Here is a 17’ Balinese double outrigger canoe available in Victoria, BC, Canada. From the seller:

17’ Balinese Jukung can be sailed or paddled. This is a very rare opportunity to own an original imported hand made Bali double outrigger dugout canoe with a large carrying capacity & great stability and speed in the ocean. Add a small motor for more versitality. Can be disassembled for transport. This a beautifully sculpted Natural mahogany treasure.

Find it here on Craigslist for $1500 obo.

Thanks to Galen P. for the submission.

This photo of a top hatted Victorian era gentleman sailing a catamaran named “Duster” by the San Francisco waterfront has recently come to the attention of the internet. After some initial uncertainty as to its vintage, the craft is now known to date from 1894, as in that year it participated in sailing regattas run at Sausalito, California by the San Francisco Yacht Club.

Unfortunately, beyond its name, not much more is known. Although the “Duster” is very similar to the catamarans designed by NG Herreshoff, the design is probably not his. There are certain points of difference with Herreshoff’s craft, such as the smaller hull size (perhaps 16-18 ft vs 25 ft), there being a single centerboard instead of two hull-mounted daggerboards.  In the third photo, if you zoom in on the center-pod, you may be able to pick out its curved underside, there in order to provide a housing for the centerboard, and perhaps for the foot of the mast as well. 

What impresses me about the photos is the light spidery quality that is inherent in the design. Given the design ethos of the era, to see such a radical sailboat in operation must’ve been quite something!

• Boat Design Forum - Historical Multihulls - post #645
• Boat Design Forum - Historical Multihulls - post #716
• Boat Design Forum - Historical Multihulls - post #738
• Herreshoff Catamarans (scroll down)

Thanks to Paul Dunlop for the submission.

Seeing a Stiletto catamaran in 2014 always causes a “what the hell happened?” moment. The Stiletto was launched in 1975, the first (and possibly the last) production boat moulded in an autoclave of prepreg epoxy fiberglass/kevlar over a Nomex honeycomb core. This was aerospace tech for the middle class, and the multihull future looked bright indeed back in the 70’s. The styling was pure aerospace as well, and the boat stoked my teenage dreams the way the Datsun 240Z stoked the dreams of other boys. I’m sure some girls were also stoked by the 240Z, but it is apparently true that fast boats and fast cars are a sausage fest (Here is an old Stiletto assembly manual featuring a 240Z as the tow vehicle).

This 1980 example looks to have held up well over the past 34 years. The hulls lack the parallelogram port lights of the higher trim models, as well as any hull stripes or graphics of any kind. This is a plus in our book, and allows the excellent “bones” of the design to shine through. According to the seller, the original plexiglass “fighter jet” bubble canopies have been replaced by carbon fiber replicas - a nice upgrade. The boat includes a large inventory of “newer” sails, 8hp outboard and the galvanized factory expanding trailer. Find it here on Craigslist in Poulsbo, WA for $15,900.

One topic on everyone’s lips at the PT Wooden Boat Festival this year is the Race to Alaska, a sail/row/paddle race from PT to Ketchikan, AK sponsored by the Northwest Maritime Center, and promoted by our friends at Smallcraft Advisor. It’s a 750 mile “Aquatic Iditarod” with no rules except no engines allowed but muscle and wind. First prize is $10,000, and there is no second.

The start is set for June 4, 2015, which is a notoriously fluky and unpredictable month for weather. There could be a howling gale, or flat calm. There might be sleet or snow, there might be sun, it will probably be a cold, wet and foggy. There will be raging tidal flows, and there will be bears.

The weather is so unpredictable that designing the optimum boat and crew for the race is devilishly difficult and yet practically irresistible. There are rumors of top level BC multihulls being fitted with galley style oars, but if it don’t blow, they won’t show.

WHAT IS THE BEST BOAT FOR R2AK?
Great question- we have no idea.
We intentionally picked the start date because the winds are of unpredictable strength and duration.  There is an ongoing debate on whether the optimal boat will favor sail, oars, or paddles. From the conversations we’ve had, usually sailors are scared of the rowers, rowers are scared of the sailors, and kayakers don’t seem to be scared of anything. Our best advice is to choose a boat design based on your skills, then go for it.

So the question is… what would YOU bring to the R2AK to win the prize?

We’ve become very interested in lightweight, fuel-efficient power multihulls. Slightly Dangerous is a 26’ plywood commuter cat for the San Juan Islands, from Bieker Boats, built by the owners, Gordy and Judy Cole.

Slightly Dangerous is not a kit boat really, but all the plywood and foam parts were NC cut for easy assembly. The hulls are 9 and 6mm Okoume ply, finished off at the bow with a foam crash-box. The deck is 3” blue foam with 4mm ply skins and the house is 6mm.

Lightship weight is approximately 1,653 lb (750 kg), which allows a 20 kt cruise from twin 40 hp outboards consuming 3.7 gal/hr (14L/hr). Top speed is near 30 kts, according to the designer.

Light-weight power multihulls are actually fun to drive, responding to steering and throttle inputs more like a sports car than a typical heavy planing stern-drive cruiser. Another big plus is that they are generally happy at any speed from zero to flat out, and easily lope along in the mid-teens. The downside is that to perform, they should remain long for their weight, so best to leave the Corian® counter tops at home.

See more launch pics on the Bieker Boats blog. Read more about the design here.

Thanks to Galen P. for the submission! Have you seen a cool power multihull lately? Let us know!

The Richard Newick designed Tremolino is one of our favorite designs: employing the hulls, rig and connective tubing from a Hobie 16 to create a small cruising trimaran - genius! This one is said to be a fiberglass factory trimaran by Tremolino Co., but using the larger and more powerful Hobie 18 hulls and rig. This example includes synthetic shrouds, asymmetric, bowsprit, outboard and trailer, and comes in the best color possible for a vintage Newick: bright yellow. Find it here on Craigslist in Seattle for $6800.

James Wharram Designs has a new boat on the drawing board, a 24’ trailerable catamaran that slots nicely between the venerable Tiki 21 and 26. The Mana 24 features some new wrinkles in the Wharram design evolution spiral, most noticeably a chined hull. The new design also features a cat ketch rig, which is well known on trailerable monohulls, and it is interesting to see it employed on a cat. No jibs means no head stay tension, giving light mast compression loads, allowing lighter beams. The spiral at work!

The most economical way to enjoy sailing is to build your own small lightweight boat, to keep it at home and trail it to the waters you want to sail in. This gives opportunity to explore many more sailing areas than if based on a permanent mooring and at much lower cost. Whilst exploring this idea I am looking sideways into the world of camping and the living equipment you need for a camping holiday bought at a reasonable price, as against highly priced yachting equipment. All these ideas have come together, resulting in the new MANA 24 design, a catamaran specifically designed for trailer sailing. ~James Wharram

When shear efficiency is required, it’s hard to beat a multihull. The trimaran configuration is gaining traction in open ocean rowing events and according to proponents, the tri has some considerable advantages over monohulls. Here are a few that have crossed the desk recently.

Samson

Samson is a two-position rowing machine designed to make the 3800 mile (6,116 km) Atlantic crossing from New York to Paris. The brainchild of experienced rower Andras Bakos, the porpoise-like vessel measures 13.4 x 2.9 meters (43.9 x 9.5 ft) and has a dry weight of 650 kg (1,433 lb). Andras will be joined by New Zealand-based expedition partner Erik Harrewijn for the crossing, which is expected to take 60 to 80 days. Support the effort via their indigogo campaign.

Triantula

The Ocean Rowing Club of the Atlantic will be campaigning Triantula, a 60 ft. trimaran in two upcoming ocean rowing events, an Atlantic crossing speed record attempt in April 2016, and a World Cup race scheduled for the following November. Roy Finley, the boat builder and designer, says:

Triantula has a beam of under 4 feet, extremely long and narrow therefore minimal “wetted surface” requiring less power. The advantage the multi-hull has over the mono is mainly stability and lighter as we ensure the beams and amas (pontoons or ballast) weigh less than the ballast of a mono-hull of half the length. It could actually be said, the bigger the multi-hulls become the more of an advantage they have over mono-hulls.

Kurt Hughes Rowing Trimaran

Seattle-based designer Kurt Hughes has a 60 ft. rowing trimaran on the computer screen that he designed in 2012, but was never built. He claims some impressive numbers with the design, and I can’t help but think it would make an ideal Race 2 Alaska challenger. Well… almost ideal. A single outrigger could be even better!

If competing in a real offshore multihull race with a decent chance of winning is on your bucket list, and you don’t happen to be a Silicon Valley billionaire, then Harryproa has the program for you!

OBJECTIVE: To enable people to compete in multihull offshore races at reasonable cost, with a very high chance of finishing and a good chance of winning the 40’/12m division. Bucket List costs $US50,000/40.000Euros, ready to sail. This includes the 2 hulls, trampoline, sail, jackline, all rigging, compass, winch and carbon beams, mast, rudders and boom. All painted and antifouled.

See more at harryproa.com

Congratulations are in order for Larry Haff who won Best in Show - Contemporary Class at the Mid-Atlantic Small Boat Festival in St. Michaels, Maryland. He entered his cedar strip-planked Ulua outrigger canoe, a design of New Zealand based Gary Dierking. Via Gary’s blog: Outrigger Sailing Canoes.

The Water Bug is an experimental catamaran motorboat designed and built by Russell Brown of Port Townsend Watercraft. It uses a pair of Tornado catamaran hulls as the base, and is extremely efficient, getting 20mpg at 11 knots, while loaded AND pulling a dinghy. Russell uses it like a water-born SUV - hauling stuff and going camping. The “car” is plywood/epoxy construction, it was drawn on the back of an envelope so there are no plans.

Proa File has a personal interest in fuel efficient multihull motorboats and like Russell, we hope to see more of them on the water to replace gas guzzling, inefficient powerboats.

The crab claw as an ideal wind-electric hybrid yacht rig

Way back around the turn of the century, there was a lot of excitement about the potential of the native Pacific island canoe rig, often called the “crab claw” sail, so called because the plan form resembles the claw of a crab. The rig has some serious advantages, see here and here, but also some serious limitations, the primary one being that it is not as weatherly as a modern sloop. Experimenting eventually died off and the crab claw was once again consigned to the scrap heap of ideas that are “good in theory, but not so good in practice”.

However, to paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of the crab claw’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. The crab claw, or “delta wing sail” is the wind engine chosen by the Italian startup Seagate Sailing.

Seagate has developed two new patented technologies to convert first wind into driving force through an automatic, collapsible, efficient delta wing sail and next to covert driving force into fuel saving through a cruise control that allow to lift the foot from the accelerator without losing speed.

Seagate envisions both commercial and recreational applications for their delta sails, from sail assisted tankers and container ships to hybrid wind-electric yachts. What makes the crab claw a good choice for a wind-assisted power vessel?

1. ROI. The rig is inexpensive, and built to stay that way.
2. Structurally efficient.
3. Low center of effort.
4. Powerful when reaching and running.
5. Folds flat to the deck when not in use - no windage or air draft.

The main disadvantage of the crab claw - lack of weatherliness - is not an issue for a motor sailor because it is more efficient and faster to power directly into the wind than to tack back and forth against it.

Numbered among founder Marcello Segato’s core team is one Andy Claughton, who is the director of the Wolfson Unit at Britain’s Southampton University.

This is where the world’s foremost boat and rig designers come to have their ideas tested, and nearly 30 years ago it tested a variety of modern and traditional rigs for C.A. Marchaj’s groundbreaking book Sailing Theory and Practice. No prizes for guessing which rig proved the most aerodynamically efficient when reaching and running—yes, the crab claw. - Peter Nielsen

The Winelec 2.0 motor sailor is typical Eurotrash fare and it will be interesting to see if the customers who can afford it will care about saving a few Euros in gas or if they will opt for the more usual Ferretti. That said, the concept has enormous potential. Why not slim it down to a hybrid pocket cruiser? Watch this space for more on wind-electric hybrids for the rest of us.

After a seven year build, Peter Mirow has launched ARPEX, his self designed and built 30’ tacking outrigger in Rio de Janiero. We’ve followed his progress over the years on his blog, and we’re nearly as happy as he is to see the great day finally arrive. Cheers, and congratulations!

Great day! What else can a man want, then to design, and build a boat, and see it floating on its lines? Hahahaha!

See more pics of the launch here.

The new Windrider Rave V hydrofoil trimaran

WindRider has announced that it is re-entering the sailing hydrofoil market with a new 17’ design that is aimed at overcoming some of the chief limitations of the type, such as being a pain in the ass to trailer, rig, beach, sail, buy, and BTW, sails like a dog in light air and can’t point worth a tinker’s damn.

WindRider and their design partners developed the original concept of bringing foiling or “flying on the water” to the everyday sailor back in 1998, well before foiling became popular. It took the exceptional media coverage of America’s Cup races in 2013 for people to fully appreciate the excitement of sailing on foils. And since then more foiling boats have come to market – but all are either expensive, complicated, require exceptional agility and skill, or all of the above. - WindRider

What they have come up with is pretty interesting. Yes, it is a trimaran like the old Rave, but that’s where the similarity ends. Instead of a standard multihull sloop rig, it is opting for an A-frame bipod - with two canted mains!  Below the water it is equally unconventional, forgoing the wave sensor apparatus of the original Sam Bradfield design, as well as the J or S foils of hydrofoiling cats as seen in the AC. Reaching way back in hydrofoil evolution, the three foils form a deep V configuration, but with the addition of something called a “sonic tube” at the antapex of the V.

How all this force vectoring works out in the testing phase is anybody’s guess, but we give them full marks for creativity and guts. Larry Knauer is Lead Designer on the Rave V project, who is literally a rocket scientist from Lockhead Martin and Pratt & Whitney. He is fielding questions about the new design here.

Give their crowd funding project some love.

Just to prove that we aren’t complete small boat snobs over here at Proa File, here’s a yacht that’s well over our usual cut-off in length and opulence. This is the sort of thing that Nigel Irens Design has been up to lately, and we have to say it: the A-65 is probably the loveliest luxury sailing catamaran launched since the turn of the century.

The challenging brief from a client in the Emirates was to design a truly exceptional 15.2m (50ft) cruising catamaran that would sail faster than anything of its size to date – other than a pure racing multihull. As the project developed A65 became a 50ft catamaran with 19.8m (65ft) hulls – a move that Irens believes to be a cost-effective way to improve boat speed, safety seaworthiness and comfort.

Nice one Nigel, just change the rules. There is little info on the boat besides that it was built by Abu Dhabi Mar in the UAE, of full carbon fiber construction, and includes a rotating carbon wing mast. We can see that it features a forward sailing cockpit, but unfortunately there are no shots of the interior or lines drawings.  See more here.

Chetzemoka is the latest draft on an idea that has been slowly brewing for some time - a small multi-purpose cruiser/cargo/expedition vessel designed for the Salish Sea. It’s a motor sailor, because the wind rarely blows when you’d like it to in these parts, but you still want to be getting where you’re going. A 15-25 hp outboard will get the job done, with some wind assist via the rig.

Initial inspiration comes from the ubiquitous Filipino double outriggers, called paraws or bangkas, that handle everything from fishing to water taxi service in the Philippine Archipelago. They are a wonderfully versatile and efficient design, and even though we lack the plentiful bamboo that is used for much of its construction, this stitch and glue plywood version shares a lot of the same DNA. She is light and narrow for her length, and stability is achieved not by a weighted keel or a form stable hull, but by widely spaced outrigger hulls, or as Jim Brown says: “live buoyancy to leeward!”

Being mostly a power boat, she has no use for the high buoyancy amas of a typical modern sailing trimaran. Like the bangka, her amas are low buoyancy and low freeboard, and barely kiss the water when at rest. This saves weight, windage and drag compared to a full-on sailing vessel.

The hull shape is a simple sharpie skiff, with a medium load displacement of 3200 lb.

For accommodations, Chetzemoka has a most powerboat-like feature: an enclosed pilot house! The aft cabin includes most of the features of a long haul trucker: steering wheel, double berth, mini galley, beer cooler, and CB radio or iPhone. Forward is a 6’ exterior cockpit or cargo bay, with good storage below the sole. Forward of the cockpit is the head (where the Admiralty intended it) and a shallow bow cockpit for anchoring and attending to mast raising and lowering. The aft helm position gives good visibility of the rig when under sail. Borrowing again from the bangka, the design features wide side deck extensions that permit safe crew movement going fore and aft.

The crab claw rig is optimized for reaching and off-wind courses, and a centerboard is not even specified. It’s just so much quicker and easier to power to windward that it makes little sense to spend time and money on windward sailing devices like foils and expensive rigs. This 250 sq. ft. crab claw can be made from a flat sheet of poly-tarp if need be. There is no standing rigging, sail tracks or slides, battens, winches, or any number of items that contribute to a modern sloop’s considerable expense. The free-standing mast is only 19’-6” long and with the tabernacle it folds down to a bridge friendly air draft of 8’. That said, Chetzemoka should still be quite fast under sail with a SA/D ratio of 18.5. It would be an interesting experiment to try anti-vortex fins or “chine runners” to see if the sharp chined hull can be induced to sail to windward. There would be plenty of times when sailing while motoring would pay off with fuel savings, and I imagine the spreadsheet involved with calculating the optimum combinations of throttle with various wind speeds and headings could make a navigator geek very happy.

Even though the rig is simple, the boat is still fairly complex thanks to the outriggers, something that cannot be avoided. However, they do provide excellent kayak or dinghy storage. It wouldn’t take much argument to remove one ama and make do with a single outrigger. It would save weight, windage, overall beam, expense and build time. However, I have to say that there is something mighty pleasing about bilateral symmetry.

Chetzemoka is an evolving concept, and feedback is welcome. An intriguing thought is that when the design is scaled up to 38’, full standing headroom is available throughout.

Chetzemoka Particulars

• LOA: 28’
• BOA: 17’-3”
• Hull beam: 4’-7”
• Draft: 1’-4”
• Sail Area: 250 sq. ft.
• Displacement: 3200 lb
• SA/D ratio: 18.5
• Bruce #: 1.08

Though it doesn’t say in the ad, this 23’ folding catamaran is a Thomas Firth Jones designed Brine Shrimp. Built in 2000, the boat appears a bit rough but the nice thing about plywood boats is that there isn’t anything that a little time and basic wood shop skills can’t fix. The sale includes trailer, sails and 4 hp outboard (that needs a tune up). Find it here on Craigslist in Vallejo, CA for $6000.

From the designer:

Brine Shrimp folds on center line for trailering. She has two single bunks in each hull with 40” of footroom between them, and a drop-leaf table in one or both hulls. She unfolds while being launched, but what with erecting the mast and rigging, installing the rudders, and stowing the gear, two people will need an hour or two for the job.

The single daggerboard works equally well on either tack. It saves space, and simplifies building and sailing. The skipper sits on deck with his legs in the companionway, and sees better and handles sails easier than he would in a cockpit.

A Brine Shrimp could cross an ocean, but more than two people would overload her for such a voyage.

Port Townsend’s Race to Alaska made it on the cover of the Rolling Stone Seattle Times this week. It features Seattle’s own Thomas Nielson and Scott Veirs, who will be entering a Hitia 17 with crab claw rig in the event. Both Tom and Scott are experienced watermen, they and their rugged little Wharram will make a formidable team.

However, they are just the tip of the local multihull iceberg forming around the race. Edensaw Woods is sponsoring a team building a catamaran, Turnpoint Design is also working on a cat, and PTWatercraft is building a Bieker designed 24’ proa! So far, it’s a race to build the boats for the race, and simply making it to the starting line will be a big accomplishment.

We’ll keep you updated as progress continues, and barring secret hydrofoils or other black magic, will be bringing you some photos of the boats and the teams as they come together, so stay tuned!

The R2AK is sponsored by the NW Maritime Center.
Keep up with the race registrations here.

Multihull designer Bernd Kohler has thus far been solely devoted to catamarans, but his latest design is for a simple small trimaran, logically named LITTLE TRI. I like Bernd’s work because he places simplicity of build and economy high on the list of design priorities, and yet still manages to come up with appealing boats. His latest is a classic example, where he sidesteps the usual trimaran complexities by employing a readily available local industrial product for the outriggers, instead of building up the amas from scratch out of plywood. It’s much the same approach that SE Asia takes with their outrigger canoes, building the amas from readily available bamboo, and Bernd does make the point that LITTLE TRI is closer to that model than the modern, high buoyancy ama trimaran.

This example is the first LITTLE TRI built by an owner/builder.

Via Small Trimarans.

The 41’ Invictus is a nice example of a ‘70’s era multihull that was moored at Shilshole Marina in Seattle for many years. It was actively campaigned in local races, with the sugar scoop transom extension being a later mod for more speed. Sadly, it appears that Invictus has run into some hard times and is now being offered for scrap.

Even though the boat is old and apparently decrepit, it has nice bones with a fine hull, high wing clearance and a low doghouse, certainly a step up from the more usual Piver of the era. If any readers with some local knowledge would care to comment, it would be interesting to know more about the history of the boat and it’s owner. Find it here on Craigslist in Seattle.

I’m currently selling and/or scrapping a 41’ hand-built trimaran. It is in pretty bad shape and has not been used in years. I would like to get rid of it as soon as possible, but I am looking to extend offers to others who may find use out of some of it’s parts. The owner of the trimaran, who is no longer able to maintain it, once described it as being a “heavy, old, amateur designed, home built, cruising trimaran, which (I) designed. . ..Yes, the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.”