Russ Brown's proa Kauri sailing

There is a hot discussion going on, on the Yahoo discussion group Proafile. Russ Brown's proas (Jzerro and Kauri) are discussed, as beeing in oposition to Rob Denney's Harriproa range.

I talk little about shunting proas on this blog. This is mainly because it may cause confusion on a page dedicated to the building of a tacking outrigger. They are quite different boats.

Nevertheless I like proas. Not last, they both have one outrigger for stability. Now whether the weight goes to windward, the rig, the accomodation - I don't care. I have chosen tacking outriggers for my own reasons. But I admire the talent of designers who design and build shunting proas. Jzzero has had great influence on the Carioca design. And the Harriproa certainly have a modern take, with many advantages.

I don't particularly seem to like the accomodation to windward configuration. My gut-feeling makes me want to hold the centres of efford, lateral resistance, buoyancy and weight together. But anyway. The looks takes a bit getting used to. But they seem to work nicely too, I think.

Now, this video shows Kauri, one of Russ Brown's pacific proas sailing. A rare sight. I didn't know these videos were available until today. The music that comes along is nice too.

There are other videos, incliding one of the boat being shunted. Can't really make much of the images. But you get a feeling of how long it takes. And some serious sail work too...