German Pacific Proa Sailing

Klaus Deppermann, one of the pioneers of pacific proas in Germany, designed, sailed and constantly improved his 6 m pleasure sailing canoe for almost 4 decades. He found his very own interpretation of the Micronesian outrigger canoe, based on an model from the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati).
The footage dates back to the early 1990s.
All rights remain with Klaus Deppermann. The content is shared here with friendly permission by Klaus. His opinion does not necessarily represent the uploaders point of view.

[@markusbroyles1884]

Great study for the dynamics of such a boat hull and nice clue on how it shunts and how easy it all is to sail !

[@normandgallant8106]

Thanks for the professionnal demo , well done , loved the music

[@muddundee]

Good looking proa!

[@horstgrossmann2838]

Tolles Boot!!!

[@oj1jo]

Very nice proa. Itlooks like Klaus can manage the course without steering paddle by pure balance. Great achievment.

[@nickvertola]

your boats seem very beatiful aswell, dear pan Janusz))

[@ww07ff]

It really amazed me! A monohull rolled leeward tends to yaw upwind... Also the center of effort can yaw the hull... but how it works on Proa!?!

[@oj1jo]

​@@ww07ff Vaka assymetry turns offwind, where ama drag turns upwind, making delicate balance.

[@ww07ff]

​@@oj1jo Many tks, this answer led me to your Sailing Micronesian Manual, it's very concise and illustrative! (www.pjoa.eu/download/Sailing%20Micronesian%20Style%206.3EN.pdf ) The Miruna's tack line is a very clever and convenient solution! I'm planing to build a Skin on Frame canoe as my first boat-building. A Proa probably will be the next step forward. Regards from Brasil!

[@ww07ff]

@@oj1jo When you say assymetry, is it an assymetry at Vaka hull itself (like here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGLYpqhvmNaFm5Y) or the "natural" assymetry between Vaka displacement and Ama displacement ?

[@nickvertola]

с глубоким уважением Клаусу. Красивейшая лодка. meine ehrung an Klaus Deppermann

[@pelageos]

и быстрая. катер с мощным мотором не может угнаться за древними технологиями тихоокеанских туземных племен ;)))

[@frankstocker5475]

German entry for the America cup.

[@tonybarrios5045]

What a hassle to be moving the whole sail from one end to the other!

[@sethc3333]

Harryproa is a modern design of the proa that addresses that issue and many others. You should definitely look it up. I have officially drank the cool aid hahaha. Harryproas look weird if you are used to normal sailboats, but I believe they are superior as a cruising vessel in every way, once you fully consider it from every angle. Safer, faster, simpler, cheaper

[@sethc3333]

I agree that moving sail on every shunt like that looks like a pain

[@tonybarrios5045]

@@sethc3333 i already looked it up. Kind of strange with that free-standing rotating mast. Just wonder how it would do in large seas.

[@sethc3333]

@@tonybarrios5045 Yes, I have definitely considered that situation. And free standing masts are a contentious topic and have obviously not taken over the main stream sailing community. Though I suspect this has more to due with racing influence and the economies of scale that have been built for stayed masts. That being said, there are enough examples of freestanding masts nowadays that have functioned for years cruising around the world without issue. Though it is very important that they are properly designed by an experienced marine architect such as Rob Denney or Kelsall. From my perspective, the benefits far outweigh the downsides, especially in large seas. I have faith that a well designed freestanding mast would survive large seas just as well as a stayed mast, with the benefit of far safer sail handling in those conditions.

[@tonybarrios5045]

@@sethc3333 i agree. An unstayed mast could actually be safer but i have not come across too many articles on them therefore am quite ignorant as to the mechanics. My experience is limited to small sailing craft such as the Paraw( Philippine double outrigger canoe) which is much like the proa but with a simpler rig. Main and jib. Very fast and quite reliable and pretty much a tradiitional design. My brother sailed one from the Philippines to Timor with no problems. They tack and jibe without the need for shunting.