Weatherwax is a near replica of a double-ended sailing ferry, a type that was common on Lake Champlain in the19th and early 20th centuries. Weatherwax was launched on August 19th in Crown Point, NY. Tri-Coastal Marine, ably led by Project Manager Douglas Brooks, designed and built the vessel to resemble historic Lake Champlain sailing ferries, which carried passengers and vehicles across the lake until the early 20th century. Historically, the vessels were built locally with no plans. They were flat bottom scows that were symmetrical fore and aft, with the mast, sail and leeboards always to leeward. The ferries were symmetrical and could sail in either direction, with the mast and the single gaff sail always to leeward. The off center mast allowed horses and wagons (and later automobiles) to load on board. These vessels are steered with an oar that can be shifted to either end.

http://www.tricoastal.com/ferry/sailferry.html

I really like this, it is a cargo monohull proa.
I wonder if the shunting concept was developed independent of the pacific proas? Maybe shunting rigs were not completely alien to western boats…

Cheers

I really love this mono-proa. It has been mentioned here before in another thread.
I belive mono-proas has a lot of really nice attributes. I was very impressed by my monoproa-model I tested last year. It was fast and tracked really well even though it did not have any dagerboards/keel/chinerunner.
I believe the shunting mono-proa is a natural path forward from barges and advanced sharpies like the AS19/29/39 and the works of Matt Layden. If one wants better speed, better tracking and (in my opinion) better seakeeping-properties the mono-proa seems to have a lot to offer.

Cheers,
Johannes