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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...

Happy New Year

This fantastic card came my way today from the gang at Canoe Sailing Magazine. Maybe '09 will be the Year of the Proa! Hope everyone had a good Christmas, and may the new year exceed your expectations!

First Flight

A working hapa model has finally been accomplished by Frenchman Luc Armant. It is the realization of the theoretically perfect sailboat: an airfoil and hydrofoil, tied together by a single line in tension. The massless sailboat has long been the dream of sailing pioneers from Bernard Smith's aerohydrofoil to D. Costes' chien de mer (seadog) to the hapas of J. Hagedoorn. The achievement cannot really be overstated, IMHO. Well done, Mr. Armant! The device is described in this (massive) PDF file. I look forward to the English translation.

Sealand

I've just read Sealand, over at Creed O'Hanlon's blog: Tiki in Thailand, and I highly recommend it. It's a great article - exploring the utopian ideal called "Seasteading" . Seasteading is the creation of autonomous floating villages on the sea, either legal or piratical, depending on the political leanings of the villagers. Seasteading is the natural reaction to civilization, as was homesteading 200 years ago.

Human civilization, no matter how noble the founding, is always eventually corrupted, and those of us who live in the former homesteads are the witnesses to that. At times the desire to start anew is overwhelming, and so people always have. The history of human exploration has more to do with fleeing Egypt (the stick) than finding the Promised Land (the carrot). Unfortunately, the carrot eventually always becomes the stick.

I'm personally not a big fan of the seasteading movement, although I understand the motivation. I read Daniel Quinn's Ishmael in 2002, with 911 still ringing in my ears. I'd check "anarchy" for my party, but somehow that party never seems to start. See Sail vs. Power.

For me (and most people), boats and the sea symbolize freedom, and seafarers instinctively understand that the ties of civilization eventually become the ties that bind, whether by land or sea. A few years ago I had this vision of myself paddling Westward in an outrigger canoe, seeking the PL, and I passed a Chinaman paddling East, seeking the same. Hah!

We have this notion that if only we could be free of government, we could be free. But wherever we move, no matter how pristine the initial environment, corruption follows. Eventually maybe we'll figure out that it's not the PLACE that is corrupted. When we finally do, there won't be any need to move, because then Everywhere will be 'Promised Land'.

Until then, may the sea remain free of the land.

Changeup

The slider is the best pitch in baseball. --Ted Williams

Changeup is a riff on Ray Aldridge's brilliant beach cruising cat, Slider. I hesitated to publish these drawings at first, since they are an obvious take-off on Ray's design, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I hope Ray takes them in the spirit intended, which is one of respectful admiration.

Slider answers almost every single desire of my beach cruiser fantasy: Twin hulls, shoal draft, simplicity, dock-like stability, ease of launching, usable space, cargo capacity, sailorman rig, and an aesthetic that reaches deeper than the latest multihull fad. The only problem - and this is ONLY a problem for my testosterone/adrenalin driven ego - is that it tops out at 7 knots.

OK, I admit I want it all - a beach cruiser that will outshine the Mona Lisa and outpace the Enterprise. But given my economic and scientific station, breaking warp (knot) 12 would suffice. The only way I can see to break that barrier is to get the whole crew behind the initiative, so when the breeze kicks up, all hands to windward!

Changeup is designed to accommodate both crew in the windward hull, when conditions merit. The idea is that sailing in light air (the predominant condition in my sailing range) will see each of the twin crew within their respective hulls. But if and when the need for speed arises, then both bodies may be accommodated in the windward cockpit, thus providing the potential energy required.

The rig is the sliding gunter w/ curved gaff, a scaled-down version of Manu Kai. Mast height is a manageable 19', and the 190 sq. ft. rig may contain up to three reef points.

The hulls are asymmetrical, and happily do without boards. Leeway resistance is provided by the hard chines, enhanced by chine-runners (see Matt Layden's Paradox and Bernard Kohler's KD860). The asymmetrical hulls position the buoyancy as far outboard as possible, gaining a few more inches of righting moment, and with a beam limited catamaran, every inch counts.

Changeup is 8'-6" wide, which is the only choice for a small boat that expects to be kept on a trailer - and used often. That said, I might be tempted to make a pair of 10' beams to fit when the boat goes for a cruise of a week or more. The extra trouble would be worth it.

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.

continued...

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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