Jzerro sailing video
Very cool, Russell! It sounds like Jzerro’s rig will look more like Madness’ by the time you’re done. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what you do.
A 32’ proa solo transatlantic racer is a pretty awesome design brief. It could be a Newick Val type of giant killer, in the right hands.
Thanks for keeping us posted!
Chris
Russell, a 32’ transatlantic proa sounds very interesting indeed. I’ll wait until it is advanced enough to see some drawings . . . but only because I can’t do anything else!!! 😊
Thanks for the vid Russell,
You say “the boat is going better upwind than ever”; would you elaborate on that a bit?
Looking forward to hearing more on the new 32’.
I took a shakey video last Friday with one of those crazy go-pro too-wide-angle video cameras. It’s a crap video
I cant agree with that! It think the video is very informative and interesting. I have seen it something like 10 times already. I think Jzerro is an exceptional boat in many ways, and the video really shows the easy motion and great speed we proa-fans adore and long for. Thanks Russell! You are an inspiration for us all!
Johannes.
Hello All,
Thanks for the comments and support and I’m glad you liked the shakey video. I bought a Go Pro camera, but I’m not a huge fan of it. If it had variable focal length I’d be more willing to be a tech weenie and learn how to use it.
The boat is going better to weather mostly because I can now sheet the main to the center line and the jib leads have been moved inboard.. The old sheeting struts got sawzalled out and replaced with longer ones, so I’m using less sheet tension and letting the main twist more. The problem is that now the leech of the main contacts the back stay and I have to pull the back stay to weather with the spinnaker guy. This does tighten the head stay very effectively, but I’m looking forward to the new rig which will have a shorter foot on the main so I’ll only have to yard the head say to weather when I’m racing or on a long upwind leg.
Upwind has always been the boat’s strong point, so it’s an obvious thing to try to improve. The new rig will have a similar section, roughly a 4” x 8” wing section, but will be taller and the main will be very fat headed. It should be quite a bit lighter too. The only issue is how to pay for the new sails required.
Anyone want to buy my old rig? My friend Sandy Goodall will design the sails and we will build them in my sail maker friend’s loft, but my god, good cloth is expensive.
I think that the drawings of the Jester class proa will be ready to go public fairly soon. Paul is doing the weight study now. This boat is quite high-volume and at 32’ has quite a bit of space inside. I’m hoping that John Harris will do a kit version of this boat. I want to build one.
Andrew, write me with your e-mail address.
Russell
Hi Russell,
Isn’t the Jester Challenge for boats between 20 and 30 feet?
http://www.jesterinfo.org/thejesterazoreschallenge2012.html
Are they changing the rules?
Am I missing something?
Chris
When I first came across the Jester Challenge, being fired with enthusiasm and thinking about buying a 32ft boat (sadly not a proa) at the time, I made contact with the organisers. They seemed pretty relaxed about being a bit over length. (Of course it is not a race, so there is nothing to stop anyone going along at the same time).
Cheers
Mark
Here are some pix from Paul Bieker’s Blog….
http://biekerboats.blogspot.com/2012/11/32-foot-proa.html
I think I’m in love…
I think this Jester proa is pretty interesting and I got rather worked up over the CAD sketches on Paul Bieker’s blog: thanks for the link! I even left a few questions in his comments, but I think I might have figured out one of the answers: anyone else wondering how the mast could be stepped right above the hatch should compare the shape of the hatch to the framework of supports in a typical Brown-style truss box. I suspect the hatch frame itself forms the apex of a truss built into the hull itself, which is how they can have the mast stepped right over the hatch. Now I want to figure out why they decided to put the mast there anyway, since to this layman non-engineer it would seem that stepping the mast a bit farther to windward is better, although this arrangement eliminates the need for main sheet struts, and if I’m seeing the CAD sketches properly they cleverly preserve the wide jib slot by staying the jib to the lee side of the main hull.
In the blog text Russell Brown is referred to as a long time “proapist” lol. Seek medical attention if it lasts more than 3 hours, man!
There are new details on the Bieker Boats blog.
A VERY cool steering system and some INSANE polars are posted. 800kg…wow.
And did you check out the vang track running around the cabin trunk?
Enjoy,
Chris
That truly is an awesome boat, 800 Kg lightship in medium/low tech construction an admirable feat. I think I might even make a pilgrimage to bum a ride on such a craft, and I hate travelling north.
cheers, 😉
Skip
I have been working on some parts of the boat this year getting ready for a new rig. I made new, longer sheeting struts and moved the head stays back a bit.
The boat is going upwind better than ever. I took a shakey video last Friday with one of those crazy go-pro too-wide-angle video cameras. It’s a crap video, but the boat is pointing higher and going faster than ever. Hope you like it,
Russell
Hello Sir,
You say that you have been extending the sheeting struts, I guess to be able to sheet in the mainsail a bit more… But I also see on the original video of this thread that sometimes, you put an extra line from the sheet point of the mainsail, to the aft end of the ama and back, with I guess the same effect (it is at 5:00 and again at 5:18 and 5:50 on the first video). So could you explain the limitation of such a sheeting arrangement which led you to modify the sheeting struts?
Thanks,
Laurent
If you haven’t seen, there are some new pix of the Bieker/Brown Jester proa on Paul’s blog.
http://biekerboats.blogspot.com
It looks like it has struts that move the forestays to leeward, as well as provide windward sheeting points for the main. The mast step structure A-frame is pretty cool.
For me, this is the most interesting proa in the word right now.
I’ll take mine with a cruising rig, and enough room for two to sit side by side all cozy like in the cockpit.
enjoy,
chris
Thanks for the link, Chris. This is looking like it will be an incredibly capable and versatile boat.
It looks like it has struts that move the forestays to leeward
The forestays are mounted on those leeward struts?
How many foot/pounds of tension can those little struts handle?