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Madness Proa
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Madness 31-foot Pacific Proa
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MADNESS slices through the chop at speed, without heeling.
Sale
Madness 31-foot Pacific Proa
Sale
Madness 31-foot Pacific Proa
Sale
Madness 31-foot Pacific Proa
Madness Proa Thumbnail
Madness 31-foot Pacific Proa Thumbnail
MADNESS slices through the chop at speed, without heeling. Thumbnail
Madness 31-foot Pacific Proa Thumbnail
Madness 31-foot Pacific Proa Thumbnail
Madness 31-foot Pacific Proa Thumbnail

Madness 31-foot Pacific Proa

Builder Testimonials

A 20-knot sailing machine that is a delight to handle. Hop over to the Bahamas and cruise the islands at multihull speeds.

  • Skill Level Pro-Kit
  • Estimated Build Time 1600 Hours

Build this boat if...

  • You have plenty of experience building plywood-and-epoxy boats
  • You are an experienced open-water sailor and are fascinated by Russell Brown's proa designs
  • You want a fast, exciting, AND cost-effective sailboat that you can build yourself
  • Need for Speed

    For racers seeking escape velocity

  • For Woodcrafters

    Boatbuilders, sharpen your block planes! 

  • Sophisticated Design

    Nothing else like it to buy or build

Build Your Kit

Builders also looked at...

We Can Help You Build this Boat

We offer classes for many of the boats we sell. For boats, such as this one, we can offer private classes upon request. Some customers also ask us to build the boat for them.

Specifications

Length
30' 8"
Beam
240"
Sailing Draft
43"
Sail Area
364 sq. ft.
Hull Weight
1,400 lbs.
Max Payload
950 lbs.

Performance

Stability

3 out of 5
Very Tippy
Very Stable

Speed

5 out of 5
Cruiser
Racer

Cockpit Room

5 out of 5
Close Fit
Huge Cockpit

Payload

4 out of 5
Day Tripper
Freight Hauler

Ease of Construction

1 out of 5
Requires Patience
Very Easy
MADNESS slices through the chop at speed, without heeling.
MADNESS slices through the chop at speed, without heeling.

Overview

Pro-Kit     THIS IS A PRO-KIT

One big hull, one little hull.  Lots of speed, not much money.

MADNESS is a lightweight “Pacific” or windward proa, intended for fast cruising with two adults or daysailing with four.  With a payload of just under 1000 lbs, accommodations are ideal for an adventurous couple who want to explore, island-hopping through the Caribbean or cruising on a coastal adventure.

The design brief was for an elegant, inexpensive, and relatively easy-to-build multihull for fast cruising on the Chesapeake and in the Bahamas. Much care was taken to minimize exotic materials, such as carbon fiber, with the hope that this design is more accessible to the home builder than any other craft that sails this fast.


MADNESS was inspired by, and designed in direct consultation with proa guru Russell Brown. The design is a fusion of:

  • Brown's 30-foot plywood JZERO design from the 1970’s,
  • his more-refined cold molded 36-footer, JZERRO, from 1993,
  • and with the John-Harris-designed proa MBULI, built in 2000.

More design discussion, construction photos, and commentary were posted in several blog posts: here, here, here, here, and here. A wrap-up of the whole project is here. Below you will find a video that discusses the design and several other videos of the boat under sail.

Sea trials over our first two summers far exceeded expectations. MADNESS is fast, perfectly balanced, docile to handle, and strong. The quality of feedback from early builders of the design was very encouraging. Based on that feedback, we released a comprehensive plans package which you can order below.

Our MADNESS kit comprises all of the boat's plywood components (35 sheets' worth), CNC-cut and packed on a pallet, plus CNC-cut patterns for other components like rudders. Other packages are available that add in solid timber, epoxy, and sheathing materials including fiberglass and carbon fiber.

Specifications

Main Hull:

LOA:  30’8”
LWL:  29’3”
Beam:  28-1/2”
Beam, overall:  8’3”
Displacement:  1,989 lbs
Moment to trim one inch:  274 lbs
Prismatic Coefficient:  0.60

Ama:

LOA:  22’5”
Beam:  21-1/2”
Displacement, normal sailing lines:
387 lbs
Displacement, immersed to deck:
2,029 lbs
Moment to trim one inch: 79 lbs
Prismatic Coefficient: 0.60

The Whole Lash-Up:

Beam between centers:14’5”
Beam overall: 20’0”
Sail Area:
364 sq. ft. (Racing)
294 sq. ft.(Cruising)
SA/D:  36.43
Draft, boards up: 17”
Draft, boards down: 42-1/2”

 

 


The Proa Rationale

By John C. Harris



In the Western Hemisphere, proas are still considered somewhat experimental, notwithstanding the pronounced success of “westernized” proas by Dick Newick and Russell Brown, which have accumulated tens of thousands of sea miles. As so few western sailors have experienced a Pacific proa (in which the outrigger is kept to windward), much is made of their tacking procedure: the boat is stopped, the boom swung around, and one bow is exchanged for another. On paper, this is a head-scratcher.

On the water, however, even a sailor with moderate experience “gets it” instantly, and falls under the spell of the proa’s peculiar handling advantages. Tacking a proa, a cause of confusion and concern among armchair sailors, is revealed on the water to be a casual exercise undertaken without the slightest drama, no matter the conditions.  In a conventional western sloop of similar size and horsepower, tacking is a frantic exercise of flogging and fouling jibs, dangerous swinging booms, the risk of hanging up "in irons," and a delicate process of gathering way again on the new tack as quickly as possible. Jibes are worse.

 

In a proa, the boat is stopped in tacking and jibing, and is automatically hove-to with the mainsail feathered to leeward. It’s a good time to take a moment and grab a sandwich or a jacket, something that would be unthinkable halfway through the tack aboard a conventional upwind boat. One jib is dropped and another hoisted on the new tack. When ready, you throttle-up with the mainsheet and presently you’re doing 15 knots on the new tack.  The process isn’t ideal for short-tacking up narrow channels, of course, but I can't think of many 15-knot sailboats that are.

Proas are the ONLY sailboats that can be reliably stopped, parked, and reversed on whim. In the headwind-in-a-narrow-channel scenario, you crank the outboard. (My 4-hp two-stroke Yamaha yielded eight knots.) Otherwise, I have never been in any sailboat type that I’d rather maneuver into a crowded harbor under sail on a windy day.

Having gotten the handling idiosyncrasies out of the way, everything else about the proa configuration is absolutely compelling. No multihull can boast a lighter or easier-to-engineer structure. This pays off for the home-builder, who is spared the need for high-modulus crossbeams and attachments. There is simply less to build, and less complexity compared to a trimaran or catamaran of similar size.

Proa sailors enjoy other handling advantages. Instantly noticeable under way is the comfortable motion in waves. The absence of the jerky, nervous pitching motion peculiar to cats and tris is easy on the crew and keeps airflow attached to the sails. The rig geometry of the Russell-Brown-style proa sloop opens a huge slot between jib and mainsail, making this kind of Pacific proa exceptionally close-winded.


Construction

MADNESS is built using techniques that are state-of-the-art for about 1975. (Not a typo.) 6-mm okoume plywood panels are assembled very quickly using stitch-and-glue techniques, and sheathed on both sides with ordinary plain-woven e-glass. Nearly every component is pre-fabricated on flat workbenches. Building the prototype at Chesapeake Light Craft allowed us to dial in the fit of the CNC-cut parts, making it possible to offer kits for intermediately-skilled amateurs. Plans builders get full-sized patterns for most of the hull parts. (Thanks to the fore-and-aft symmetry of a proa, the longest pattern is just over 15 feet.)

Even without resorting to exotic materials, a very light hull is the result. Slung from my digital scale, the stripped main hull came in around 500 lbs. The outrigger, crossbeams, rig, and outboard account for another 500 lbs.

With sails, 4-hp outboard, and basic cruising gear aboard, Madness weighs about 1400 lbs. It compares directly with a Farrier F-24 in terms of SA/D—at a fraction of the cost and building complexity.

 

Accommodations

One trade-off compared to catamarans and trimarans is that proas don’t have a lot of volume for their length. The payload is just under 1000 lbs, sufficient to accommodate a singlehander for long coastal cruises, or two uninhibited adults for a week, or three to race the boat for a few days.

There are two berth flats fore and aft in the main hull, plus a wide, comfortable berth in the lee “pod.” On Hull #1, one of the berth flats has been converted to conceal a chemical head, and above it is mounted a lightweight galley that slides out of the way.

In good weather the crew may choose to sometimes sleep on the trampoline.

The ama contains self-draining lockers for lines and fenders. I kept the outboard's fuel in the ama as well.

 

Handling

The skipper drives the boat from the motorcycle-sidecar-like cockpit adjacent to the cuddy. Draglinks are led from the tiller yokes to the cockpit. The crew occupies a comfortable “park bench” style seat on the trampoline to windward of the outboard sled.

The lee “pod” makes capsize very difficult.  In four proas featuring a lee pod of similar proportions, Russell Brown has accumulated ocean crossings and 30 years of coastal sailing without managing anything more than a few knock-downs. Additionally, the outrigger is fitted to carry up to 700 lbs. of water ballast. The ballast tank is filled using very simple and reliable plumbing: a bucket through a deck plate; it’s emptied with a bilge bump. However, in ten years of sailing MADNESS, neither I nor any of the other owner/builders has felt inclined to use the water ballast.

The mast is stepped on the windward edge of the cockpit, with all halyards right at hand.  Winches and sheet cleats are located on the flange that stiffens the mast bulkhead. Because the mast is mounted 39” to windward of the main hull’s centerline, the mainsheets are led to struts protruding from the main hull.

The jibs are fitted with Code-Zero-type --- furlers. In tacking, the current jib is rolled up, then doused completely to allow the boom to swing 180 degrees onto the new tack. Then the “new” jib is hoisted and unfurled. The mast may be rotated through about 90 degrees for best performance.

Because of the mast location, there is no danger of losing the mast in an aback situation because it is supported by stays to the four corners of the boat. The very broad staying base allows a lighter mast, with spiraling improvements in decreased weight and construction simplicity.

Provision is made for an asymmetrical spinnaker.

MADNESS was fitted with the square-top rig shown in the drawings. A smaller “cruising rig” is meant to inspire builders to look for used masts and sails, which will cut the costs dramatically. (MADNESS's carbon stick and Vectran sails cost more than the entire hull!)

An outboard of 2-hp to 5-hp is mounted on a retractable sled beneath the crossbeams, convenient to the skipper. Sea trials showed 5 or 6 knots with a 2-hp in calm conditions, and up to 8 knots with a 4-hp.


 
Transport

MADNESS is completely demountable for road transport. Six easily accessible bolts in the main hull and four bolts on the outrigger fasten the crossbeams.  The trampoline is rigged with bungie cords for quick release, and two pins disconnect the outboard sled. A group of friends can lift the 500-pound main hull onto a trailer. The main hull measures 8’3” at the widest point, making trailering easy behind a relatively small vehicle. Total trailer weight is less than a Montgomery 17 pocket cruiser.

 

 

Buying Options

Choose Your Boatbuilding Experience

Start your kit-building experience by selecting the option that best fits your goals. Don’t have the confidence to build on your own? No worries! Join a boatbuilding class or hire us to build a custom boat for you.

  1. Select Your Configuration

    Build From a Kit:
    Most Pro Kits include, at minimum, the CNC-cut marine plywood parts. Many include epoxy, fiberglass, and timber as well.
    Build From Scratch:

    Source your own materials and hardware, and work from traditional plans.
    Order Study Plans or Assembly Guides:
    Like to study up a bit first? Where available, download study plans or a copy of the assembly guide.

  2. Choose Options and Add-Ons

    Additional Components:
    If this is a sailboat, you’ll need the Sailing Component Kit. Depending on the model, you can choose different sail colors, order a Line & Cordage Package, add nonskid decking, storage covers, and more.

  3. Get Building!

    Computer-cut kits feature all of the latest tweaks for easy assembly, including slot-together frames, pre-drilled holes for stitching-and-gluing, puzzle joints, and precision in the fitting of parts.

Standard Configuration

$499.00

Almost three years in the making, Madness Proa plans include ...

Alternative Configurations

$449.00

This option is to DOWNLOAD the complete Madness Proa Plans an...

$25.00

This set of Study Plans comprises 25 pages of architectural d...

$2.99

25 pages emailed in the form of PDFs at 11" x 17".  Please a...

Videos

MADNESS: A 31-foot Proa by Chesapeake Light Craft

Proa MADNESS: Launch and First Sail

Tour of Proa MADNESS

MADNESS Proa Under Sail - May 2012

Proa MADNESS shipping out

Tacking (or "Shunting") A Pacific Proa

Homing in on the Proa Madness

A little Christmas Madness - from a Pacific Proa

A little More Madness - Chasing a CLC Pacific Pro

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Pacific Proa?

A sailboat with one big hull and one little hull.  The small hull (or "ama") is kept to windward at all times.  This is the architecture used for thousands of years by the ocean-going peoples of the South Pacific.  The reasons that proas were attractive to the South Pacific cultures are the same reasons that proas are attractive today:  it's the most speed you can get for the least amount of time and materials.

Madness is a heavily Westernized and modernized version of the beach proas from Micronesia.  It is built of plywood, epoxy, and fiberglass and weighs about 1400 pounds.  Three have been built, of which this is the first. 
 

Madness was designed by John C. Harris at Chesapeake Light Craft, with lots of input from Russell Brown.  Brown refined the concept of the Westernized Pacific proa and his accumulated tens of thousands of sea miles in proas.  The Harris design simplifies construction, but in most respects is very similar to Russell Brown's archetype:  wood-epoxy composite hulls, sloop rig, and "pod" to leeward to prevent capsizes and create interior accommodations.

The purpose of this boat is to:

A) Demonstrate the qualities of modernized Pacific proas
B) Serve as a technology demonstator for Chesapeake Light Craft
C) Offer a viable and cost-effective multihull choice for amateur boatbuilders working from plans or kits

How do I order this kit?

Click on the Buying Options tab the top left of this page and follow the directions.

How much does this boat weigh and how much can it carry?

The weight and payload of this boat, along with other statistics such length and beam, can be found under Specs in the Specifications section, which is just below the lead image seen at the top of this page.

Can you send me the plans digitally?

Sorry, but until digital rights management technology for marine architectural work catches up to that used for books and music, we are unable to transmit digital plans. Currently, only study plans and manuals can be sent digitally.

Classes

We Can Help You Build this Boat

We offer classes for many of the boats we sell. For boats, such as this one, we can offer private classes upon request. Some customers also ask us to build the boat for them.

View Classes

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