Construction blog of a Russell Brown/Paul Bieker designed proa

Lately I've been enjoying following a very detailed blog by Jak on the construction of his Russ Brown/Bieker designed proa.  Thanks to the  excellent Proafile for this link:

http://proa32.blogspot.com.au/

Proa projects discussed over at proafile in the most recent update

A spring update over at the excellent proafile explores in brief some of the interesting proa projects that are underway and being discussed on their forum.

http://proafile.com/magazine/article/proafile-forums-spring-update

Nixe Proa, videos of the boat under sail and motor

It's been interesting to watch Alexander's home built Nixe proa under construction and now sailing you can read about it over at the excellent proafile.com forum.  It's intended as a performance cruiser and seems to fulfill it's brief well.  Nice cruising grounds too Phang Nga Bay is spectacular.

You can read about the boats construction and launching at the following link.

http://proafile.com/forums/viewthread/123/

Gary Dierking designed 'Va’a Motu' Tahitian style outrigger canoe

Gary Dierking has finished the design and construction of his new 20' Tahitian outrigger style canoe design 'Va'a Motu'.

There is an article on Proafile on the new design

http://proafile.com/magazine/article/vaa-motu-a-tahitian-sailing-canoe

More details on Gary's site:

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/garyd/vaa_motu.html

The Proa's of John Pizzey, Part 2 and Part 3

John Pizzey has been relating some of his ideas on proa design on the excellent Proafile these article's follow on from Part 1.

The Proa's of John Pizzey Part 2

http://proafile.com/magazine/article/the-proas-of-john-pizzey-part-2

My introduction to modern proas, after designing, building and sailing my offshore catamarans, was aboard Tony Williams’ proa. It worked extremely well, was fast, fun and controllable but a bit complex in its rig.  However it scored with no rudders or centreboard and was steered very effectively by the sail which was set on a spar with a central boom at the end of a gantry like mast. I grew fond of that sail arrangement and endeavoured to incorporate it on one of my proas.  It could tip over to windward, believe me. I still like that arrangement and if it could be tamed for use in all conditions it is worthwhile considering.  I have looked at a combination of two smaller such sails but I see interference problems especially if caught aback.

read more here

The Proa's of John Pizzey Part 3

http://proafile.com/magazine/article/the-proas-of-john-pizzey-part-3

I started writing for Proafile because over the years I had seen several comments about this mysterious Mr. Pizzey! No mystery really, just a lack of information, so I thought I should rectify that and record my proa adventures. By the time I had finished putting pen to paper and thinking about what I was writing, my new design became clear as it had to meet the objectives I put down in writing. The design has been done conceptually and I will soon post a full description.
I have come to the conclusion that my next proa should be a flying proa, with a relatively narrow beam, with the rig laid off to leeward and with a soft headsail only and a canted central board in the float. Why?, because:

• flying proa with board centrally in float so it sits preferentially with the sails and main hull downwind;
• narrow so it lifts the float easily and minimizes everything, a bit like a monohull and one can’t question their success;
• canted board so it assists initial lift of float and enables unskilled float-up sailing;
• rig laid off to leeward so it works with the canted board and makes the boat instantly self-righting from a knockdown.
• headsail type sail only, for simplicity and at one end only for spinning boat around when caught aback, with sheet on or off.

read more here

Piawatha under sail, John Pizzey

Nixe proa completed and launched

Alexander has completed and launched his new Nixe Proa.  It's been an interesting project to see under construction built using the tortured or stressform ply method.   

read more about the project here on proafile:

http://proafile.com/forums/viewthread/123/

The Proas of John Pizzey Part 1, proafile article

From the following article on the excellent proafile:

http://proafile.com/magazine/article/the-proas-of-john-pizzey

A few thoughts on cruising proas after many years absent from sailing them but hopefully about to get back to the misadventure. As can be seen from the literature, there are any number of possible rig, rudder and centreboard combinations that can be made to work, some easily, some needing a fair amount of skill and diligent attention. The trick is to get a combination that works well. If you can’t easily single-hand the boat I would question its usefulness Furthermore, there is obviously not only one correct solution, or for that matter any solution.
In three of my proas and in several guises I have sailed competitively in mixed fleets, such as the around the buoys Winter Series in Moreton Bay with several hundred monohulls and a few multihulls without causing chaos and in close company with many, mostly on Pi which we sailed frequently in bay and ocean races for more than a decade.

read more here

Nixe Proa build, two hulls become one proa

We love all multihulls over here at Trimaran Project and one project that has caught our eye in particular is the "Nixe" proa being built by Alexander in Thailand.  Alexander and his helper have now moved to the stage of joining the hulls with newly constructed crossbeams.  It's all looking very good.  The build thread is on the proafile forums here

Nixe Proa, build progressing well

Some time ago I put up a link to this interesting thread on the Proafile forums, this proa is being constructed using the tortured ply or "stressform" technique in Thailand.  The builder "Alexander" has made excellent progress and the most recent updates are here

http://proafile.com/forums/viewthread/123/P30

and a few photos from the thread