Articles

Small boat - big adventure

 Reports  Proas  Voyaging  Smallcraft

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…

Chris Grill and proa

04 June 2011     0 comments.

Angus Rowcruiser

 Just Launched  Human Powered  Trimarans

Angus Rowboats have completed their latest project - a coastal cruising rowboat. 19’ stitch and glue ply, 175 lb. fully rigged, the boat features an enclosed bunk, a clever cockpit table and galley, and small floats that attach to the rowing outriggers to create a stable platform for lounging and cooking while at anchor.

To make a rowing boat that could have the comfort of a small cruising sailboat, yet offer the performance of a…

Angus Rowcruiser

21 May 2011     0 comments.

Edmund Bruce was right

 Reports  Hydrofoils  Proas

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…

Epicemar Bruce foil proa

07 May 2011     0 comments.

Exclusive: Epicure, 47’ Cruising Proa

 Reports  Designers  Proas

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…

Epicure and tender

04 April 2011     0 comments.

Modern Primitive: 16’ Wharram Melanesia

 Dock Ranger  Outrigger Canoes

Editor’s Note: Occasionally I get requests to post ‘For Sale’ notices on proas or other interesting multihulls, which I’m happy to do because I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to sell such ‘personal’ watercraft once it becomes time to move on, and besides, it helps counter-balance the somewhat “whimsical” content often found here! So if you own a much loved and quixotic multihull that needs a new berth, feel free…

Wharram Melanesia

27 March 2011     0 comments.

Multihulls to Bermuda

 History  Racing  Trimarans

The early Multihull Bermuda Races, 1969-1983, of Manley C. Williams, M.D., narrated by Christian Williams.

Part 1 of this two-part family video features the 1969 race from Coney Island and the 1972 event, which began at Newport. Scenes include Phil Weld; Bob Harris; air-sea rescue; repair at sea; life aboard and views of the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, the fleet host in Bermuda.

Multihulls to Bermuda Part 1 from Archive of…

23 February 2011     0 comments.

Trimaran breaks transatlantic rowing record

 Human Powered  Racing  Trimarans

Team Hallin has crossed safely from the Canary Islands to Barbados (3000 mi.) in the record breaking time of 31 days, 23 hours, 31 minutes. Congratulations to both the crew and their vessel: an ultra-light, 40’ x 26’ ocean rowing racing tri. Is NO record safe from the trimaran?

‘Team Hallin’ was originally designed and built by ROC Expedition in New York State as ‘Triton’ (with hull design by KHSD), only the second ocean racing…

Team Hallin

07 February 2011     1 comments.

2011 Seattle Boat Show Report

 Reports

The 2011 Seattle Boat Show has come and gone, without much of interest to report to Proafile readers, per usual. The sailing ghetto held its own and maybe even grew a bit over last year. Marine Servicecenter was displaying a Weta trimaran, my first look at the boat in the flesh. The Weta’s beams and mast are carbon fiber (mast is 6 lb.) making a pretty convincing argument for the judicious use of the black unobtanium. If the boat…

31 January 2011     0 comments.

Gary Dierking’s modular canoes

 Boatbuilding  Designers  Outrigger Canoes  Proas  Smallcraft

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…

20 January 2011     4 comments.

Green washing

 News  Catamarans  History

There’s a great rant over on Sailing Anarchy about the continuing use of wind energy and sailing in various vaporware investment schemes that make little sense except as tools to separate fools from their money. B9 Shipping is SA’s well deserved target, which perhaps should have replaced the 9 with an S? To counter that, here’s a little green lesson from the past:

1978: Sunburst (formerly Bits ’n Pieces) was built in St. Maarten, from…

Sunburst Spronk catamaran

14 January 2011     0 comments.