16m Cruising Proa by James Brett
Aukland based marine designer James Brett as turned out a tantalizing rendering for a proposed 53’ (16.2m) offshore cruising proa.
The bridgedeck cabin includes a double sea berth, full galley and saloon, while the main hull contains two double cabins, and the head. The workings of the boat are the same as my Free Radical design, using the same well proven rig and rudder systems. Construction will be in plywood with ply/balsa laminate…
The logic of Madness
John Harris of CLC has taken delivery of his screaming yellow 31’ proa ‘Madness’ from Sea Island Boatworks in Charleston, NC, and says he’s looking at about a month of fitting out before the maiden sail.
Madness was inspired by, and designed in direct consultation with, proa guru Russell Brown. The design is a fusion of his 30-foot plywood Jzero design from the 1970’s, his more-refined cold molded 36-footer Jzerro, from 1993, and my…
Hydrofoils on proas
This is Patrick Cudmore’s Seaflier, a solid wing, canted rig, hydrofoil proa built in 1984.
Neither hydrofoil sailboats nor canted rigs are particularly new, but Cudmore’s lightweight proa-configured craft with its cantilevered, articulating wingsall and inverted, elliptical arch, surface-piercing foils offers a glimpse of a future made possible by sophisticated design and strong but light composite plastics. -Keith Taylor, SAIL…
Small boat - big adventure
The satisfied smile belongs to proa sailor Chris Grill, who is currently having the time of his life cruising the Gulf Coast of Mexico:
I thought you and perhaps your readers might like to know that I am now sailing my boat - a 22-foot shunting proa
based on Gary Dierking’s T2 - along the Gulf Coast of Mexico… having the most wondrous adventure I could imagine. Rain, shine, storms, lagoons, rivers, beaches and bugs… I post reports…
Edmund Bruce was right
Back in the 70’s, Edmond Bruce was cobbling together wind tunnels and test tanks out of duct tape and bailing wire, conducting sailing experiments that were published in the Amateur Yacht Research Society newsletter. Think of him as the ‘Doc Brown’ of sailing and you won’t be too far off. The guy was a genius, one of those who could think “Fourth Dimensionally”.
His primary claim to fame is the invention of an inclined hydrofoil…
Exclusive: Epicure, 47’ Cruising Proa
I am pleased to present the proa Epicure. Epicure is one of the most interesting modern proas ever built, and certainly one of the best looking and most original. Belgian-French yacht designer Daniel Charles tells us more about his incredible yacht, which is now being seriously offered for sale. IMHO, this opportunity is like finding a Bugatti in the barn. In other words, a golden one.—Editor
Epicure is a cruising proa which started…
Gary Dierking’s modular canoes
Gary Dierking is a small craft designer inspired by the native canoes of the Pacific islands. He started out with some elegant cedar strip versions of a Micronesian proa and a Hawaiian outrigger, but it is the “three board canoes” that I admire most. From Gary’s site:
In the late 1800’s, when sawn lumber began to appear in Hawaii and other Pacific islands, the local canoe builders immediately saw it as an easier way to build…
Kalapuna
Othmar Karschulin of Multihulls.de has recently launched Kalapuna, an 8m proa of his own design. The new boat is a Pacific proa with crab claw sail, flat bottom hull, and two retractable rudders similar to Russell Brown’s Jzero. Designed for coastal sailing in warm Aegean waters, the boat was built in Othmar’s garden in a small fishing village in Southern Turkey. Construction is plywood, fiberglass and epoxy, with home made spars of…
Aye Aye For Sale
Jim Morris launched Aye Aye, his 10m crab claw powered proa early this year and has been having all kinds of fun living like Thoreau and sailing with his young daughter among the mangroves of Hervey Bay, Queensland, AU. Alas, it is time for this ‘lost boy’ to head back home to wife and responsibility, so Aye Aye is being offered up for sale, ready for the next adventure.
Aye Aye Specifications
- Year built: 2009/10
- Construction:…
Born Again?
Robert W. from Boat Bits sent in some fascinating proa pics from the Virgin Islands. I don’t recognize the craft, though it follows the basic form factor of a Russell Brown proa, and also has some obvious Newick style cues. I’d heard that Russell left Jzero (his first proa) somewhere in the Caribbean, and it makes me wonder if Lazarus is in fact that same boat, though highly modified. Waddya think? Pics of both Lazarus and Jzero after…
