Le Prao Hot

14 September 2015     Editor    5 Comments.

GALLERY | Click images to enlarge

Here is 6:20 of hot proa footage from our friends at Le Prao Pétrel. Pétrel is a stitch-and-glue plywood “sharpie” proa with aluminum beams and a crab claw rig. In other words, very basic and simple. However looks are deceiving because this boat has been under steady incremental improvement since 2008, and the recent videos are proof of the fruits of slow and steady perseverance.

The blog is an excellent document of the trials and tribulations along the way, a benefit to all Proanista, but especially those who speak French.

 Proas

5 Comments

Make a Comment

  • Very nice balanced Proa, very fast too, keep it going….more power to you.

    2015-09-18 08:29 | by Rafael Francke

  • I am proud to see me here.

    Should I understand that it interests some people if I tell the story in english ?

    I am sad to provide so few episodes. I am a freshwater sailor at the border of the Alps. Proas are not the best vehicles there.
    I still believe they are very interesting sailboats. But they don’t have the place they deserve.

    Big thanks to Bruce with his “Un Air de Famille” and Jeremie with his “Equilibre”.
    I am lucky to enjoy their crabclaw knowledge.
    Thanks to Guillard brothers to make me discover proas with “Des Jours Meilleurs”. They actually perform a nice experimentation with their praocargo.

    I advise you Emmanuel Descleve’s book “le peuple de l’océan”... in french… like some other good stuffs. But this one may exist in english.

    thanks to proafile.
    so many good things here.

     

    2015-09-26 17:23 | by Prao Pétrel

  • Thanks for the comment, Prao Petrel, and nice to meet you. Thanks again for posting your trials online.
    I am also very interested in the praocargo experiments of the Guillard Brothers.

    2015-09-28 16:11 | by Editor

  • That looks like an Mbuli vaka? (John Harris’s old proa)

    2015-10-11 11:59 | by Wade Tarzia

  • It looked like Mbuli.
    6m long as Mbuli but much less powered and with a crabclaw sail. The design is Jonhatan Foucher’s.
    I am changing it for more comfort. And I hope no less speed. The cabin is a good intention but in fact, it is a bad idea: too narrow to be happy to get in, even for a strong guy like me. It makes moves on the deck complicated for people and sail.
    My advise is: flat is walkable, flat is sleepable, flat is good.
    I am changing to an aircraft carrier deck. By the end of the year I may spend the weekend I need on the shipyard to finish.

    2015-10-25 11:59 | by Prao Pétrel