Poland is Proa Land
The first production proa in a long while hails from Warsaw. Pjoa Laguna is based on Marshall Islands tradition, with a few changes. The form factor and distinctive crab claw sail are certainly “old school” canoe, however this version offers a sun deck, enclosed storage, dismountable for car-topping and storage. Like the original, this canoe is also 100% recyclable (no glass-reinforced plastics).
Read more here, and see them at Boot…
CataProa - a micro multihull by Bernd Kohler
Modern multihulls got their start in the 1960’s by being relatively cheap and embarrassingly fast when compared to the monohull sailing yachts of the day, and so attracted an enthusiastic following of iconoclasts. Since then, multihulls have cruised relentlessly up market - leaving the “cheap” aspect in the wake of history. Bernd Kohler is one multihull designer and pioneer who still appreciates the virtue of thrift, and his online…
I want to believe
Dave and Steve Clark talk about their new UFO foiler destined for production. Dave demonstrates the launch procedure (piece of cake), and takes the boat out for a quick flight. The boat is designed to remove the “user hostility” from the Moth foiler sailing experience, thus broadening the appeal of hydrofoil sailing.
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Quill - a crab claw tacking proa
QUILL is an innovative tacking proa designed and built by Kim Fisher in England. The experimental vessel features a crab claw sail and a unique sliding outrigger arrangement. Kim writes:
Firstly, I would like to say a BIG thank you to Proafile for giving me mountains of useful information and encouragement to actually build this boat. I have been accessing your pages for over 3 years and this boat design is the result. (*blushing*…
Burt Rutan’s SkiGull Flying Boat
Burt Rutan is probably the most famous aircraft designer in the world, so it’s always interesting to see what he’s up to. These days, perhaps inspired by his new retirement digs in Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, he’s building a trimaran in his garage. A flying trimaran named the SkiGull. The amphibious airplane is a “dream plane for Rutan and his wife, Tonya, a newly-minted seaplane pilot. Together, they plan to tour the world and land…
The Trickle Down Effect
I’ve had an interest in hydrofoil sailboats ever since I ever heard about them, when I found ‘The 40-Knot Sailboat’ by Bernard Smith in the Kirkland Public Library as a teenager, which I must have checked out a dozen times. A few years later I was glancing through the Whole Earth Catalog at the neighbors and I saw an entry for ‘Flying Hydrofoils’, published by the AYRS in 1970, which I promptly ordered. So it has been with considerable…
Upstaged
Multihull designer Bernd Kohler has thus far been solely devoted to catamarans, but his latest design is for a simple small trimaran, logically named LITTLE TRI. I like Bernd’s work because he places simplicity of build and economy high on the list of design priorities, and yet still manages to come up with appealing boats. His latest is a classic example, where he sidesteps the usual trimaran complexities by employing a readily…
Chetzemoka - a multi-purpose outrigger for the Salish Sea
Chetzemoka is the latest draft on an idea that has been slowly brewing for some time - a small multi-purpose cruiser/cargo/expedition vessel designed for the Salish Sea. It’s a motor sailor, because the wind rarely blows when you’d like it to in these parts, but you still want to be getting where you’re going. A 15-25 hp outboard will get the job done, with some wind assist via the rig.
Initial inspiration comes from the ubiquitous…
America’s Cup Trickle Down
The new WindRider Rave V hydrofoil trimaran
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…
The Crab Claw Comeback
The crab claw as an ideal wind-electric hybrid yacht rig
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.…
