Proa building blog
Sorry for the lack of updates in the recent months. Proasis is on the hard for the winter and we have been very busy in Uganda supporting the Musana Ferry Project.
Nevertheless, for 2025 we have a big anouncment: Proasis is registered for the Silverrudder, a single handed race around the island of Fyn. As far as we are aware of the first proa ever!
We are proud to dedicate this race to Waan Aelon in Majel (WAM) and start under the flag of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Unfortunately last Sunday’s sail will be the last one for this year. Winter has been kicking in recently with the first ice and increasingly nasty weather. We got lucky to pick one of the rare sunny days with a good southerly breeze for the 15 nm trip from Kiel to Surendorf. After little over 2 h of beautiful sailing we sat Proasis on the beach and took everything from the boat that we dont want to keep on it for the winter. This is always a good moment to realize how much unnecessary stuff gets piled up over the year!
To move the 700 kg canoe up the beach to its parking spot for the winter (about 200 m) we built a solid slip trolley from steel with six huge balloon tires borrowed from regular dinghy slip trolleys. Using an ancient electric winch with a long cable this is an surprisingly easy job that can be done by three without problems.
Since there is no sailing for the next couple of month there is plenty of time to work on Proasis. We didnt break much over the year and there is no other need for major refits so we can focus on improvements. We have some projects in the pipeline but its still to early to go into details. Just so much, they are all about speed 😉
This year we hosted our informal German proa and outrigger canoe meeting at our beach in Surendorf. Like the year before we had five canoes on the water:
On the first day we had a fresh onshore breeze with a little shore-break and choppy conditions. Sailing was a lot of fun. Below you can find a video of Lars and Reto racing around (other canoes parked at the beach to get the hands free for the drone):
By the next day the wind had died completely. at least we managed to get all five canoes on the water at the same time for some fleet sailing (well, more drifting):
Due to the rather small sail area (just 19 sqm) and the design of the sail (the shape only forms under wind pressure) Proasis has always been a bit slow in light wind from behind. We thought about getting an additional downwind sail for a while an now finally got hands on a good second hand asymmetric spinnacker. Finding one that fits our short mast was not easy but apparently we can conveniently use the sail of a Hobie 15. It’s just 6.5 sqm but gives a notable boost of thrust. It can be hoisted either on the leeward bow if the wind is blowing more from the side or to the windward bow if the wind is dead from the aft.
During this summer season we used Proasis frequently as water camping platform for trips to explor the Danish archipelago. Being designed as a prototype for a lagoon fishing and passenger vessel this is something Proasis is really good in.
Midsummer is a very special time in the northern hemisphere. It marks the summer solstice where the day becomes the longest day of the year and the night the shortest one. Although Kiel is not located north enough to experience midnight sun, the event is still quite impressive. The sun just dips behind the horizon and is visible as a golden light for the entire time between sunset and sunrise. We thought the best way to experience this magical night would be to sail Proasis through it. The weather was fortunately fair with light wind and a lightly overcast sky, turning this trip into a great adventure!
Finally Proasis is back in her element, many thanks to all the people who supported us to make this possible!
Last year when we sailed Proasis back to Kiel after the proa meeting in Flensburg Lars (aka. Fjordproa) joined for a great sailing adventure. He filmed the voyage and shared the video on his youtube channel:
Winter really kicked in recently so made the decision to use a lovely Sunday breeze and sail to our spot for the winter in Surendorf. It was a pleasant 4h sail in a light but freezing wind at -2°C. We actually ran into a couple of issues with our proa design because we never planned for ice building up here and there. Aside of making the deck slippery we initially couldn’t open the sliding hatch and fit the leeboard. The sheets and other ropes were stiff like sticks too, turning sailing into a hole new adventure.
Proasis is now on the hard for the next couple of months to protect her from the winter and to work on some improvements. Slipping her over the 200 m wide beach went smoothly, thanks to an electric winch and the support of our local sailing club.
We finally managed to film and edit a video which shows how we shunt Proasis and how our rudder system works. Enjoy: