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Slider

Multihull beach cruisers are something I spend a little too much of my time thinking about, and it’s nice to discover kindred spirits. Ray Aldridge of Florida has progressed considerably beyond the thinking stage and built one of the sweetest little beach cruisers I’ve ever seen. Slider is well named, squeezing between the fantasy island of sailing nirvana and the rocks of economic/bureaucratic reality.

First off, the boat fits inside the magical 16’ x 8’ envelope, getting the max out of 2 sheets of plywood and the legal trailering width. No fancy folding or sliding parts, the boat is nearly as easy to launch as a Sea Doo. The sprit rig suits the realities of trailer life as well, giving a short and easily stepped mast, and spars that fit tidily on the trailer - which BTW - can be any old beach cat hauler, no assembly required.

The boat is set up perfectly for a pair of sailors, each with their own official cockpit and cupholder. The bridge deck is literally a wood deck, with space for the cooler, crab pot, tent, and the occasional sunbathing mermaid.

The single, off-center daggerboard is all that’s required of a boat designed to view hull flying with suspicion; an unlikely event considering the low and modest sail area. I love the boarding ladder hinging off the forward crossbeam, good for both surf and turf.



Slider in Light Air
Upwind in Slider
Slider Goes to Navarre Beach

LOA: 16’
Weight: 480 lbs.
Draft: 11“
Sail Area: 140 sq. ft.

A Southern Star

A superb ethnic double canoe and the superb CSN - together at the Southern Cross.



Ethnic Polynesian Double Canoe built by Hans Klaar, James Wharram, Oct 2007.
Thanks to CO'H for the heads up.

Three CHEERS

The French love all things historical and nautical, so it makes perfect sense that they have become the curators of the first Atlantic proa in the world: the “giant killer” CHEERS. Today, he is kept in Port Saint Louis by Vincent Besin and the French government, which has declared him a "monument historique", one of less than 100 small craft, and the only multihull. CHEERS was relaunched last week, at a ceremony which included her barefoot designer, Dick Newick.

40 years ago, CHEERS arrived third in the 1968 Observer Single-Handed Transatlantic Race, beaten by only two monohulls, the 56’ Sir Thomas Lipton and the 50’ Voortrekker. It was a bellwether moment for multihulls, yet ironically, the proa has been virtually ignored in what became the Great Multihull Takeover, with greyhound trimarans dominating the race course and charter cat galleons dominating the “gold run”.

CHEERS was the inspired production of three men: the designer Richard C. Newick, called the “Wizard of Maine”; the sailor Tom Follett; and the financier, Jim Morris. The Dreamer, the Doer, and the Patron - a frequently successful trinity.

The French interest in such a uniquely “American” enterprise is not without precedent, consider the Statue of Liberty. Vincent Besin, you are a keeper of the flame, and for that, I salute you!

"I notice that you are taking steps to enable the crew to right the vessel when it has capsized, but my committee are more interested in any steps you may take to stop the capsizing in the first place. We are still of the opinion that to race along at 25 knots in between periodically capsizing is not a proper way to cross the Atlantic..."

--Race Committee letter, October, 1967: Royal Western Yacht Club of England

Bamboo Boatbuilding

I held a sample of interior grade bamboo ply in my hand and it took less than two seconds to decide that I could build boats out of this stuff. I could not believe how light it was! And it felt about as stiff as steel. Of course it has to be completely incased in epoxy to be used in a marine application and the interior bamboo ply is not, but bamboo has a lot of merit, none the less.

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Takapu the Proa

I just finished reading Takapu the Proa by Mike Toy and Harmen Hielkema at Canoes of Oceania, and I just wanted to suggest everyone go there immediately and read it if you haven’t already. Harmen comes to proas in a way with which I can personally identify: as a vehicle for understanding more than just sailboats. A way of looking at the world. And when I say “the world”, I don’t mean the atoms, I mean the invisible connective tissue.

I remember seeing my first multihull, as a boy. My dad and I were out in the family outboard, when I spied a lateen sail a near way off, traveling at an unprecedented rate of knots for a sailboat. I compelled my father to approach for a closer look. It was just an Aquacat, and for a second I was entranced, enthralled. I was seeing something, something AMAZING, but I knew not what.

Tell the truth, I still don’t, and I’m still enthralled.

Pookie

Tepukai are singularly amazing proas from the Santa Cruz Islands that take the usual South Pacific parsimony with building materials to the nth degree. The boats stretch out over the water’s surface like a gigantic water spider, covering the most area with the minimum mass. Tepukai employ slender, submersible wave-piercing hulls, centrally located mass for low pitching moments, and excellent bridge deck clearance - all very M3K (millennium three thousand).

Jim Shanahan approached me with an idea for a tepuke inspired beach cruiser, and Pookie is the result. The boat stretches itself out to a 28’ LOA x 15’ beam, without weighing much more than a Hobie Cat. In the Oceanic tradition, the boat is made mostly of woven materials: Polyester, Nylon, carbon fiber, Kevlar and Spectra.

The basic configuration is a carbon fiber space frame which supports inflatable tube hulls, trampoline deck, shelter and rig. When folded and deflated, the contraption fits inside a 4’ x 8’ x 14’ box - a sailing version of George Jetson’s flying car in a briefcase.

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Le Prao Pink

The French have a way with boats, and that savoir faire certainly extends to proas. Praocéan is a proper proa, which means it exists partially in the dreamtime - a pink elephant on parade. The "illogical" Pacific flying proa configuration, the mythical crab claw sail, the whimsical eye-shaped portholes, the VALIS hue, the Venetian posture of the helmsman, all point to a craft intended for navigation not only on the earth, but also among the stars. Fair winds and Godspeed.

Pocket Envy

I just got some spy pics of the new Chesapeake Light Craft Pocket Cruiser abuilding at Two Daughters Boatworks in Maine. I guess I can't really call them spy shots because CLC president and designer John Harris sent them in, but it sounds good. John is one of those guys who couldn't draw an ugly boat if he wanted to, and this little ship is one of his best.
14'-10" LOA, plywood stitch-n-glue construction. Beautiful!

Check out John's video of the project. More pics after the jump.

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Edel 4XCat 33

The Jan/Feb 2008 issue of Multihulls World includes a boat test of the Edel 4XCat 33 from ADN, which I happen to like quite a lot. The ADN design team is seeking that sweet spot between performance daysailer and luxury cruiser - a performance cruiser. It's a niche currently dominated by folding trimarans and its nice to see this creative catamaran version. More pics after the jump.

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Spring Cleaning

A fresh new stylesheet for Proafile v5.0, to go with a fresh new attitude. Cheers! Page 1 of 9 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »