Practical Boat Owner

  • Digital edition

Practical Boat Owner cover

A modern take on the traditional proa boat

Alison Wood

  • Alison Wood
  • August 11, 2023

Ali Wood finds out more about visionary proa boat designer, Rob Denney

A design for a proa boat

Visionary designer Rob Denney’s C50 Air concept. Credit: Rob Denney Credit: Rob Denney

New Zealand designer Rob Denney is a proa boat enthusiast.

He built his first catamaran aged 14 and, after skipping his accountancy exams to do the Sydney-Hobart race, never looked back.

He’s spent his career racing, delivering and designing yachts, among them a catamaran he capsized in a ‘gung-ho’ two-handed round-Britain attempt (the boat, considered a shipping hazard, was destroyed by the Irish Navy) and a 30ft Iroquois catamaran propelled by a three-bladed windmill.

“That taught me a lot about engineering,” says Rob. “We sailed at 6 knots into 20 knots of wind, which I considered a success. It was fun!”

A catamaran being powered by. windmill

Denney’s early windmill design powered an Iroquois catamaran. Credit: Rob Denney

Rob returned to Australia and launched a business selling cedar-strip kit boats, before building his first proa boat in 1995 using stitch and glue ply, an alloy mast and a ‘bewildering variety’ of steering combinations.

At 16ft (5m), his proa was competitive with Lasers and slow beach cats, and taught him a lot about sailing proas.

He continued to experiment with different ideas, changing rigs, beam arrangements, steering and hull size.

“Proas range in size from small boats ballasted by baby coconuts to ocean crossing vessels capable of carrying a dozen people and supplies for many weeks,” he says.

“They were probably the first improvement made to a floating log by early sailors. A second, smaller log was lashed to a cross beam to stop the main log capsizing. Rigs were added later when technology allowed.”

Racing proas

The first racing proa to gain celebrity was 40ft (12m) Cheers , which came third in the 1968 Singlehanded Transatlantic Race (OSTAR).

The rig, rudders and accommodation were all in the windward hull but she was notoriously difficult to shunt.

Her success triggered a spate of French-built single-handed proas, but after numerous capsizes and non-finishes they were banned from short-handed races in Europe.

Continues below…

A proa design boat moored

Praise for proa design

Roger Nadin on traditional proa design that’s enjoying a kit-boat revival

A yellow junk rig sail on a wooden boat

Sail boat rigs: the pros and cons of each popular design

Peter Poland looks at the history of popular rig designs and how the different types affect boat performance

A white yacht sailing on the sea

Keel types and how they affect performance

Peter Poland looks at the history of keel design and how the different types affect performance

proa sailboat designs

The age of discovery – what we can learn from yacht design of the 1960s

The 1960s saw a huge increase in sailing participation, fuelled in part by the DIY boatbuilding boom. Rupert Holmes reports

In 1975, 60ft (18m) Crossbow broke the 30 knot barrier with a speed of 31.1 knots in Weymouth, but she could only be sailed in one direction and towed back.

Her owner, Sir Timothy Colman of the mustard dynasty, held the World Speed Sailing Record for many years with his Crossbow proa designs.

Remarkably, the current record now stands at 65.45 knots, set by Paul Larsen in Namibia in 2012, aboard the proa Vestas Sailrocket 2 .

Rob has also designed a racing foiling proa for the Volvo Round the World Race in-port series.

What makes proas unique?

The difference between proas and ‘regular’ multihulls is that the rig is mounted in or on a hull.

The steering (ie. rudder, paddle, oars or crew movement) and leeway prevention (ie leeboard, daggerboard, oversize rudder) are also on one hull; often the same as the rig.

They ‘shunt’ instead of tacking or gybing, so the windward hull is always to windward.

“There are many variations with proa designs, suggesting the ultimate proa is still to be built,” says Rob.

 Denney’s Orbiter 80 can be set up in a number of configurations, including as a medical services vessel. Credit: Rob Denney

Denney’s Orbiter 80 can be set up in a number of configurations, including as a medical services vessel. Credit: Rob Denney

Notwithstanding, he’s had a pretty good crack at it himself.

His prototype Harry was a 39ft (12m) proa, which he could shunt single-handed in 8 seconds.

He followed this with Harrigami , a folding trailerable proa, and then, together with designer Mark Stevens, drew plans for Visionarry , a 15m (49ft) version of Harry built for the Dutch market to take blind people sailing.

“These boats were all strip planked timber and had very curvaceous shapes,” he says. “They required a huge amount of filling, sanding and fairing .”

Modern methods

In 2005, Denney co-hosted a workshop with Derek Kelsall, something he recalls as a ‘real eye-opener’ about the use of foam infused on a flat table.

“I built a couple of hulls using this method and further developed it to use cheap flat panel moulds which cut the work required and the weight of secondary laminating for joins and fit-out.”

One of his first clients was Norwegian artist Steinar Alvestad, who now redraws all the boats using the new methods.

It’s a partnership Rob says works well.

“I send my designs to him in Norway, he draws the plans and makes them look pretty. I have trouble finishing things, but he’s a perfectionist. He fills in all the holes.”

Rob has nine current designs on his website ranging from the E25 made for trailering (with optional cockpit) to the EX40 weekender (with scope for longer cruises) and the Orbiter 80 cargo ferry.

 E25 is designed to be quick, clean, easy and cheap to build. Credit: Rob Denney

E25 is designed to be quick, clean, easy and cheap to build. Credit: Rob Denney

All are designed to be lightweight, low-cost and easy to sail.

“The Harryproas are designed to be the most possible boat for the least money, the easiest to sail and the safest,” says Rob.

“Capsizing my boat in the round-Britain focused my attention on safety. I spent 11 hours in a liferaft, so I’ve done everything to make them safe. They are very low-stress to sail, no foredeck work (no foredeck!). The masts are unstayed with self vanging wishbone booms, so the whole rig is an aerofoil without requiring any sheet tension to tighten the leech.”

He explains that cats and tris carry around a lot of extra boat solely so that, on the other tack, they will work.

They see loads from both directions so have to be built to withstand these.

Eliminating all the ‘extra bits of boat’ results in substantial weight loss and means the proa can have a far smaller rig for a given power to weight ratio, further reducing the loads.

Marshall Islands trial

Two years ago Rob took his proa design skills to the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, where he taught locals to build plywood cargo proas.

Sailing skills were dying out so his intention was to reintroduce sailing as a means of catching fish and carrying cargo.

“The islanders had outboards at the time but no-one had shown them how to look after them,” he said.

“There were no spares and petrol was expensive. They ran them till they died then couldn’t do anything.”

A proa boat being sailed offshore

Plywood cargo proa boat built in the Marshall Islands. Credit: Rob Denney

When he returned he upscaled his design and spent 18 months creating an 80ft cargo proa.

It cost him $50,000 AUS (£26,740), weighs just 3 tonnes and carries 10 tonnes of cargo.

The success of the cargo ferry concept has led to some interesting spin-offs, which Rob calls ‘Orbiters’ and describes as, “a fast, comfortable sail boat, rather than an over rigged, overweight source of income for repair people at every port of call.”

His website reveals some clever designs such as the Orbital University with student sleep-pods, and a Medical Services boat (complete with operating table) for doctors and dentists who want to support remote villages and islands, as well as providing a rapid-response boat for areas hit by natural disaster.

“Apart from the beams and the masts, the rest of the space is available to your imagination,” says Rob.

“Instead of mandating a payload and a layout that dictates what you can put on board and the size of the rig required, we are going in the other direction.”

Find out more at harryproa.com

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and
when tacking!

This 21 meter (69 feet) Pacific proa displaces 20,000 lbs. as drawn (10 U.S. "short tons") . Main hull BWL is 4.0 feet, LWL is 67.14 feet, LB ratio is ~17:1, prismatic is 0.62. Base Speed : 13.6 knots Ama (51 feet) carrys 25% of total displacement at rest, 30 feet to windward.

ranging in length from (21..26 meters).
 
of Micronesia.

69
85
102

21
26
31

7-10 tons
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large hull small hull




-
Oregon

by or










Links to other Proa Web Sites

15 October 2024     0 comments

Madness For Sale

Pacific Proa MADNESS is for sale.

The seller says: This boat is a coastal cruiser capable of speeds in excess of 20kts and effortlessly matches or exceeds wind speed in most conditions. MADNESS was professionally built by Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) and Sea Island Boatworks under the designer John Harris’s supervision. Completed and painted with Awlgrip in 2011. This is the prototype and Hull #1 for CLC’s line of Pacific Proa…

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Skip Johnson sends in a report of the launch of his new proa QB, and running of the 2024 Texas 200. See the previous QB article here .

It’s been almost a month since QB (Questing Beast) and I ventured out on this year’s Texas 200; now that I’ve caught up with some of the other things in life it’s time to say something about the adventure from a proa perspective, I’d already written something for the Texas 200 website.

First off we…

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16 April 2024     3 comments

Book Release: The Proa

Othmar Karschulin and Dr. Manfred Meier have released a book devoted to our favorite subject! The Proa, the outrigger boat from past to present . Over 200 pages of proa, all proa and nothing but proa. The book is well researched and lavishly illustrated with photos and diagrams. Contents include:

A review of traditional Pacific canoes is followed by a report on the modern revival of canoe building in Oceania. This is followed by a…

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04 February 2024     15 comments

A Mystery Proa

The first post of 2024 brings us a mystery! Google maps satellite image of coordinates 46.953458,-122.647452 in Yelm WA, US, reveals an object of curious size and configuration. At 110’ in length, it appears to be a gigantic proa!

Low-res images notwithstanding, we see a copy (more or less), of a traditional Pacific proa such as the Fijian ndrua or Samoan alia. However the streamlined “pod” shape of the akas (cross beams) certainly…

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22 December 2023     0 comments

Proasis Shunts

Good proa shunting video, care of the Proasis Project. Cool rudders!

Much thanks to Henrik Richter-Alten for the submission.

Proasis

09 December 2023     1 comments

Speed Sailing at Weymouth 1972

Plenty of interesting boats in this short video from the wayback machine. Weymouth Harbour hosted this speed sailing regatta in 1972 that features some very early foilers and proas. CROSSBOW (designed by Rod Macalpine-Downie ) lead the field with a new World Record speed of 26.3 knots.

At 0:45 we get a few seconds of an unnamed cruising proa. It appears to be an Atlantic type, sloop rigged. Does anyone have any more info on the mystery…

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Mystery proa at Weymouth Speedweek 1972

17 October 2023     13 comments

QB - a 21’ cruising schooner proa

Skip Johnson is building another proa! An avid contributor to the old Proafile forum(RIP), Skip has built some truly radical proas in his day. Toning down the rad half a notch for his latest, QB is a well-proportioned pocket cruiser, using a novel construction method of Gpet sheet foam core and fiberglass. Much thanks for the building report, Skip! -Editor

QB Design and Construction Report

By Skip Johnson

QB aka “Questing Beast” from…

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A 1:12 size model in corrugated cardboard, illustration board, the old gold standard isn't readily available here in the hills of Oklahoma.

14 October 2023     2 comments

The Dawson Proa Construction Method Part 2

Part 2 of Topher Dawson’s report on constructing his proa SGIAN GHLAS . See Part 1 . -Editor

Main Hull Construction Sequence - Part 2

See photos above.

  • Side/seat joints filled, glassed, rounded, glassed.
  • Centre section bulkheads extended upwards to support a foredeck which is needed to support each mast.
  • Seat back panels modeled with a skeleton structure of plastic conduit pipe.
  • Panels made of 25mm foam and glassed.
  • Panels laid on seats…

  Reports   Boatbuilding   Proas   Research

Centre section bulkheads extended upwards to support a foredeck which is needed to support each mast.

06 October 2023     3 comments

The Dawson Proa Construction Method Part 1

Topher Dawson sends a report on his method of construction for SGIAN GHLAS, the proa featured in the previous article . It is as delightfully creative and sensible as the design itself. This is Part 1 of 2. -Editor

24’ Proa Construction Details

By Topher Dawson

Urethane foam core (Tricast 5) or other cores, with glass and polyester resin, makes for a strong, stiff and light panel. Nomex, carbon and epoxy would be stronger, stiffer and…

Lay out three panels of 25mm foam 8ft by 2ft and hot glue them together with butt joints.

21 September 2023     9 comments

Sgian Ghlas - the Cold Water Proa

SGIAN GHLAS (Grey Knife in Gaelic) is a new 24’ foam cored fiberglass proa submitted by Topher Dawson of Ullapool Scotland.

At first glance I thought it was the second silliest proa design I’d ever seen! Like someone had accidentally beached their dory on the back of a small submarine or a Narwhal? However, Topher Dawson is perfectly serious about his new proa, and as I studied the odd craft and read his reasoning for it, I found…

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proa sailboat designs

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r u able to buy plans?

Could I see some sample photos?

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did the same with my iceboat. got your foto when letting AI

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----------- proa - the outrigger sail boat - today - - fritz roth - - proadesign --

proa sailboat designs

>>> >>> video > hinged vector fin proa

...... >>> easier to trailor .... beach ..... more draft when needed .... more comfort > flying !

..... > for more on the new hvfp at the end and > > > https://blog.proadesign.com

here the idea  of a hinged vector fin where the pin of the hinge being the round float

and here the view from the side of a different hvfp having the circular float as the hinge pin

here we have an idea about      a tri proa with two independing rigs

from here on the development of the vector fin proa

proa sailboat designs

a 23` & a 31`have proven themselfs now for over 4 winters sailing the strait of gibraltar & such in bft 10 - sailing off a beach with breaking waves so high as the boat is wide - then surfing back in & landing on the beach again - anchoring with 1/4" nylon rode & a 5lbs anchor in a white squall - beating out off marina bay towards the west - when the whole bay of gibraltar was white - I have been so convinced of it now - that I have started a 88`already -

proa sailboat designs

have a boat as long as possible for comfort underway & anchoring -

because one can anchor almost anywhere there is no need to go into a marina -

meaning there is no need to have an engine -

having total control under sails alone

( you can turn on the spot - go both ways - standby & check things anytime )

proa sailboat designs

requirements

for good performance - hard on the wind - you need not only little resistence through the water - but little aerodynamic resistence from the waterlinie on up as well - that is why the crew is seated inside the boat - ( 1 ) the bridgedeck is aero dynamically shaped - ( 8 ) and up to about 30` loa ( 13`wide ) because it is lighter then - one piece - can be trailered high up - sailing the proa - standing by - changing directions you are sitting broadside to the wind in your boat - the sails are lose - you are drifting slowly to leeward - you pull on a sheet - the boat moves in that direction - it`s that easy- with the windward sail - ( 3 ) you even can turn on the spot - with the main * you go to the right - with the windward sail to the left - with the roller jibs ( 2 - these are just sails on a tube on the stay - control line ( 2 ) going from the top of the tube to the other - so if you pull one roller open - it closes the other automatically ) you can make the boat fall away from the wind - with the main sail you shot up to the wind - make the boat selfsteer - * the main ( 5 ) ist on a mast with slides to leeward - ( 4 ) so without having a turning mast - you have a clear flow on the leeward side s teering is by 2 fin ruders - 45� on the side of the main hull - ( 7 ) so you can beached most anywhere - without damaging them - or having to pull them up - they are controled by your feet - slings in the lines going to the bell crank on the balanced ruders - so they can turn which ever way they want to - left & right - actually - you do not need them - because the boat can be steered by itself - depending on the sail setting - exept in large waves & swells it makes for a nicer - straiter sailing - if you have the ruders - bow & stern -

the self leveling 2 stage fin - ( 6 )

sailforces + the windforces on the boat combine to create a center of windforces somewhere 1/3 up the mast - if now you have an angled fin to windward - you have a means to counteracting these forces - you could put the fin to leeward and lift the outrigger - but you would have the same problems as a trimaran - diagonal capsize in waves large enough - you would have very unstabil boat - like it is very easy to hang up a pendulum - but try to stand it up alone - further more - imagine a freak wave - hiting the boat side ways - with the present setup - you have no wory it all - ( just make sure the structure holds up ) but the other setup is doomed - before the wave even hits - that is why - in such conditions - you do not want to let the wind & waves - be on the wrong side - ever - now - if the outrigger wants to come out of the water - the fin`s lower part pulls it down - when the outrigger wants to go down into the water - the upper part of the fin lowers the vector more to the horizontal - making the outrigger want to come up - changes in bouancy of the fin helps in each case - if - as some have told me - the fin would come out of the water - through wave dynamics - as it never has with this configuration - then the center of lateral action moves violently forward - the boat shots up into the wind - I have tried this on a model without the lower part of the fin on it -

for more information check out ... www.proagenesis.org .... pictures & other languages www.proatech.org .... for technology files & videos ! www.interproa.org - is for establishing a sailing basis .....

and here we have the new hinged vector fin proa .............

and here a top view of the hinged vector fin on a flying proa .......

and here the front view from the hinged vector fin proa ......

to contact me - fritz_roth@

for more on the new hvfp > > > https://blog.proadesign.com

if you are interested in a scientific discussion of the vector fin proa technology  ... you are invited to   https://groups.yahoo.com/group/proatech   if you are interested in a club around these outrigger boats   https://groups.yahoo.com/group/proagenesis   if you want to just build to present technology yourself   https://groups.yahoo.com/group/proadesign

galactic design galactic central information

the core of this proa project ... has its real essence here > I had just finished my trimaran 1 year https://history.interproa.org and was only working at my old company> whenever I wanted to So we could go on school holidays > child > for weeks at any time Sail out to such an island and have a heavenly vacation ! I found this way of life ideal even back then > because only with this .... an intelligent world is possible So people worthy and sustainable > responsible > meaningful ! but .... for the woman this was not ... "right" sooo ... I said at some point > if she did not like this > then she should do what ever she wanted to ..... because at the time this xx seemed really strange to me > simply cracy ! just like this woman .... of my my birth .... who I was already at 3 convinved >>> the age of stupid https://acts.teraproa.org/epilog.html   today I know of course > that eva has a genetic brain  damage which consists > that they have too many of the same genes > these xx that is why being so perverted > coming so full >>>> of feeling so good ! about being so cracy ....

that they are not capable of normal feelings !

https://www.utopian.institute

no discussion ability ... http://www.argumentocracy.org only if satan comes to here > with his paradise destroy program then her eyes light up ... or this other product > adam! So ... renovate the kitchen > this fodder > drink > have the central heating certified ! the air conditioner maintained being > the only inclination> skill and quality> children and men enslaved ! ... of course very lovingly> irresistible >>> to destroy the world > https://www.religian.institute making satan happy ..... being everything ! so the whole project for me has now been dealt with ! I have no idea what I am on this world doing at all ..... https://www.cosmic.community because with eva only destroying the world > so only as a psychopath idiot or trained animal > man can want something from .... xx   and without eva ... everything does not make any sense in the long term! without their development towards becoming homo sapiens > and again to blame adam > competitive!

since he promotes this indulgence of her ....> love !!! must love> otherwise he is done with ... with his only quality > destroying every homo sapiens > for his mom .... her delusion of all this great freedom ! to enslave this endless power doings ... on this world >

which must end as a result > will ..... So the common work > by Adam and Eva .... competing! and if there is any hope > coming from a stone age tribe ... some useful tribal society ! then of course comes this > west ... freed from all understanding and free them > instead of learning from them .... https://www.galacticdesign.org https://www.galacticreligion.org https://www.science4future.org https://www.galactic.university

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New jester class racing proa from Paul Bieker

Discussion in ' Multihulls ' started by Corley , Dec 28, 2013 .

Corley

Corley epoxy coated

Good to see some new racing proa designs coming online this version is 32'. Thanks to proafile for the link. http://www.biekerboats.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/study-plans-ready-for-32-proa-it-has.html  

upchurchmr

upchurchmr Senior Member

How does this compare to Madness? Any specs to share?  
There are some specs on the sailplan. They came out a bit blurry when cropped but should be legible.  

Attached Files:

32' proa specs.jpg, proa madness specs.jpg.

Tom.151

Tom.151 Best boat so far? Crowther Twiggy (32')

Corley said: ↑ Good to see some new racing proa designs coming online this version is 32'. Thanks to proafile for the link. http://www.biekerboats.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/study-plans-ready-for-32-proa-it-has.html Click to expand...

R.Finn

R.Finn Junior Member

This is a Bieker/Brown design. Russell provided Paul with the hand drawn lines and essentially the overall dimensions, and Paul has done all of the dirty work . The two of them are responsible for what you see though. For a 32' footer it's become quite the little machine.  

rapscallion

rapscallion Senior Member

I've always been interested in proas, and I love the idea of a racing class of proa. I have a question concerning the rig - is the jib forestay placement worth the extra effort for shunting? I suspect an aero or hoyt rig would make the shunts faster/easier, so does the proposed rig make the boat faster overall?  
Depends on what you consider "worth it". If I was cruising only and had the cash I would probably consider something else. For what the boat is really designed for, going up wind across the Atlantic, Russell and Paul agree this is a really efficient rig and obviously Russell has the miles to verify that, and transatlantics tend to have days spent on tack. It might get busy closing on the US coast though.. I don't have experience with the aero rig so don't have anything to contribute comparing it to a standard aluminum extrusion wing mast, which I do have experience with. As a preference I'd choose twin Hoyt masts (schooner) over the aero rig for cruising. I just like the way that looks on a proa.  
If you want to build one of these sweet proas or just look at the design details study plans now available from Bieker Boats. http://www.biekerboats.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/study-plans-ready-for-32-proa-it-has.html  

redreuben

redreuben redreuben

Looks quite the goods. Love to see one go up against a Rob Denney boat though.  
I think everyone would like to see that, Rob and Russell alike. First boat to Newport gets a cheeseburger and a beer, or two.  
Proafile have linked a blog of the construction of a Brown/Bieker 32' proa. http://proa32.blogspot.com.au/  
A bit more news has come to light on this project. Hull #1 is being used to attempt a solo passage from New York to San Francisco to set an initial record time. It's apparently the first time it's been done on a multihull in a record attempt so the time would become a reference for future challenge. http://2oceans1rock.org/2014/07/30/the-boat/  
Great way to set a record. Do something you say has never been done before. Now that is a challenge. A real benchmark - not. I'm not badmouthing the fact that if successful that is a lot more of a sail than I will ever attempt. But really, whats important about the record?  
It's an old Clipper record from the pre canal era, stood for a long time until the trimarans took it.  
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I'm neither here nor there about the record part of the trip but it does have an interesting Corinthian aspect to it which is nice. Pretty much any time set by an amateur sailor can be smashed by a professional cashed up team with a fast boat. Records are something that a large proportion of sailors seek to set or improve there is no imperative it's just something they set themselves as a challenge. Does it bring world peace or end the scourge of malaria? No, but it's important for them as an individual or team. Lionel Lemonchois set a crewed reference time for the round Mauritius route in recent times as did Francis Joyon with the solo record on the Friendship Route so there are plenty of modern precedents. Personally the prospect of soloing without decent rest through all of those heavily congested areas of sea traffic from New York to San Francisco doesn't appeal. The existing records are crewed multihull records as far as I'm aware.  

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COMMENTS

  1. Proa File

    The Proa, the outrigger boat from past to present. Over 200 pages of proa, all proa and nothing but proa. The book is well researched and lavishly illustrated with photos and diagrams. ... At first glance I thought it was the second silliest proa design I'd ever seen! Like someone had accidentally beached their dory on the back of a small ...

  2. Harryproa

    The harryproa chat group is open to everyone with an interest in the Harryproas, sailing, boat building or proas generally. Input and questions are welcomed from everybody, regardless of their expertise or knowledge level. The chat group has been active for 15+ years in various forms.

  3. Proa File

    The illustrated glossary of bilaterally asymmetrical sailboats. aerohydrofoil Sailboat concept pioneered by Bernard Smith in the 1960's and described in his seminal work The 40-Knot Sailboat.Smith's analysis of sailboat kinetics led him to a groundbreaking design involving no traditional sail or hull, instead utilizing solid airfoils and buoyant hydrofoils, arranged in a proa-like formation.

  4. Cruising proa concepts

    of boat and the possibility of pitch pooling limit the lateral distance of hulls. The longer the hulls the smaller the possibility for pitch pooling. To maximise the speed of pacific proa by flying windward hull, larger sail areas than suitable for a cruising boat can be used. That leads to design of a pod for the leeward hull to prevent capsizing.

  5. A modern take on the traditional proa boat

    Notwithstanding, he's had a pretty good crack at it himself. His prototype Harry was a 39ft (12m) proa, which he could shunt single-handed in 8 seconds.. He followed this with Harrigami, a folding trailerable proa, and then, together with designer Mark Stevens, drew plans for Visionarry, a 15m (49ft) version of Harry built for the Dutch market to take blind people sailing.

  6. Madness: 31-foot Pacific Proa by John Harris

    Madness was inspired by, and designed in direct consultation with, proa guru Russell Brown. The design is a fusion of Brown's 30-foot plywood Jzero design from the 1970's, his more-refined cold molded 36-footer Jzerro, from 1993, ... In a proa, the boat is stopped in tacking and jibing, and is automatically hove-to with the mainsail feathered ...

  7. Pacific Proa Company

    Pacific Proa: Double-ended, bi-directional sailing multihull with main hull to leeward (~75% displacement) ... Scalable Pacific proa design! Currently designing large multihulls inspired by the Flying Proas of Micronesia. Feet 69 85 102: Meters 21 26 31: Displacement 7-10 tons?? tons?? tons: large hull: small hull;

  8. Multihull Boats

    The Proa, the outrigger boat from past to present. Over 200 pages of proa, all proa and nothing but proa. The book is well researched and lavishly illustrated with photos and diagrams. Contents include: A review of traditional Pacific canoes is followed by a report on the modern revival of canoe building in Oceania. This is followed by a… Proas

  9. proa

    sailforces + the windforces on the boat combine to create a center of windforces somewhere 1/3 up the ... we have now finished the design of a 2 mast proa - it should even better selfsteer then the 1 mast version - and can be totally sailed without the roller jib - before the wind the forward mast sail can be sheeted in a backward beating ...

  10. New jester class racing proa from Paul Bieker

    Amazing, just amazing! Great to have a notable like Paul Bieker pop out a Proa design. Quite a surprise to see the degree to which the basic form parallels the Russ Brown boats - Speaks volumes to the degree to which Russ "got it right" so many years ago - but then, if memory serves, Paul and Russ go way back (maybe even that Russ' boats have Bieker's thinking in them).