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The Wizard of Oz

The proa designs of Australian designer J. S. Taylor have been the subject of many an interesting discussion on the proa_file list over the years. Taylor, an East European immigrant to Oz in the 50’s, had several of his provocative articles published in the yachting press of the day, both locally and internationally. Taylor was one of the first to advocate the proa as a serious yachting alternative, and his imperious tone combined with a superb drawing and drafting style soon made him an editor’s favorite.

This was in the 1960’s, the era of the Jetsons and all things futuristic. Multihulls were an amazing new invention, with visionaries predicting ocean passages in motorboat-like speed and comfort, and marinas filled with nothing but multihull yachts, most of them with tailfins. Taylor managed to combine this love of progress with a grounding in Polynesian tradition, and it is the combination of the two that I find endlessly fascinating. Taylor drew boats that combined crab claw sails with solid airfoil wings, tall ceremonial stems with streamlined bubble canopies, outriggers with hydrofoils! He was doing his own version of steampunk, 40 years ahead of his time. Bamboopunk?

In his articles, Taylor presented his proas as if they were done and done, a matter of public record. Yet the record is mute. There ARE no photographs of Taylor’s proas, and one would think that vehicles of such spectacular design and performance might have inspired at least one snapshot. Truth is, Taylor was a sham - though a glorious one. The multihull movement is full of them - all promising their versions of the holy grail.

Taylor was misemployed. He thought he was a yacht designer, but he was really an imagineer; a translator and synthesizer of myths both modern and ancient. An artist who thought he was an engineer, a shaman trapped in the body of a yacht designer. It’s important to know which one you are, because an artist’s creations aren’t expected to actually float. I guess I’ve always had a hard time defining that line myself - IMHO the best art actually floats, and the best boats are art - in every sense of the word.

More J. S. Taylor pics after the jump.

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The Spinnaclaw

The boys in the lab have been working overtime on a new invention, and I wanted to give you a sneak peak. Internally we call it the spinnaclaw, however marketing is still testing the final brand name with focus groups.

As the name implies, it is a cross between a crab claw sail and a spinnaker, sort of a Scandinavian/Polynesian hybrid. The idea is to mount the crab claw boom to a spinnaker pole, and shunt the sail like a big asymmetrical chute! The reasons you would do that:

• Quicker shunts. The radial motion of the spinnaker pole combined with the fact that it travels only half as far as the traditional rig fore and aft should make for snappier shunts.
• Better helm balance off wind: traditional crab claws develop powerful weather helm on off wind courses, the result of all that sail hanging off the leeward side. The Spinnaclaw shifts approx. 20% of the sail area to windward as it bears off, thus reducing weather helm.
• Quickly adjustable CE. The pole can easily be shifted fore and aft while under sail, fine tuning the sail's center of effort and helm balance for all courses. A nice feature for a boat that steers by weight shift and the occasional steering oar.

I want to apologize for the lack of posts recently, it's been a busy month. Click here if you must see what takes me away from boat blogging.

Interesting Proajects

Some interesting proa builds:

Gaia's Dream: Gaia seems to be the matron deity of multihulls. Inigo Wijnen has built three boats all named after the Earth Mother, and James Wharram sails the famous Spirit of Gaia. Inigo's latest incarnation of Gaia will be a 71' shunting Pacific proa designed to carry up to 12 people or 9 tons of cargo, for expedition work.

GAIA’S DREAM does not use any fossil fuels in her normal use. She runs totally on alternative energy sources, sun, wind, bio fuel and ethanol. She can be used in a passenger mode or cargo mode or a mix of both.

Magpie: John Sullivan documents his non-traditonal build (check out the solar steam bending!) of a traditional Micronesian sailing canoe. Projected launch is late August... about now!

Greenbird: This land speed record contender is a proa! Echoing the "one-way proa" configuration of Crossbow, Richard Jenkins' carbon fiber land yacht is down under on Lake Lefroy looking to break the 116.7 mph land sail record currently held by Bob Schumacher in Iron Duck. Greenbird employs "aerodynamic ballast" (downforce) with its single airfoil-shaped crossbeam, a concept proposed by Australian proa designer J. S. Taylor in the 1960's. Article at WIRED.



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