Hi All,

It has been awhile since my last post and I've been dong a lot of reading since
then. Firstly
I read the entire contents of the forum. Some of the threads have been very
interesting.
The first thread that really got my attention was the early discussion about
sailing rigs; the
easyrig versus the single and schooner rigs. There didn't seem to be any real
conclusions,
however it was interesting.

Then there was the Fritz era. He's probably a genius, however we'll never know,
and as
Rob pointed out his debating style was diabolical. The next thread I really
liked was the
Dave Culp kite thread. The idea of sailboat with unequal hulls and no mast
really appealed.
Then I saw the Spitfire. What a boat!

So I went off and searched around for wing sails and hydrofoils and had a blast.
Started
thinking about a un-masted Elementarry with inverted T-shaped tri-foils and a
soft wing
sail kite. Complete with a motor big enough to get it foiling in light winds (I
can hear you
groaning from here Mark ?).

I really liked the wing sail developed by Neuralfuzz. He has developed a rather
neat soft
wingsail, and a wingsail design program that I think could be useable on the
Harryproas.

I also think it could also be possible to design a kite with excellent lift
characteristics
based on the LS (2) airfoil design and incorporate radio control into it for
steering and
reasonable upwind performance, particularly when foiling since apparent wind
will be so
far forward anyway.

As far as foils go, I was thinking that it could be done by modifying the
rudders so that the
lower portion splits into an inverted T, thereby providing the foil base (more
groaning I
suspect ?) with the addition of an extra rudder on the WW hull (midway?). Tom
Speer has
done some work designing proa foils and his website is www.tomspeer.com (I
think).
There's a bloke by the name of Dave Carlson who is also pretty into it.

Anyway, I think I'll start with an Elementarry, since this is the cheapest
option for
experimenting. An Experimentarry? I figure I'll just pitch a tent on the tramp
for
weekending.

Can you fit a tent, small cooler bag, cans of beer and soft drink in the E WW
hull? I don't
want a camper because of the extra weight.

I'm going to start experimenting with radio controlled wing kites (model
versions first) and
do some more research on inverted T foils regarding their design and building.
I'm going
to start building in March next year.

Mark or Rob, can you please tell me the sail area on the Elementarry and the
length and
foil shape of the rudders.

Thank you.

Richard Croome (Sumatra)
Remember, if it's not a proa, it'll probably be slower (and heavier, more
expensive etc…)