Just to prove that we aren’t complete small boat snobs over here at Proa File, here’s a yacht that’s well over our usual cut-off in length and opulence. This is the sort of thing that Nigel Irens Design has been up to lately, and we have to say it: the A-65 is probably the loveliest luxury sailing catamaran launched since the turn of the century.
The challenging brief from a client in the Emirates was to design a truly exceptional…
WindRider has announced that it is re-entering the sailing hydrofoil market with a new 17’ design that is aimed at overcoming some of the chief limitations of the type, such as being a pain in the ass to trailer, rig, beach and sail.
WindRider and their design partners developed the original concept of bringing foiling or “flying on the water” to the everyday sailor back in 1998, well…
After a seven year build, Peter Mirow has launched ARPEX, his self designed and built 30’ tacking outrigger in Rio de Janiero. We’ve followed his progress over the years on his blog, and we’re nearly as happy as he is to see the great day finally arrive. Cheers, and congratulations!
Great day! What else can a man want, then to design, and build a boat, and see it floating on its lines? Hahahaha!
See more pics of the launch here.
Way back around the turn of the century, there was a lot of excitement about the potential of the native Pacific island canoe rig, often called the “crab claw” sail, so called because the plan form resembles the claw of a crab. The rig has some serious advantages, see here, but also some serious limitations, the primary one being that it is not as weatherly as a modern sloop.…
The Water Bug is an experimental catamaran motorboat designed and built by Russell Brown of Port Townsend Watercraft. It uses a pair of Tornado catamaran hulls as the base, and is extremely efficient, getting 20mpg at 11 knots, while loaded AND pulling a dinghy. Russell uses it like a water-born SUV - hauling stuff and going camping. The “car” is plywood/epoxy construction, it was drawn on the back of an envelope so there are no…
