Fantastic day, TP03 transported up to the club and assembled for the first time. Went realy well only two issues. Had to move one fitting on the mast and the seating platform is very slippy, should get him on the water in a couple of weeks.
See http://youtu.be/BtOH5Ga6rvM for all the details.

All ready 6 days to go

Less than one week to go for the transport to SDSC of TP03 - the shoulder is getting a lot better and hoping to transport TP03 - next week end, 25th May. There is a large pile of stuff in the garage which in my mind is a very beautiful boat, I may be unique in this opinion. 

I have now built a simple model  of my lug rig with adjustable CE, I am very impressed with this rig I think it may well have some real potential. It offers a very clean sail, low CE and steering. Only suitable for small proas like my minimal proa though. 
For discussion see  http://proafile.com/forums/viewthread/244/

for some video see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyE0FsI_GAQ

The minimal proa continues to be my favourite new design, just the bare bones of a proa offering quick simple sailing hopefully along the lines of an international canoe but much easier to sail.
For discussion see http://proafile.com/forums/viewthread/239/

While working on the minimal proa proa I briefly got diverted to the idea of a inflatable version but after working out the details it just became complex without any great advantage.
For discussion see http://proafile.com/forums/viewthread/239/

This is the Strangford Lough Cruiser, it is a combination of a Bank’s Dory, Caddo Lake Bateau and off course a proa.

The brief is for a singlehander or two up for a day sail or a single hander for ultralight camping. The overall length is 14ft, due to building limitations. That’s where the Dory mid ships section comes in. With a 260kg displacement the hull draft is 120mm and L:B 11:1 up the displacement to 360kg and draft 200mm, L:B 10:1. I would have liked a finer hull but the draft increased too much, the bows are sharp giving fine entry. The Bateau influence is twisting the sides of the flat bottom v mid section into vertical stem maximising length and L:B. This twist creates some good flair for reserve buoyancy and keeping the crew dry.

Back to the Dory mid ships section, the flat of the bottom is 200mm, the gunwale 500mm above and a beam of 800mm. This gives space inside for a temporary birth of ‘bivi’ camping, a simple ‘tent’ protecting against the elements.

The beams in the picture are 1600mm apart so some ‘accommodation’ would be under the beams and deck. The ‘birth’ is removable like a camp bed made of material under tension

For discussion with like minded proa people see http://proafile.com/forums/viewthread/259/#1954