Sailing Conclusions, proa WHY NOT?

[rael dobkins]

Hi all, well was a good week sailing in Greece,
Very late in the season and a bit chilly, but someones gotta do it.......

Bottom line.....
Finally I know what I want!
Check it out, conclusions of cruising trials.


https://youtu.be/FcMA73EpxSI

All d best
rael.

 

[Triassic]

Possibly a tad small for serious cruising....... but love the simplicity and portability of it all!

Just a suggestion, have you considered an unstayed mast into the main hull rather than deck mounting it? This would allow you to use a junk rig which would provide all the reefing opportunities you need yet retain the simplicity and home build principals.

Also was there a particular reason you put the daggerboard in the ama rather than in the main hull? I was thinking over your rudder problem and wondered if a balanced rudder mounted on a track that ran along the lee side of the main hull would work but it would really need the daggerboard in the same hull to keep the loadings realistic.

 

[ronmarson]

Check out the book 'Cheers' about a proa built in the Carib and entered in the Atlantic race. very good.
Last I heard it was in the Exeter Maritime Museum.

 

[rael dobkins]

Possibly a tad small for serious cruising....... but love the simplicity and portability of it all!

Just a suggestion, have you considered an unstayed mast into the main hull rather than deck mounting it? This would allow you to use a junk rig which would provide all the reefing opportunities you need yet retain the simplicity and home build principals.

Also was there a particular reason you put the daggerboard in the ama rather than in the main hull? I was thinking over your rudder problem and wondered if a balanced rudder mounted on a track that ran along the lee side of the main hull would work but it would really need the daggerboard in the same hull to keep the loadings realistic.

Triassic, happy you like him. He's a micro cruiser and as such he is designed for island hopping and bay to bay cruising. Sometimes the smaller the boat, the bigger the range of options at your disposal.... Think about it.

Junk rigs are a favourite, they are amazing some day I would like to experiment with them too. As for unstayed masts, not my cup of tea, The great thing about pacific proas is that they are the only multihulls that can boast almost zero aka stress. With their mast on the vaka and the windward shroud going to the ama, all the akas are doing is holding the 2 hulls apart. The shroud is always under tension as it's lifting the windward ama and the akas are just hanging out on the job. That is one of the greatest advantages of the concept, nether tris nor cats can boast zero aka load. Bottom line, It's a triangle: ama to vaka, vaka to mast head, mast head back to ama, take something away and you loose more then you gain.

As for the daggerboard, sailing with a daggerboard to leeward is very dangerous, for she will trip over it and capsize in case she got hit by a sudden gust or a freak wave beam on. Put the daggerboard to windward and the problem is totally eliminated. On catamarans they switch them every time they tack, raising the leeward board and dropping the windward one. On a Pacific Proa the ama is always to windward so that's where the daggerboard should be.

A solution for the proas greatest "problem", for and aft rudders... It's a windy maze you are entering.... many went in, very few come out. The holy grail of all proas, not as simple as it seems.

All d best brother.

 

[rael dobkins]

Check out the book 'Cheers' about a proa built in the Carib and entered in the Atlantic race. very good.
Last I heard it was in the Exeter Maritime Museum.

Thanks for the info, didn't know about the book, yes you got me interested. As for the boat, Cheers was designed by Dick Newick, one of history's most amazing vessels... The first Atlantic proa in the world That proved the point, proas are fast! she competed in the Ostar of 1968 and shook the world......................