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Sailrocketry

"To one who has turned lifeless materials into a thing alive and forced it to do his bidding against the resisting forces of nature in silence, without fuel and without defiling air or water, there can never be anything more wonderful than the sailboat. "The sailboat never offends the senses of fish, fowl or man. To make it move faster is to make it more a thing of freedom and beauty."
--Bernard Smith, "The 40-Knot Sailboat," 1963

When I was a kid, I read 'The 40-knot Sailboat' by Bernard Smith, who introduced me to proas and sailing hydrofoils and all kinds of amazing ideas about boats that fired my imagination in the same way that race cars or starships fire others. Flying over water, using only the power of the wind... it seemed like magic. Magic that might actually work...

I even made a balsa wood model of an aerohydrofoil when I was fourteen, which didn't go anywhere at all, let alone fly. Discouraged, I soon turned my attention to baseball, but fortunately, others kept at it. Paul Larsen is behind the Vestas Sailrocket speed sailing proa - a project inspired by Bernard Smith.

Vestas Sailrocket averaged 47.36 knots (nearly 55 mph) over a 500-meter course on Dec. 3, and it just goes to show that practice makes perfect. It's a brilliant name, since Bernard Smith was a rocket scientist.

"I am now safe in the knowledge that no one can dispute that this is a very viable concept of enormous potential. In fact, I think it is perhaps one of the most significant speed sailing craft of all time. The concept behind this craft is future proof." --Paul Larsen

Rozinante II

A considerable amount of credit/blame for my love of small boats goes to L. Francis Herreshoff and his book 'The Compleat Cruiser'. I fell in love with his ideas about a simple yet refined cruising lifestyle, epitomized by Mr. Weldon and his whaleboat type ketch - Rozinante. Rozinante is beautiful, fast, seaworthy and handy, and I was musing recently about how a proa version of Rozinante might work out.

Rozinante Il is a mono-proa - a bilaterally asymmetric monohull. Her dimensions, style and intent are all within the ballpark of the original. She's the Rozinante from the alternative proa-centered universe.



LOA: 28' | LWL: 25' | BOA: 6'-10" | Draft: 2'-10" | SA: 285 sq. ft.

She's a lugsail schooner, which gives us a well-balanced rig that is easily handled, reefed and shunted, and the character is in keeping with the small gaffs of the original ketch. The cockpit is 8' long and deep enough for comfortable seating, yet the floor is above the waterline which allows it to be self bailing (unlike the original). Also unlike the original, Rozy II does not have a weighted keel and her draft is 8" less, though the keel is still sharp and deep for good windward ability. Rozy II's ballast is in the form of a water ballast tank to windward, beneath the cockpit seat.



Rozinante II's most startling feature is the pronounced hull asymmetry. It looks daft, but there's good reason for it. A traditional monohull's waterplane becomes more asymmetrical the more it heels, with the lee side bulging out, creating wave drag and a weather helm, usually counteracted by a large rudder (creating more drag). Rozy II follows the Micronesian practice of keeping the "flat" side to leeward, which creates a leeward turning force (and balancing the windward turning force of the schooner rig). The flatter lines create less drag, and best of all, the waterplane shape becomes increasingly symmetrical as the boat heels, not less. Heeled to 14 degrees, the yacht's waterline beam shrinks from 53" to 44", yielding a 7.6:1 Length:Beam ratio. I expect considerably better speed from this finer and much lighter Rozinante when compared to the original.



Accommodations are spartan below, as was the original. A single berth with sitting headroom and storage locker in one end, and an enclosed head in the other. Though L. Francis would prefer a cedar bucket, I'm including a marine toilet and holding tank as a concession to modernity. The galley box is in the cockpit, running the length of the leeward side.

Rozy II is steered via trimming the sheets and adjusting the two centerplate "trim tabs". In this, she follows the practice of Yakaboo, the record breaking sailing canoe of Frederick "Fritz" Fenger. She won't be "multihull" fast, but I think she'd make for a fun and rewarding boat to sail, and the looks she would get at the dock would be absolutely priceless.

Note: This is a sketch, a cartoon only. No plans are available.

Proas Through the Ages

My buddy Lee picked up this ancient artifact for me recently: How to Build 20 BOATS, a Fawcett 50 cent publication from 1943. It's reprinted material from Mechanix Illustrated, and it happens to include the PLYWOOD PROA by Hi Sibley. Aside from the historical value (nearly equivalent to King Tut's Tomb) I find it interesting that:

1. In all the years since then, plywood is still the preferred construction material for amateur boat construction. You'd think we'd be using Unobtainium by now.

2. The usual story about the growth of the multihull "movement" in the U.S. is that WWII servicemen returned from duty in the South Pacific where they had witnessed outriggers first hand, and then proceeded to create modern versions such as Woody Brown's Manu Kai. Does this article confirm that story, or does it imply an earlier origin?

3. The cover photo. I can't help but be drawn to this woman and her enigmatic grin. Like Mona Lisa, I keep imagining the real reason for that smile...



Remainder of proa article after the jump.

continued...

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