Author: Henrik Richter-Alten

First Sea-Trial

Last week we left Kiel for the first longer sail on Proasis. Our triangular test course brought us from Surendorf to Marstall (Denmark) to Schleimünde and back to Surendorf. The total distance of approx. 60nm took us two and a halve days due to very light winds (sometimes even no wind).

We spent the nights on anchor exploring places where almost no other vessel can go: Without leeboard and rudders Proasis has a draft of only 15 cm. This allows to anchor in knee-deep water.

On anchor in 30 cm deep water right next to a sand bank.

We are very happy with Proasis’s sailing characteristics. As soon as the wind is above 8 kn she’s easy cruising at 4-6 kn. Top speed at about 15 kn of wind was 8 kn. In lighter conditions she feels underpowered but thats not a surprise, the polytarp sail is only 13 sqm. We might get an assymetric spi in the future.

Wake at 7-8 kn.

The helm needs not much attention, the tiller is simply fixed in a certain position and the boat keeps on sailing on a steady course for hours.

The white line is our adjustable auto pilot.

Proasis sails upwind well at a tacking angle of 115° (could point higher but would loose speed). Thats not exactly where we want to be (100° would be nice) but a good starting point taking into account the cheap and wrinkly polytarp sail and the leeboard issues (see below).

Three upwind legs, the tacking angle can be estimated. Will be optimized in the future.

Shunting turned out to be a very simple and reliable maneuver (at least in winds up to 20 kn, havent tried in stronger winds yet). It never went wrong and can be done singlehanded without any issue. The Rudders are inverted almost automaticly by pulling one line for about 2 seconds.

Ready to shunt the sail. A video and detail explaination of the entire process will follow soon.

The most important downside of every shunting vessel is most likely jibing downwind. Instead of simply shifting the sail from one side to the other, a proa has to come upwind, perfom a shunt and bear away again. Compared to a simple jibe on a conventional yacht thats very slow but we take it as part of the game 🙂

Sailing intoo the Schlei mouth, thunderstorm ahead.

Living on proasis is quite comfortable for two. During the entire trial we never went ashore. Sailing, eating, sleeping and repeat.

Messy bunk, we need to optimize the interieur to keep things organized.

Despite our very pleasant sail, Proasis is not perfect yet. Following tasks are on our list for the next trial:

  • Leeboard: The foil shape is to thick causing lots of drag and poor performance. We have to make it thinner.
  • Mast: Needs some stiffening, we’ve observed to much flex.
  • Sail step: We have to reposition it sligthly further forward to improve the balance of the boat.
  • Interior design: We need more cupboards, hooks ect. to organize our stuff.
  • Electric installation: We have non yet. We plan to install a solar panel, battery, navigation light and charger for chart tablet.

Proasis Launched!

After 2 years of designing and building proasis, finally the day has come and she touched the water of the Baltic Sea for the very first time!

This was a very special moment for everyone involved. We would like to thank all the supporters who helped to assamble her and put her into the water and the sailing department of the STS Surendorf. The launche was a great community effort and a prime example what a group with a common interest can achive.

Rudder Mounts under Construction

As promised 2 weeks ago some more detailed shots of the rudder mounts:

The rudders hang on triangle mounts , one on each beam. The forward one will be rotated under the tramp when sailing. Hopefully this will keep the rudders away of waves and avoid the splash often seen on proas with rudders at the forward end of the leeward hull.
Rudder mount folded under the trampolin for a left tack. The mounts will be able to kick up to the other side as well to some extend in case of ground contact.
The rudder foils (old F18 daggerboards, made longer, see yellow part) go into cassets. The foils can be pulled up to adjust the wetted surface and the depth.
The cassetts are bolted to the triangle mounts. One of the very few times metal is used on proasis.
This is how everything will go on the beams. The cardboard is a model for the tiller mount (still under construction).

Windows glued in

Two of four windows are glued in. We’ve cut them with a jigsaw from polycarbonat (makrolon) and glued them in with a special glue for the wind shields of cars. Worked really well and no screws required.

The remaining two windows will go on as soon as the weather switches back to summer mode.

First to windows glued in. Hold in place by briks.
Preparation is everything!
Frames carefully sanded and taped.

Rudders under Progress

The rudder systems of proas are always debated. For many proa projects the rudders, cruicial for safety, were the weak spot of otherwise neat designs. The challenge is to design a system that works in both directions of travel due to the nature of the proa: Shunting.

We hope to have found a robust and cheap way that allows us to keep proasis on course comfortably and safe. Our proa will get recycled F18 daggerboards as rudder foils, mounted in kick-up cassettes on each beam (more about the cassettes in later posts).

Rudder foils ready for sanding and a couple of paint-jobs.
The F18 daggerboards were to short so we’ve made them longer (purple part in the vacuum bag above).

We all share the same Ocean!

Northern Germany got pounded by a heavy snow storm with wind up to 60 kn the past couple of days. The roaring sea caused some scary erosion to our shorelines, drowning land which has been there since the ice age.

Clear reminder that we all share the same ocean: If sea level rises in the Marshall Islands it does over here as well.

There used to be 40 ft of beach in front of that dune.