"My objection wasn't with the Pacific proa. I have great fondness for
it after my time in PNG. I believe it has its place but not for long
haul cruising."
That is a fair point, but it falls into the same category as a cruise
ship passenger wondering why someone would cruise on any sailing
multihull. Russ Brown doesn't recomend that you or I do it, you have
to want to do it for whatever wacky reason.
"My objection is the use of the lee pod as I believe
that it is an unseaworthy attachment. I can almost see some value in
it for flat seas as training wheels and as a lee platform for
drifting conditions but not once there is any swell. I can't see how
it can help prevent combination wind/wave capsize."
Right answer, wrong question. It's not aobut capsize, but self-
righting, and it doesn't prevent knock down it just rights from it.
"On the side of a wave the boat would have to be about 90 degrees
before the leepod contributed to righting moment."
Right at the point where a PP without one might become stable in the
knock down position, it is doing it's work. Somewhat similar to what
ballast does in the same situatiom.
"In breaking seas, if hit from the
side by a breaking wave it could dig in and flip the boat."
Not heard of that happening, doesn't seem to be a serious objection.
Reminds me of the Wharram/Boon drawing of a tri perched ona rbeaking
wave about to get rolled over. It might happen, but it either
doesn't or they have the sea anchor out, one hopes the literature is
not full of that kind of capsize.
There isn't much evidence of the pods digging in either, depends on
the exact shape, but generally they seem to rise out of a wave.
"It also
makes the boat less likely to be stabilised by mast bouyancy from
going over further."
Right, stabilizing with mast bouyancy is not what one wants in the
kind of situation that causes a capsize in the first place. Self-
righting is the proven concept, or as with conventional cruising
multis a very high resistance to capsize. Low resistance to capsize
combined with high stability in the capsized or KD position is not a
winner.
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