Entries | Proas

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.

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Equilibre

Jeremy Fischer designed, built and sails his 40' proa Equilibre out of Martinique. Everything about this boat is virtually perfect: the strong Micronesian heritage, the huge crab claw sail, the time and cost sensitive construction/fit-out, even the color (probably the result of the can being on clearance at the local chandlery). Equilibre helps me think about balance, not only with wind and tide, but with the environment (economic and natural), with my fellow man, and maybe most of all, with my spirit.

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.

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 his 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.

Teh 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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