My father was born in 1910 on Ambon Island in what is now Indonesia, and lived there until he was 14 (IIRC). He had photos from those years (long gone, unfortunately) among which were some of native proas on the beach. They were small, one or two man craft. The masts were not in the center, but forward with "crab claw" sails, and they were steered with a paddle held over the side. He and his brothers sailed in them, and what I remember of his description they did not "shunt" their craft
Now I am going by memory from 50+ years ago and that memory is certainly not infallible so take my comments with a grain of salt, but it seems to me that these were what would now be called the Pacific-Atlantic proa.
I suspect shunting will always be more tedious than tacking but that's just part of the give and take of working out at the edge of what's possible.
Six boats in I've obviously swallowed the hook as regards shunting proas but will cheerfully tack when conditions warrant and are feasible. In my current iteration conditions are.
1. Reasonably light conditions, it's not a heavy weather technique.
2. It's going to be a short board, long reaches are best done "conventionally ;-)".
I applaud the minimalist approach, my gear is pretty close to backpack style and I'd like the boat to be simpler but have accepted that it's about as simple as I can do at the moment.
The most likely reason the Pacific proa had its ama (float) to windward was that it was often a solid log or large bamboo stem. If such were to leeward, it would quickly immerse, along with the ends of the akas (cross beams). This would not only slow the craft down but also make it near impossible to steer.
The Atlantic proa was only practical with modern hull construction techniques.
The tacking proa was known as a single outrigger. These were used by the Hawaiian Islanders and was a likely improvement on the proa. Just as likely, it was originally a paddle only canoe that ended up with a sail.
One thing I have noticed about all of these craft is that they had a very modest sail plans by today's standards.
There is another type of proa. It is the Harry Proa. It is interesting in that it is an Atlantic proa but with the ama much longer than the vaka (main hull). It has enough buoyancy to lever the vaka out of the water. This was invented by an Australian whose name I can't recall. He offers plans for a number of different size versions.
Another reason for windward outrigger placement on Pacific proas is that the beams (akas) that join the hulls need much less strength in a Pacific proa. Crew weight that moves out toward the outrigger to keep the proa upright is supported by the mast stay, not just the beams.
I love that Pacific proas provide speed with low technology, like simple, not-particularly-strong beams that are lashed to the hulls.
That being said, I get a real workout shunting my proa up narrow channels in the South Puget Sound, so I can certainly appreciate the appeal of a tacking proa!
My father was born in 1910 on Ambon Island in what is now Indonesia, and lived there until he was 14 (IIRC). He had photos from those years (long gone, unfortunately) among which were some of native proas on the beach. They were small, one or two man craft. The masts were not in the center, but forward with "crab claw" sails, and they were steered with a paddle held over the side. He and his brothers sailed in them, and what I remember of his description they did not "shunt" their craft
Now I am going by memory from 50+ years ago and that memory is certainly not infallible so take my comments with a grain of salt, but it seems to me that these were what would now be called the Pacific-Atlantic proa.
I suspect shunting will always be more tedious than tacking but that's just part of the give and take of working out at the edge of what's possible.
Six boats in I've obviously swallowed the hook as regards shunting proas but will cheerfully tack when conditions warrant and are feasible. In my current iteration conditions are.
1. Reasonably light conditions, it's not a heavy weather technique.
2. It's going to be a short board, long reaches are best done "conventionally ;-)".
I applaud the minimalist approach, my gear is pretty close to backpack style and I'd like the boat to be simpler but have accepted that it's about as simple as I can do at the moment.
The most likely reason the Pacific proa had its ama (float) to windward was that it was often a solid log or large bamboo stem. If such were to leeward, it would quickly immerse, along with the ends of the akas (cross beams). This would not only slow the craft down but also make it near impossible to steer.
The Atlantic proa was only practical with modern hull construction techniques.
The tacking proa was known as a single outrigger. These were used by the Hawaiian Islanders and was a likely improvement on the proa. Just as likely, it was originally a paddle only canoe that ended up with a sail.
One thing I have noticed about all of these craft is that they had a very modest sail plans by today's standards.
There is another type of proa. It is the Harry Proa. It is interesting in that it is an Atlantic proa but with the ama much longer than the vaka (main hull). It has enough buoyancy to lever the vaka out of the water. This was invented by an Australian whose name I can't recall. He offers plans for a number of different size versions.
Another reason for windward outrigger placement on Pacific proas is that the beams (akas) that join the hulls need much less strength in a Pacific proa. Crew weight that moves out toward the outrigger to keep the proa upright is supported by the mast stay, not just the beams.
I love that Pacific proas provide speed with low technology, like simple, not-particularly-strong beams that are lashed to the hulls.
That being said, I get a real workout shunting my proa up narrow channels in the South Puget Sound, so I can certainly appreciate the appeal of a tacking proa!