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New From Selway Fisher

Prolific English designer Paul Fisher at Selway Fisher has some new stock canoe designs of interest to Proafile readers:

18' stitch and tape Waka Ama (Hawaiian outrigger canoe) LOA 18' (5.49m); Main hull beam 1'7" (0.49m); Overall beam 5'11" (1.8m) Approx. wht 140 lbs (64kg) in 6mm ply.

Tikopian 24 - "based on the 18' Waka Ama and uses the same stitch and tape plywood construction process. She has 4 seats plus stowage compartments in the ends of the canoe but can be fitted out in various ways - ie. with more seats and storage. The Tikopian 24 uses the same float/outrigger as the Waka Ama and comes with the sail rig of the Dragon 40 for those who want to go for a full platform and sail option. The hull can be built in 2 boltable halves and two hulls could be built to form a high volume catamaran. LOA 24' (7.32m); Main hull beam 2' (0.61m); Overall beam 6' (1.83m)

SIG 45 Performance Cruiser

Le Breton Yachts is promoting an interesting project: the SIG 45 performance cruising catamaran. Interesting to me, because it is one of the first legit multihull attempts to play in the Wally sector: very refined, very stylish, very fast, and very expensive. The design guns are high calibre: Van Peteghem Lauriot Prevost (VPLP), Bjorn Johansson for the interior, and even Bruno Peyron as technical consultant. The impetus or the yard behind the project is not disclosed on the web site.

The yacht is far from the usual "condomaran" offering. It offers real speed, and it should be a serious competitor in the harbors of the Cote D'Azure. It should also have no trouble fitting in with the other sailing "Ferraris" on the quay, it looks the part - featuring a sleek profile, flush/hidden hardware, no lifelines, and teak decking. The boat will be an interesting multihull test of this very exclusive market.

Minimising the impact to the environment both during construction and during use is one of the project's stated goals. To that end, all wood products are sourced through Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified suppliers. Power for the house systems will come from a 14kW Glacier Bay generator, which will also power the twin auxiliary electric motors.

Amazon by Prao

More proof that the French know how to spend a holiday better than anyone: Marc and Matthieu emailed to share their blog and pics about a recent cruise up the Amazon river on a native canoe modified into a sailing prao (French for proa). Note the cool bamboo ama. Note the most excellent hats. In French.

Palindrome - a Land Proa

Three quarter view from windward side.
The craft travels toward upper right in this view.

The land proa was a mad last minute dash to the finish for 2 quarters worth of thesis work I did around "Joy Rides". The idea was to create unexpected experiences--things you had to try to understand. All of these were developed as working prototypes. The projects included:

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High Performance Outrigger Pt. II

In September I had my contribution appear in Proafile regarding the design and construction of my tacking proa or more correctly, outrigger sailing craft. Since that article I have sailed my boat in the strongest wind conditions that I had taken it out thus far, around 18 to 20 knots. Apart from an impending structural failure in that the 50 mm aluminium tubes could not stand the rig load from the side stays and bent permanently beyond their pre-bent shape, it was very instructive at a design level for this type of craft.

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High Performance Outrigger

After more than two decades sailing, designing and building sailboards including a six metre long tandem I decided to go back to my sailing roots, that is a Moth dinghy. However I needed a craft for two as my son has accompanied me on my sailing journey for the last 20 years. The other problem was that when I last sailed Australian Moths they were 1.3 metre wide scows, and now they are ultra narrow 30cm wide skiffs that are more stable lying on their side, capsized, than upright, sailing. However the modern Moth is the speed machine of the monohull sailing world.

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No School Like the Old School

John Bruton reports the launch of his 32' Marshall Islands style proa in Cape Fear, North Carolina. The big canoe was built with no plans other than referencing photographs and books. The hull is built in two stages: a sharpie-like plywood section from waterline to sheer, and then the hull below waterline built like a surfboard, all hand-shaped urethane foam glassed with polyester resin. The hull is self bailing. Great job, John!

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A Primer on Proas

aerohydrofoil Sailboat concept pioneered by Bernard Smith in the 1960’s and described in his seminal work The 40-Knot Sailboat. Smith’s analysis of sailboat kinetics led him to a groundbreaking design involving no traditional sail or hull, instead utilizing solid airfoils and buoyant hydrofoils, arranged in a proa-like formation. Many of today’s proa advocates credit the excellent proa chapter with sparking their first interest in proas.

ama  Polynesian for outrigger float or log, in common use among multihull designers.

aka  Polynesian for outrigger cross beam.

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New Zealand on 100 Snails a Day

Tim Anderson has posted another canoe sailing adventure - this time from New Zealand. As usual, he nearly dies a few times (infection and hypothermia), lives on snails and oatmeal, experiences altered states of consciousness, camps where he shouldn't, meets interesting locals, and returns home with stomach parasites. Hard not to envy him. This time he sails Gary Dierking's Ulua, which is practically a yacht compared to his previous transport. Lots of good photos - especially if you like outrigger canoes, and who doesn't? Outrigger Canoe Sailing in New Zealand.

Hula Kai

Frank Russell found this 1963 vintage C/S/K catamaran at a California dock in 2003 - in need of some love. He took it home to Long Island, and undertook a complete restoration - the fine result was relaunched June 2005, and christened Hula Kai. Read about the project here. Page 3 of 9 pages « First  <  1 2 3 4 5 >  Last »