I agree the sail area looks to be fairly high up, but imagine the yard only 1/3 of the way up the mast. The trick with the proa is to make it easy to shunt, and this rig is built for shunting. Pretty sure I don't like the idea of relying on electric motors for trimming and furling, but that is likely just an option.
Is the rig optimal? nope - I'd want some sort of wing for that - but wings have other issues. Like having to take them down after every sail.
As to signing up - the only email I received was a "welcome - what would you like to see on this site in the future". wasn't too offensive.
--- In harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au, "sfbaysailingdad" <mitch.sailing@...> wrote:
>
> Might be a pretty good fit for a proa - if you watch the video you'll see that it requires wearing-away when "tacking". Sortof like a fully balanced Balestron rig, with the boom higher and sail below the boom.
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> You might have to sign up to see the video
>
> http://outrigmedia.com/outrig/uncategorized/2011/10/19/diamond-rig-designed-by-john-marples/
>