The canoe sails as a proa. It shunts instead of coming about. There is no tiller, you steer with the sheets. It works well, sails itself once it's trimmed. Changes direction as the wind changes to keep on the same point of sail relative to the wind. It is very maneuverable (spell?). You can spin like a top, put it in reverse if you like. I did it this way for simplicity. If sudden steering is required (aligator or rock in the way) the paddle is used very effectively.
One person can paddle it at hull speed very easily. I tried it with kayak paddle at first but found the slalom paddle to work best. It tracks very well.
I will be going back to Ghana this spring to finish the boat and begin some expeditions. Hope to have some more photos and interesting developements then.
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteLovely boat. Congratulations. You sail it like a proa, rather than a tacker, I suppose?
I'm building a 30ft. tacking outrigger myself. In Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
I hope you find the time to blog aigain, maybe about some of your sailing expereince with the canoe.
Greetings,
Peter
arpex.blogspot.com
I am a merchant marine,just returned from sea, I apologise for tardy reply. Yes, shunts rather than tack. I found it to be simpler construction. I is very maneuverable this way too. I won't return to Africa till next spring so there will be no new developments until then.
DeleteNice outrigger. I'm curious if you have any details and/or photos of the construction anywhere? Would love to see how all that happened. I'm building a 24' waapa myself in Papua New Guinea. I look forward to seeing your future posts.
ReplyDelete-Geoff
http://shan-skailyn.blogspot.com/
I am a merchant marine so I'm away at sea for long periods. Apologise for the delay in responding to your post. I do have some photos of construction. I will get them on here for you to see. YOu will be very happy with your waapa, I know I am very happy with how this one turned out. It's not finished yet.
DeleteLooks like a great boat. I am building a Waapa and your sail system is really interesting. I sail a regular paddling canoe with an outrigger and small sail as a tacker, and when I was a teenager (I'm 64) I built 2 sailboats, one I sailed extensively on Lake Superior. I now live in the Ozarks with some large man made lakes nearby. I will do my boat with a solid amma, as an inflatable one would be more work than the solid and I have no experience making inflatables. I'd love to learn more about your sail system, and I understand it will take time as you are in the Merchant Marine. Hope I can have as much fun as you seem to have with yours.
ReplyDeleteBob
I just watched your videos on You Tube. They explained a lot to me about your rigging. I think I'll try your system. I have never sailed an outrigger as a proa, only a tacker, and I was leery of sailing a proa on our local lakes, but your system looks like I could maneuver very well. I have only used lateen rigs and lave a lot to learn! Thanks for your site and sharing with us all.
ReplyDeleteHello Popeye. Sorry I have taken so long to reply. The boat handles very well and is a lot of fun to shunt. It makes the construction very simple to since there is no tiller to worry about. It is a lot easier to sail the proa than a tacking rig. You don't have to come through the eye of the wind which can be a proplem if the boat is light. I used to get in irons a lot on Hobies. You do lose a little ground going to weather while shunting and you lose all way but the boat is never out of control as long as there is wind and you can't get caught in irons. It is almost like having a reverse! Lateen sail should work just fine, I was originally planning to use lateen sails for this boat. I switched to balanced lug because I could get a higher aspect ratio with them. Both lateen and lug answer one important need for my boat and it is to go up and down the mast without being hanked on. The bamboo I'm using is not smooth enough to allow parrel lines or anything. This spring I'm going to make one mast taller by about four feet and attach a halyard at the top. I have a spare spinnaker for my RhodesOday daysailer and will use that for downwind sledding with the Waapa. I'm adding another outrigger to make it a trimaran to increase accomodation space and balance it better off the wind. There are a lot of scorpions and snakes around the places I want to visit so I will be sleeping on the boat.
DeleteHi Christopher,
ReplyDeleteLove the boat, and looks a great sailing area.
I have built and waiting to sail a very similar boat to yours rig wise. Mine is also a Schooner lug rig with a leeboard. My leeboard is able to slide backwards and forwards along the hull to hopefully give steering control.
In your reply to Popeye you say 'The boat handles very well and is a lot of fun to shunt' would you say it is easy to shunt? I imagine with the two sails you can adjust these to sail steer through the shunt quite simply. Would love to see that on you tube.
You also say 'I'm adding another outrigger to make it a trimaran to increase accomodation space and balance it better off the wind' does that mean you have difficulty sailing off wind without the rudder. When I have discussed my project on proa forums the 'old hands' say that without getting the leeboard very far aft I will not be able to go down wind. What do you think?
Any way great project, ex merchant navy myself, hope you have a good and long leave
TINK
proasail.blogspot.com/