Hi all
Long time reader, first time poster.
As a background, I first became interested in proas (and sailing) in 1979/80 (as a 10 year old) when my father returned from a trip to Papua New Guinea with a copy of the Air New Guinea inflight magazine. Inside was a story about a Proa race (you can find pictures here on Gary Dierking’s blog: http://outriggersailingcanoes.blogspot.com.au/2007/09/sailing-canoes-of-papua-new-guinea.html)
It was several years before I started sailing, and many more years before I started thinking about proas again.
I’ve spent the last 18 months thinking about building a small boat with my son. I’ve spent way too much time thinking about it, but have really enjoyed reading sites like this one. Lately I’ve been thinking about a 16 foot trimaran, Strike 16 by Richard Woods. In an effort to find a pair of 14 foot catamaran hulls to use I have stumbled upon an old 16 foot Prindle Catamaran. The hulls have a little damage around the back end, they are >25years old but they look structually sound. Unfortunatly they are too big to use on a 16 foot tri.

That got me thinking ...
I’ve also got a bit of an interest in reusing old things, that’s one of the good things about the Strike design where you can use old 14’ hulls and a rig from a 16’ cat.

What are your thoughts about using the 16’ Prindle hulls, cutting them in half between the 2 cross members, and butt join them to make one approx. 20’ asymetric hull and using this as an off the beach proa? I’d be thinking of a design and crab-claw type rig similar to the T2 by Gary Dierking, only the T2 is 18’ and this would be slightly longer.
I’m not a boat builder, and I’m a little inexperienced in fibreglass. Do you think it’s possible? Does anyone know much about the internal structure of a Prindle Hull? Any thoughts about if it’s possible, if it’s going to be structually sound, and if it’s financially viable?

Any other thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
David

Greetings,

Similar idea: http://www.instructables.com/id/Trimaran/

Sounds like a nice Marshall island style proa to me! Financially viable? Of course not it’s a proa!

Thomas

Thanks for the great link. I note that he has done a very simple butt join, I was thinking they would need some sort of internal framing as well?
The idea of creating a small cockpit would be good, but again it would depend on what I found inside the hull when they were cut open. A cockpit would also allow very easy access to lay the glass inside the hull.
Perhaps a support bar joining the 2 iako (cross members), run close down each side of the deck would help to support + strengthen the hull? The windward one could then be used for the mast base.
As for being financially viable? Tim Anderson says this baby cost him $200. I know I could never match that, but it’s got to be cheaper that building a boat from scratch. As it is the Prindle will probably cost me $200 Australian (but might be able to knock that down a bit).

Thank for the reply. I look forward to more form the collective wisdom here.

Does anyone know what the inside of a Prindle looks like?
David

It’s a cool idea, the Prindle hull shape lends itself to be converted into a proa. Jeoff Prindle got his start in Hobies, so I would imagine the internal structure are similar to an H16 - whatever that is… 😊

As much as this place is about proas I think you’d be best served by cutting the damaged bits off of the Prindle hulls and using them as fourteen foot amas for the Woods tri.  You’d be patching in a couple of new transoms but your work would never be subjected to much stress because they no longer need to accomodate rudders.

Regardless of what you choose to do, you’ll likely find that the only internals in the hull are rudimentary baffles to minimize sloshing water in the event of a compromized hull.  They aren’t going to be structural and can be safely removed.

Editor - 04 April 2013 06:46 PM

It’s a cool idea, the Prindle hull shape lends itself to be converted into a proa. Jeoff Prindle got his start in Hobies, so I would imagine the internal structure are similar to an H16 - whatever that is… 😊

Not as sophisticated as you would think see
http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=10731. 

If you have a good look though the five pages of
http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=10570

You may even find a Prindle,

I think I would go tri route also

Tink

If I choose to go for the woods trimaran I dont think I’d use these hulls even though they are the right price. If I chop a foot or two off of the rear of the hulls, the front end of the hulls (from the forward cross member to the bow) would still be too long and sit further forward of the bow of the central hull. Apart from that the hulls will probably be too heavy (compared to a standard 14’ cat) ie taller, wider hulls with thicker walls. I’ve recently had a couple of offers to look at 14’ hulls (paper tiger catamarans)
If I buy this cat I would only be doing it for the mast, boom, rudder and trailer. Most of the other rigging (eg side stays) would have to be replaced, but I may be able to salvage a few pulleys and cleats. The sails are dead.
That’s why I started thinking obout a proa option - using the hulls rather than just throwing them out.

If I went ahead with it I would want to know your thoughts on the rig as well. I find the more traditional lanteen rig very attractive, but putting a traditional rig on a plastic boat with aluminum iakos might not be that attractive. I could possibly go for something a little more modern like the harryproa “elementary” http://www.harryproa.com/index.php/design/2012-08-29-23-09-29/elementarry A couple of free standing Moth rigs (as I saw somewhere on wikiproa) could be an option?

The nice thing about the traditional rig is it requires very little modification to the boat, since you don’t need to add and reinforce mast steps.

BUMP
Still torn with what I sould do.
Will probably go and buy the cat tomorrow.
Cant decide if I should build a proa or keep the full length hulls and build the Woods 18’ tri.
Anyone have any more thoughts?

Pros and cons

Proa pros:
- cheaper build overall
- could be very exciting to sail
- easier to find a place to store it at home
- different, possibly the only proa in town
- challange, will be interesting to make it up as I go along without plans
- much lighter to tow

Proa cons:
- wife and kids won’t want to come out with me more than once (that could be a pro?)
- cold + wet ride (OK for summer, not so for winter)
- not so good to go on camping trips (not so good for load carrying)
- not for overnight sleep aboard, will need a tent
- I don’t have a lot of experience working with fibreglass (could be a pro, I am prepared to learn)

Tri pros
- good plans available, and a few blogs etc available on the net
- can carry 5 people
- 2 can sleep aboard
- stable and mostly dry ride
- wife and kids might want to join me occaisionally
- I’m not getting any younger, will be a better option for me in the future when I will ALWAYS want a dry ride

Tri cons
- a little harder to launch?
- cost much more (approx $2000 for timber, glass, resin. Sails also more expensive)
- will take longer to build (about a year?)

There is of course a third option. Convert it to a nice catamaran 😊

You could replace the tramp, possibly add a solid bridgedeck. Crab clawish sail. Something a bit like this:
http://www.rclandsailing.com/catamaran/results.html

Nothing wrong with cats. Is there?

On closer inspection the Prindle was much rougher than I thought. There were soft spots in both decks, with one hull it was most of the deck. Probably too much work to restore it. However the sides of the hulls seemed pretty strong except for one small area.
A look inside the hulls (from what I could see) revealed almost no internal structure except where rigging/beams attached.
I still think the shape lends itself for a proa.
If I was crazy enough I could still take the hulls, cut the decks completely off, cut each hull in half between the cross beams, butt-join them together, build a small cockpit area, and then re-deck with marine ply. I guess if the hulls were being thrown away I could complete the project for less than it would cost to build something from scratch (eg T2 or P5 proas).
I’ve told the owner that if they decide to scrap them I will buy it just for the trailer, mast, boom, rudder stock, and a few stainless fittings that could be salvaged for a trimaran. The proa project is still an option if I want to re-deck the hulls.