Malcolm Smith always has something really tasty cooking in his workshop. His latest project is a force-balanced design utilizing a ‘ring wing’ that he calls the ArcSail. The concept has huge potential for boats both large and small, and I’m very pleased that Malcolm has opted to share it with us at Proa File -Editor
I have a long time fascination with sailing boat configurations that minimize heeling moment, due to their potential for…
I have a longstanding interest in pneumatic (pressurized) engineering structures. Blame it on Jacques Cousteau and his Zodiacs making a strong impression at an early age. For boats, inflatable hulls make all kinds of sense, being unusually light, strong, tough, and repairable. I even made a concept sketch of an inflatable hulled proa.
Here is Kurt Heiligenmann’s design for an inflatable beach cat - the Smartkat. Hate the name (I…
Proving his iconoclast chops once again, Jan Gougeon launched his newest baby into the Saginaw River last summer - to cries of both shock and awe. I reported on the launch of Strings - or Project X - as she was formerly known, earlier, but we finally get a much better look at the fascinating vessel in the new Epoxyworks No. 33.
Strings is a 40’, folding, self-righting, water-ballasted, trailerable, sailing catamaran. She’s pod cat,…
Russell Brown has posted a new (Sept. 2011) video to the PT Watercraft Channel on Youtube. It features some excellent sailing footage of his proa Jzerro, as well as some running shots of a cool power outrigger that Russell designed for a friend to use as an aquatic pick up truck in the islands. The outrigger is powered by a 20hp outboard and goes about 18 knots!
Preparations are underway for a 150 mile journey from southern France to Corsica in a sail balloon. High flyer Stéphane Rousson is planning to pilot Zeppy 3 across a stretch of Mediterranean waters using only the power of the wind and a curved carbon foil based on the chien de mer by Didier Costes.
The 65.6 feet long and 16.4 feet wide Zeppy 3 recently on display at Le Bourget in Paris is filled with 200 cubic meters of helium. An…
If “canoe” means a vessel for traveling, then it fits. From Tiny House Blog.
Zol Fox emailed me an interesting article showing some of the logging history of the Northwest and included in the email a couple of pictures of tiny houses built from hollowed out logs. The size of the trees that were taken down in the Northwest 150 years ago is something impressive. We are not likely to see anything like it in this area ever again.
Imagine…
The team of James Wharram and Hanneke Boon launched their latest child, Amatasi, on Oct. 12, 2011. The award winning design, a 27’ double canoe is intended to be a practical and sustainable coastal fishing boat. As a proa designer, I certainly appreciate the elegance of the fine canoe sterns on this design, though I do find it somewhat ironic that it embraces the quarter rudder for steering, a design that harkens back to Viking long…
I’ll bet you didn’t know a proa won second place in the first solar race ever held in the United States! Originally called Sunrayce USA, the first race was organized and sponsored by General Motors in 1990 in an effort to promote automotive engineering and solar energy among college students. The original, 1,800 mi (2,900 km) Sunrayce USA route started at Disney World in Orlando, Florida and ended at the General Motors Technical Center…
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…
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…
