Giacomo D’Antonio died at his home in North Tisbury on July 19 after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 81.

Carlo was born on Nov. 20, 1942 in Providence, R.I. His parents Carmela and Antonio, born and raised in the small villages of Piana di Caiazzo and Capistrano in Italy, met in the United States. His father was a furniture maker in Italy and built the family home by the seashore in Warwick, R.I., using only hand tools. His sons worked alongside him. He also built a dory for Carlo and Robby—his youngest sons—and they taught themselves to sail it.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1960 and was stationed in Korea. When he returned to America, he enrolled in the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston, where he majored in sculpture.

On a visit to the Vineyard in 1965 with a friend, he realized that he would do anything—work any job—to stay. Using his father’s tools, he worked as a carpenter on the Island. He shared his father’s reverence for wood and over time he gained a reputation as a master craftsman. He loved boats and worked on the restoration of the 90’ pilot schooner Alabama and for Nat Benjamin at Gannon and Benjamin, building the Sallie May.

He designed and built his own boat in 1979 on the shores of the Tisbury Great Pond. She was one of a kind—a 20’ lapstrake double-ended loose-footed sprit rig cat-ketch, built in the tradition of an early Island vessel called a Nomans Land boat, which was typically an open fishing boat with no centerboard and a shallow draft. It could easily be pulled up onto the beach. He named her Spogliatelle, after the layered Italian pastry, because she was lapstrake.

He sometimes sailed with the then owner of Banzai and when his friend put Banzai on the market in 1988, he jumped at the opportunity: “I always knew what a prize she was, years before I bought her.” Built in 1905, Banzai was one of a fleet of 18 ordered by the New York Yacht Club, known as the NY30s. She was a work of art, representing the beauty and amazing sailing qualities that came from the mind and yard of Nathaniel G. Herreshoff of Bristol, R.I.

By 1988, at the age 83, Banzai had fallen upon hard times and was in need of rescue. He brought her home to North Tisbury. Over a period of six years, he restored her singlehandedly, guided by plans from the Hart Nautical Museum at MIT, using the same materials and changing nothing from the original design. The highlight of her restoration was the new varnished mahogany coach roof and a new hollow mast, built to Herreshoff’s specifications.

When he was done, she was splendid, on the outside authentic in every detail and a joy to sail. Amazingly fast and maneuverable, she could tack in her own length. He sailed her in the George Moffet Regatta and the Opera House Cup, sponsored by Sail Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Community Sailing, in which he was honored to be presented a special “Spirit of the Race” award in 2002.

In 2005 he, with his brother Robby and friends as crew, sailed her to the 100th year anniversary of the remaining NY30s in Newport, R.I. It was widely acknowledged that Banzai was the most authentic 30 and the only one restored by one person. The 30s raced but Banzai came in last. Her sails were old, her captain was cautious: she was a treasure.

He eventually sold her to an American collector of fine yachts. He travelled to the new owner’s private boatyard in Oyster Bay, N.Y to supervise the million dollar restoration inside and out that made her fit for another 100 years of sailing. Upon his return, he retired from cabinetmaking. In his home workshop, he made furniture of his own design, each piece individual, each piece signed.

In the final year of his life, he painted, sketched, sat in the yard with his dogs, watched his beloved birds, read stories to his granddaughter Marguerite and enjoyed alfresco family dinners with his children and grandchildren.

He was buried in the West Tisbury cemetery wrapped in the mainsail of brown Egyptian cotton that he had saved from his first Island sailboat, Neon Baby.

He consciously constructed and built his life by what he believed. His family and friends remember him as a kind man, generous, gentle and a free spirit. He leaves behind his three brothers Renato, Vittorio and Roberto; his three children Milo, Margaret and Sylvana; his eight grandchildren Marissa, Lucas, Lazlo, Leigha, Ayelet, Aviva, Aria and Marguerite; his partner Nancy; and his dogs Barney and May.

Donations in his memory may be made to Sail Martha’s Vineyard, PO Box 1998, Vineyard Haven MA 02568. Sail MV is a non profit organization which has taught thousands of Island children—for free—to row, to sail and to be safe on the water.