<<I have to admit, from all the redesigns that I have gone through with the harryproas, that it definitely seems like more accomodations could be put in a 1000 lb harrypro>>

  True.    The Harry will have a heavier windward hull because it will be longer, have accommodations, and require enough waterline/depth to handle those accommodations.  The Pacific proa can keep the lee hull close to the weight of a Harry and then go with that tiny windward hull.

  The Pacific/Brown design is a good way to go if you want the ultimate light-wind sailing craft, and are willing to put up with a stayed mast (rigging, stresses, points of failure, risk of bad things happening when caught aback, limited sail orientation, etc.), and look forward to balancing the boat as winds change. 

  And I don't say that snidely -- people have been using stayed rigs for thousands of years, and pacific multihullers have been balancing their craft forever.  For some, that fun of maxing out one's speed while balancing the weight is not a detraction, but is actually *the* point.  It's fun.

  I think it's great that CLC worked on this craft and is making it more available/accessible to the world at large.  I like their other proa, too, and am curious about their rudder design.

---

  Personally, though, I'm looking for something one step up from this design.  I've had plenty of fun balancing weight, and since I have a small boat for doing that, the larger boat will have other requirements, particularly safety and convenience. 

  Which brings me to the Harry with its unstayed mast in the lee hull.  I suppose you could try this with the CLC design, but reinforcing that hull without goofing up the accommodations would be a serious challenge.  In any case, I'd have to lean towards the Harry because:

  - One point of failure on the mast.

  - Totally depowers at any point of sail at any wind strength.

  - No shrouds to affect where the sail goes when running.

  - More weight to windward for when the wind picks up.

  - Less balancing required; more easily controlled, handled, and depowered by inexperiernced or injured crew.

  - Ability to lie in irons, for long periods of time, at any angle, with the sail up, or while reefing it.  I can't tell you how stressful it is to try to reef a lightweight overpowered cat single handed when the wind suddenly becomes much to strong.

  - Easier lazy sailing.

  - Mast depowering in gusts.

 
  For that I'll take the extra weight of the Harry.  Which is NOT a knock against the CLC design.  It's a great boat, as are Brown's designs.  It's just not what I'm looking for if I'm going to take my family out of sight of land.

        - Mike
 


Gardner Pomper wrote:

 

Rob,

The timing of this post is very interesting, as it was only 2 days ago that I found a new Russ Brown inspired proa is about to be launched by the owner of Chesapeake Light Craft, a pretty famous manufacturer of kayak kits in this area. Here is a link to the web page about the boat http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/wooden-sailboat-kits/proa/madness-31-foot-pacific-proa.html , which has a nice video explaining the benefits of a proa and showing how it was built.

I have to admit, from all the redesigns that I have gone through with the harryproas, that it definitely seems like more accomodations could be put in a 1000 lb harryproa, but I am really excited that there will be a proa of any kind in my backyard. They are hoping to show it in the Annapolis Boat Show in a month, so alot more people should be exposed to proas there. I already stopped by and looked at it in their workshop, where it looks complete.

Who knows, if I can ever get the money together for a harry, maybe we can finally have that race between an harry and a brown proa! <grin>

- Gardner

Pasadena, MD (20 miles from Annapolis)

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