THE PROA

The first Europeans arriving in Polynesia, were as filled with wonder at the beauty and technical perfection of the exotic boats, as with their ability for sailing on the wind and their high speeds. Cook related that the Polynesian boats had succeeded in turning three times around his boat before he had had a chance to complete thirty strokes.

Curiously, the Great Explorers‘s enthusiastic reports did nothing to revolutionize naval architecture on the Old Continent.

A few tries by Sir W Petty ( end of the 17th century ), by Floy, Duggan, Herreshoff ( end of the 19th century), as conclusive as they may have been, interested no one. It was not before the second half of the 20th century that the multihulls reappeared before exploding full   scale during the 80’s.
In 1980, the French market counted not even one cabin multihulls: in 1990 there were 142 !

But even with the success of the catamarans and trimarans,  the Proa slept silently on in the shadows.

Compared to a Proa, a cata has always one float too large and a tri always one too many.

Lighter, and with a reduced wetted surface, the Proa is faster and cheaper.
In Ostar’ 68 at the beginning of a new era of multihulls, Dick Newick’s Proa " Cheers " , finished third, arriving  four days and 16 hours before the first cata, and more than a week before the first tri.

Another Newick Proa, « Azulao » came second in the Newport - Bermuda race.

 «Cheers » is also the only ocean going multihull in history to have succeeded in setting itself back upright, without outside help, after it ad brutally capsized.

So, the Proa can be, not only faster, but also more seaworthy and safer.
In Ostar 72 there was not even one Proa. Ocean races have always been dominated by cata-and trimarans.

UP!