Entries | Proas

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

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.

Samwise - Part 3

Some fairly dramatic changes since Samwise Part 2 (Part 1 is here). The biggest change is that Sam is now a balls out Atlantic proa - rig placed in the windward hull. No faux Pacific, "weight to windward" sham, an Atlantic proa is Sam I am. Larger pics after the jump.

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Canoes of Oceania

Harmen Hielkema has joined the blogosphere at Canoes of Oceania. Harmen designs and builds proas in New Zealand with an artistic eye and an appreciation for prior native art. From his blog:

Every culture with very few exceptions, somewhere in its past has some connection with the sea and a technology for moving or sailing on it. The sailboat was the first machine to give men freedom of motion without harnessing muscle power. Few of us any longer recognize that the sailboat was truly the first instrument which freed us from bondage to the land ... the waka ama, the first sailboat that could move up wind. This invention made previously inaccessible areas of the world accessible to man, ... Neither do we recall, unless our attention is drawn to it that the sailboat was the first machine to achieve powered motion without rotating parts. Bernard Smith, The 40 Knot Sailboat, Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1963.

Samwise - Part 2

I fleshed out a few scale drawings of Samwise last week. In keeping with the minimalist theme, I'm doing the minimum of calculations. As you can see, proportions have altered a bit - but form follows function. The goal was to make the hull sides from straight ripped ply - 2' wide - easy as pie. The straight ply goal meant the crossbeams buried in the hulls had to go, so now they're lashed or bolted to the deck in beach cat style. The cabin has comfortable sitting/laying about headroom, 2' beam on the bottom. I'm debating whether I need a solid cabin or not. I could see small dodgers fore and aft, and making him into an open sailing canoe.

Still no rudders, as you can see. I'm quite certain the boat will self-steer as if on rails on most courses, and it would be fun to steer the boat by sail trim alone, and no rudders would save a lot of building time and trouble, but still... rudders are nice.

My enthusiasm for the lug rig has not abated. Masts are only 17' long! Read more about standing lugs in this Duckworks article by Michael Storer.


LOA: 24'
Length lee hull: 24'
Length windward hull: 20'

BOA: 12'
Beam lee hull: 1'-8"
Beam windward hull: 2'-8"
Interior headroom: 3'-6"

SA: 220 sq. ft.
Rig Height: 22'-8"

Crab Claw Tests

These are qualitative studies of slender foils and leading edge vortices for sailing craft. The results of these experiments, suffering from improvised input and variable conditions were good enough to inspire further work but produced more questions than answers.

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Samwise - There and Back Again

Samwise is a minimalist cruising proa, which is really the only kind of proa there should be, IMHO. The only thing not minimal is the performance - the proa’s raison d'etre. The basic idea is reliable and cozy camp cruising in the Pacific NW - where the water is generally frigid and the air is generally tolerable.

Sam’s godfathers include Matt Layden's Paradox and Rob Denney's Harry, while a host of uncles include Phil Bolger, Peter Spronk, Dick Newick and Ralph Munroe. He (all proas are masculine) features simple plywood construction, an enclosed sailing cockpit, plenty of deck space, endless conversations at the dock, and the ability to go there and back again.



The crew helms from an enclosed sailing cabin - which is a nice feature in the Pacific NW and its nearly iceberg laden waters. Laugh at the freezing spray as you drive like an arrow to windward! Mock the waves as they surge impotently against your plexiglass shielding! Unlike tacking craft, proa crew have no need to make the treacherous trek to the other side with every tack. You are always on the good side of a proa.

In the unlikely event of pleasant sailing weather, you can slide open the hatches, or sit atop the flat cabin top, or even sprawl out on the trampoline, catching the sun. The tramp will also make a fine place to pitch a tent for overnighting - if a real double berth is required.

The leeward hull is the load bearer, so it stretches out to 24' of lean, wake-cutting form. The windward hull is the ballast, which makes do with 18' of LWL. Skilled sailors will fly the windward hull at every opportunity. Being flat-bottomed in sharpie style, the hope is that it will plane if given half the chance.

The free-standing schooner rig makes for a criminally low center of effort, while the standing lugs create a powerful yet balanced, easily handled sail that requires no purchase on the sheets - which comes in handy during a shunt. The forward lug is rigged with the mast to windward (its most aerodynamically advantageous position) while the aft lug is set opposite, which moves the combined CE well forward (a desirable thing on a proa).

Leeway is prevented by a central, pivoting leeboard mounted on the leeward hull, and steerage is provided by fore and aft "dagger" rudders. The hope is that in the unfortunate event of a grounding, the deep leeboard will hit first, pivoting gently out of harms way as it stops the boat, whilst leaving the delicate rudder intact. As usual with proa designs, the rudders are sketchy... at best. From model testing, I found a schooner rigged proa such as this will balance and self-steer on most courses by sail trim alone - Sam, by nature, is a virtuous course keeper. Be that as it may, a real cruising boat needs a real rudder. Suggestions are welcome.

The proa's beam is retracted to trailer width via telescoping aluminum beams (as an option, Jim Shanahan has proposed an ingenious hinging mechanism).

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

FreeShip Walap

I've found a way to force the freeware boat design softwareFreeship 2.6 to do proas, it may interest proafile readers.

The problem is that such programs assume that the port and starboard sides are mirror images of each other, so you can build a catamaran or a trimaran, but not a proa. Then I remembered that proas *are* symmetrical, only the axis of symmetry is turned 90 degrees.

The trick is simple: begin with the default design, and set the measures to say, 6 meters WIDE and 0.5 meter LONG. the hull will look weird at first, but once you move the control points around, it becomes pretty normal.

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