Anonymous wrote:

Howard,

I wish I was as lucky to start building boats when I was 12!!! Cedar strip is the real thing, I love those canoes, I do hope a day will come when I build hulls of wood vs plywood.

As you say, many unhappy sailors are so only because they chose bigger boats than their pockets.... Or faster boats than they need, A high tech racer, designed to win races, is a very poor off wind cruiser, not to mention how poor one can become maintaining so much complicated and expensive rigging..... Hey, but that's what's flashy, that's what wins races, and that has become the norm.............? 

It's truly amazing how simple and cheap sailing can be, if one can "do the math". My math took me down a proa road that almost broke my sailing spirit for life. Thank god I finally got it right on my third proa build, A rough road of failure and frustration  have lead to success...

"Crystal Clear" my 23 foot cruiser, almost killed us, as I lost control over her very complicated Crab Claw Schooner rig, while exiting a rocky bay, leading  to an almost shipwreck. With no engine rigs must be flawless! "Why Not?" my second attempt, a very fast boat again Crab Claw rigged, that scared me after I understood that reefing in the workshop and reefing at sea are two vert different things........

Finally Junk rigged, "Make O'Break" (which I named that way cos I said, if this doesn't work I'm quitting!) brought back my confidence in a wink, reefing is everything on a cruiser! I feel this design, may prove successful on boats even up to mid 30 foot range. I hope in the near future I find the time and economical strength to build such a cruiser......

Finally, I feel proas can be made as safe as can be and they could become very serious cruising machines, since those are my goals. I don't  intend to keep on building small day sailor boats, I build these as prototypes to test ideas, for a big cruising version. I will say though, proas flatten seas! No mono  can be as sea kindly as a well built proa, I learned that with Crystal Clear, she is amazing! A rough Black sea chop is like a walk in the park on that boat....

Junk rig proa micro cruising, from BSY soon coming your way........ 

Thanks for your support Howard, it means a lot when it comes from true sailors!

Best regards.

Rael.

   

 Rael:

     Luck didn't have a lot to do with it......... I was a "precocious" child.   I worked every  job I could find in the neighborhood from an early age, carrying papers, mowing lawns, helping people do this and that........ I had money as a result, and I saved it.

       The idea of stepping a single mast in one hull of a catamaran, is sailing pretty close to a proa.   The idea of doing that with a Wharram which is potentially bidirectional, is an intriguing thought.    With no leeway surface except the deep hull and a tiny bit of keel aft, one could be modified with suitable rudders, and a lee board or boards, and could be shunted instead of tacked........... or your choice.    I like what Rob Denny has done with the Harry Proas, except for the absurd (IMHO) rotating mast and Aero Rig.... A junk rig makes so much more sense............ I have a little over 2 years until I will be free enough to seriously take on a project...... Plenty of time to dream and sketch.   In the end it will be a compromise, as getting a boat launched an on my way to the next adventure and the next and the next......... has priority over perfection.

                                                                   H.W.

Anonymous wrote:

Thanks Howard, I hope to get you addicted and become a proa freak.....

That's the true reason I started building these vessels and uploading films on youtube, It's frustrating that the most amazing vessel in the world is the most forgotten one!

The first multihull, developed about 10,000 years ago, probably the vessel that discovered the biggest country in the world, in the biggest ocean in the world, Polynesia. 

A  flying machine built and carved with bone and stone, developed over millennia to become the most advanced sailing machine on the planet, the greatest wonder of the oceans are these forgotten vessels......

Now Junk Rigged, I hope I can break the code and finally find the recipe to a user friendly shunting proa, a simple, cheap and fast back yard build. No other design offers this much boat for the money... I  aim to start a revolution, sailing is for all. Anyone can build a boat, once a boat is cheap and simple, after excess luxury and comfort are removed..... 

If I only knew what I know now 20 years ago, I would have spent my time building Proas rather than reading sailing books and dreaming of a day I could afford to buy a yacht.......

Keep Shunting,

Balkan Shipyards.

I don't think I'm in any danger of becoming a Proa addict ;-)   My real interest is in long term ocean voyaging... visiting the remote parts of the world.   My physical horizon has been fairly small most of my life..... My mental and intellectual horizon unlimited.  I've built a number of small boats in my life using several construction methods and materials, from the age of 12 (1967), when I organized the building of 14 wood and canvas canoes, later progressing to cedar strip.  I've bought sold, built, and traded boats all my life, mostly small boats, as I learned about the costs of ownership early.  Boat owners tend to be happy to have an enthusiastic friend who will bring the groceries, fill the tank, tend the lines and do deck work without complaint..... I'm good at doing the math  ;-)  These are trivial expenses.

     Short of one of Rob Denny's Harry Proa designs, which would mean a drawn out and expensive build, I don't see a proa as meeting my needs for voyaging, mostly solo.    I do find them fascinating, and if my knock about canoe trimaran was not already where it is, I would probably go that direction.    I can see real value in shunting rather than tacking.

      Your drive, determination, and ingenuity is an inspiration to me, and others.  Keep at it!!

                                                    H.W.

I've been thoroughly enjoying the posts and videos you've been posting.

                  Thanks                            

                                               H.W.