Proa Models

I've been working on a couple of proa models... one is your basic long skinny boxy canoe form... the other is an asymmetrical shape that is designed to eliminate the need for a centerboard.  Still trying to decide which route I would go for in a full size version. The outrigger hull would be pretty much the same in either version. Still trying to decide too on whether to use big ass bamboo for the connectives  or something purpose built. The bamboo version would probably need to be glass and epoxy reinforced both for strength and longevity. So it kind of defeats the purpose of using it to start with... which is you would not have to fabricate it. But I have harvested some and we'll have to see which method wins out. I found a good deal on some used sails that were meant for the head sail on a regular sailboat. They are quite large... I cut some bamboo that would have been long enough to use as spars for one of them had I not shortened them before hauling them home. My trailer was only about 20 ft so quite a bit hanging off the end.  They were 35 feet plus before I hacked them... kicking myself a bit now.

The pond test was mostly to see how the two hulls sit in relation to one another. The mount on the smaller hull was temporary. I think I'd want a little more displacement in the smaller hull. It's sitting pretty deep in the water.

Still working on the asymmetrical hull. I don't think it would float upright without an outrigger.

Fest Pac

There was a gathering in Guam recently for Fest Pac... Festival of Pacific Arts... with many Polynesian sailing craft there to comemorate this event. This is Ulitao... one of the attendees... they are now raising funds for Fest Pac 2020... to be held in Hawaii... the plan is to build and sail an even bigger Proa from Guam to Hawaii to attend the event. There will be multiple boats in the flotilla to help insure safe passage. I pulled this photo from Gary Dierkings blog and he has quite a few high resolution photos from all over the Pacific that are well worth checking out even if you have no interest in these boats.

The Proa Bug

I've got the proa bug pretty good now and looking to build something with a main hull of 32 ft...  outrigger in the 20 ft range... shunting pacific style proa with a little bit of western thrown in. I found this 31 foot Te Wa by Gary Dierking. I have his book but had not seen this design... it was on his main site where he sells plans for his other designs here... unfortunately no plans for this one... but he has construction photos and story here.  I built a model with guesstimated dimensions based on his construction photos. I'll be following up with some pics of that... and hopefully a full size model in the not too distant future. I recently emailed him and he provided me with some drawings with dimensions of the main hull. He is originally from the states but now resides in New Zealand and his designs heavily influenced by Polynesian proas indigenous to the South Pacific

Big Water Test

I finally got to take the wannabe proa out in some pretty good wind and big water. This revealed some not so endearing qualities. The spookiest is the result of the boat just having one crossbeam. This allows the ama to rotate on its mount much more than it would if there were two crossbeams. It beacame apparent that in short choppy wave conditions it would not be too hard for the bow of the realatively short ama to nose dive and with the likely result being it could rotate on its mount and flip upside down. This would be a serious event while underway... and probably fairly difficult to recover from. It should be noted that the outrigger is too small and would benefit from being longer and more bouyant.

Canoe Proa Take II

I've spent the last six weeks or so upgrading my 17 foot grumman canoe into a pacific style proa wannabe complete with shunting rig and lanteen style sail. Ultimately I would like to have a crab claw sail but I've been out a few times now and the rig is working pretty good.

Lots of rope a dope 

Added quite a bit of bonafide sailboat hardware... can trim the sail from either end.... v jam cleat stops on most adjustments.

The paddles as rudders work very well... the bungee cords pull them up out of the water when not in 

use... it was too easy ;)

Sullivans Island

 I was in Charleston a few weeks ago a went out to Sullivans Island... a very pretty place and when the wind is up it's a favored kiteboarding  site. There must have been 30 plus kites there the day we visited.

New Outrigger Mount

The latest rendition of the outrigger attachment... I had rope braces out to the bamboo pole but ended up taking them off. Tried several different paddling positions including standing up... needed a stand up paddle. I think I'm going to try a sunfish sail rig complete with the yards... may be a little big but they are cheap... lots of them around and could be easily cut down a little if needed.

Lateen Rig

I had some tubing from an antique hang glider that kinda suited a lateen type rig. The yards were almost as long as the ones on a sunfish rig... thinking that may be the ticket.

Ama Mount

Trying to come up with a better mount... I just had it tied on for a test paddle.... interestingly I could lift the outrigger out of the water just by sitting/leaning to one side in the canoe. For now its just going to be just the one bamboo aka (crossbeam) to support the ama (outrigger hull).

Proa Testbed

I'm going to use this to continue experimenting with the crab claw rig which hopefully will be used on a pacific style proa with a shunting crab claw rig. A pacific style proa can sail in either direction but always keeps the outrigger upwind