Making a New Crabclaw Sail for my Proa

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Here is how I made a sail recently. My technique is improving but not perfect yet. The sail is made from a polytarp from an ordinary hardware store with heavy duty thread on an old domestic sewing machine. And has a zip off section to create a reef point.

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29 дек 2023

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Комментарии : 78

@hobocyclist 6 месяцев назад

This is hardcore engineering project! Even though im a landlubber I’m glad to get tipped into more proa & wharram vids. Love the feeling of freedom your vids capture

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

thanks! that's how I feel sailing my proa so very glad to hear that comes across!

@RoryL83 6 месяцев назад

You're brilliant Dominic. Thanks.

@peterhamilton3511 3 месяца назад

I love the way you inovate without spending heaps of money. Its very heart warming and inspiring. Thanks

@dominictarrsailing 3 месяца назад

thank you! yes I think it's important to try ideas cheaply because probably I'll have another idea to change it again later, and you can't just go out an "buy a proper one" for a boat that is this unusual

@cbleslie 6 месяцев назад

Learning so much with your videos!

@zackariasthepirate 6 месяцев назад

In the last clip It looks to me that the square bottom proa hull both cuts and planes.I had a theory that this would be the case when a certain speed is reached without major surface chop. Much like a water ski that is both narrow and flat. Looks fun! Chilly in the states right now. I put on a thick wetsuit with a hood, gloves and booties to do water activities. Enjoy the summer down under!

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

It's just become hot here. I am sweating!

@gardenwaster 6 месяцев назад

Excellent work demonstrating good speed on the water; I loved the zip idea.

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

the zip's not my idea, not sure who did the zipper reefing crabclaw first, hmm

@arnehaieschild343 6 месяцев назад

Always inspirational and educational,thanks dude

@edwardhaigh4249 6 месяцев назад

That looks like great fun

@joelmartin6726 3 месяца назад

Dominic, the U-shape of the leech on historic Pacific proas appears to serve an important purpose. First, by being heavily curved, it uses the springiness of the long yard tips to maintain even tension from the tack toward the leech while the yards maintain tension in the other two directions-thus you never have a flapping leech even when you sheet out to allow the sail to curve or fly and dump wind. This would be critical considering the leaf mats the islanders used for sails, but it would also reduce wear and tear on any other type of material as well. I am reminded on occasion that those ancient proas were under development for over a thousand years by thousands of people who sailed them for entire lifetimes. If they had worked better with isosceles triangle sails, that's what they would have settled on.

@dominictarrsailing 3 месяца назад

Look at videos of proas from marshall islands or kiribati, they look like triangles to me

@restlessperson5258 6 месяцев назад

Thank you for sharing.

@user-th3ll8rl7i 2 месяца назад

I'm really grateful for this video. I'm an amateur boat builder, but I found out that actually acquiring/ or making a sail is more difficult than building the hull. I bought a sewing machine, but I'm still very intimidated by it. I thought I should practice on polytarp before I go to actual dacron sail canvas. I wasn't sure that you could use polytarp in sewing machines, but this video shows you can.

@dominictarrsailing 2 месяца назад

you sure can. it's a bit slipperly compared to most other fabric, so can be challenging to sew straight. but doable with carefully laying out the project, practice etc. see also my other polytarp sail making video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OW88fQN6MAE.html

@user-th3ll8rl7i 2 месяца назад

What about using the heavier brown/gray polytarps? Will they work in a sewing machine?

@dominictarrsailing 2 месяца назад

@@user-th3ll8rl7i sure no problem. the heavy ones available here are silver/black, 185 gsm. I've done several projects with them (such as rain tent) there may be places where it's so thick you need to hand stitch (get a "speedy stitcher") but probably not necessary if it's just a dinghy size boat

@orangespy 6 месяцев назад

She's looking very tidy. May your shunting be swift!

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

and yours too!

@BalkanShipyards 6 месяцев назад

Just watched again, love that sail and the editing of d vid, u put in the work brah... Hollow the leach, u will tighten up stuff. Keep shunting

@ButterflyMatt 4 месяца назад

Bad ass! You’re flying!

@dominictarrsailing 4 месяца назад

Sure am, thanks!

@PKAdventures 5 месяцев назад

man, i am so happy to see how this little boat turned out. i remember watching your original build video a little over a year ago and wanting to make one myself. maybe ill finally have time to do it this spring. keep up the awesome work

@dominictarrsailing 5 месяцев назад

Me too! thanks! It didn't take long to build but it did take a while to get sorted out and sailing well, but I learnt a lot! I recently went on a really epic trip in it, sleeping on the beach etc, but dropped the camera overboard so lost all the best footage...

@PKAdventures 5 месяцев назад

@@dominictarrsailing oh no that sucks! i know your pain, about a year and a half ago i did a month long camping trip in Hawaii, and i ended up doing the whole 28 days for just under $800usd, and that included the $500 plane tickets. the footage from it was supposed to be the start of my channel, but on the last day i was getting a little extra B roll before i headed to the airport, and my gopro decided to stop being waterproof in like 3 inches of water, and it fried my 256gb sd card that had all my best shots from the whole trip. cooking, exploring, fishing, drone shots, everything, just gone. i recently tried to start again and my new gopro decided to stop working hahaha i gotta get my cameras fixed before i start a trip i have planned to go camping for a month and checkout a boat auction... anyways, i am definitely looking forward to seeing more vids of this awesome little boat, and your Pahi too

@dominictarrsailing 5 месяцев назад

I watched a couple of your videos there! looks like fun! (sleeping on rocks!) The old gopro came with a waterproof housing, clunky but I think more reliable than the new ones which just have little rubber orings on everything. Actually I looked it up and you can still get housings for the recent ones so you can be belt-and-suspenders safe. Apparently waterproof to 60m!

@PKAdventures 5 месяцев назад

@@dominictarrsailing the messed up thing is i bought a waterproof housing for that trip, because i was planning on making a little bamboo and cling film boat and sailing between the islands, but i forgot to pack it hahaha

@dominictarrsailing 5 месяцев назад

Haha wow you need a **much** better boat than that to get between the islands in hawaii. It's gets really windy and rough and the coast is often sharp volcanic rocks and/or massive surf. Don't jump into the deep end!!! That's my main rule. The next voyage shouldn't be more than double the previous biggest trip. Start in the shallow end and swim to the deep end. I took a boat like that down a river once, ended up hiking out when the boat collapsed. I chose a river with a road because I didn't trust the boat but wanted to test the idea. Probably better on a coral atoll like the marshall islands, where there is a ring of islands near each other but sheltered by a reef. or just down a gentle river.

@dr10501 6 месяцев назад

That sort of sailmaking involving floor cutting is actually a bit of a black art,so it's quite an ingenious sail. Double sided tape on the pockets makes it easier if you can't staple out that far. If that leech is flapping bad enough it could do with a negative curve cut in to it.

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

leech flapping is a problem with the reef (that is, the top unzipped). Next sail will have a hollow leech for the reef, at least!

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

it's strange to me that many people build boats, but relatively few people make sails. As with boat building, there is a lot to learn and some experience helps! but you still actually be able to sail with surprisingly crude sails!

@dr10501 6 месяцев назад

Yes with RU-vid there are plenty of videos to show how to make sails and boats for that matter. But I guess a lot of people get put off making their own sails by the cost of a sewing machine. I knew a guy who made his own spinnaker for almost free by asking for scraps of Nylon from a sail loft .@@dominictarrsailing

@jonymanay 6 месяцев назад

That looks pretty fast now. I womder if you will put foils on it. Anyway watching your vids makes me want to build one too. Have a Merry xmas and a happy newyear.

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

haha not sure that a proa is the best configuration for a foiler because you have to land to shunt. on a proper foiler you can gybe with the apparent wind still coming forward! also I think there is still some room for improvement with a floating hull. With foils I understand you can usually double the take off speed, so if we are going for speed we want a fast boat before it's flying

@bryrensexton4618 6 месяцев назад

👍!!!

@markthomasson5077 6 месяцев назад

When I first got into windsurfing, I bought a cheap storm sail, made from polytarp, worked surprisingly well. Great stuff for experimental sails, cheap and wide. It does need a lot of reinforcement, ie multiple layers at stress points. Did you consider cutting in some shape along the spar lines? Why the zip off reefing, rather than brailing up the boom spar? That should be easier to do at sea…perhaps. How was the polytarp for sewing, any problems with getting the thread tension right. Good work, looks lots of fun, and more fun with a bigger sail.

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

The most difficult part about sewing polytarp is that it's quite slippery, you need to be careful to sew a straight line. thread tension didn't seem to be a problem. I think also it's hard to make it really flat, I think it may be best to glue the reinforcement on then sew it on the edges. I was making another small sail, kinda in a rush, and just used duct tape for the reinforcement! it worked! I also recently did some repairs to my drifter (see my other sail making video) I had been having wrinkles radiating out from the clew. I added a new clew reinforcement, that was radial cut. instead of using one big semicircle, I sewed several narrow pizza slices together so that the fibers radiated out. That reduced wrinkles significantly!

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

I just used straight cuts so far. I want to see how good it is. This material is so cheap I can make another one later, and at this point my biggest problem is just getting the details right, how to do fittings, end the pockets, adjustable lines etc

@JohnThinks 6 месяцев назад

I think a curve on the leech would help to keep it from flapping. You lose a bit of sail area but you'd get better longevity and it would work better in higher wind.

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

I plan to try this on my next sail

@user-pv1bj4mj6p 5 месяцев назад

5ay y a🎉

@chrispalmer1255 6 месяцев назад

Yeah! Lookin good Dominic! Always excited when you post another video. Can you speak on the zip vs brailing lines as a means of reefing. I was under the impression that brailing lines do the job of reducing sail area while under way?

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

brailing lines are great because you can near instantly reduce power (say, to a gust) but they mean a lot drag so you can't sail to windward well with the brailing on. with a reef, you remove the proportion of sail you don't need, so it won't add drag when reefed. The new sail, reefed, is the same area as my old sail. But now that size can be unreefed for better light air performance. I still have the brailing lines also, but the position they are in is more effective with the reefed size. so, options are full sail, reefed sail, or reefed plus brailing.

@johnnyT428 6 месяцев назад

Nice to see the constant improvisation going on. I'm currently considering using the topsail from my gaffer as a lateen rig on my outrigged canoe. My existing tarp rig works fine though.

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

funny! I've been considering using this sail as a top sail on my cat... because why not? (will need to make it more easily detachable first though)

@johnnyT428 6 месяцев назад

It would be great if you can use it on both. I've just bought a used alloy mast, rigging and Wing-sail main for my Wharram. Bargain of the year!

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

@@johnnyT428 what wharram do you have? How did you find the mast I always see masts laying around in boatyarda

@johnnyT428 6 месяцев назад

@@dominictarrsailingI've got a Tiki 26 in GRP (some were built by Imagine UK). It strangely has a Bermudan rig, so my intention was to put the Wing-sail on. The previous owner forwarded a link to a guy who had broken up an old rotten Wharram and was selling the 5" round alloy mast often used instead of wood on Wharrams. It turned out he also had the stainless rigging and even the old mainsail. It also turned out that he knew my old man from windsurfing days!

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

but have you considered a crabclaw?

@fossilfool 6 месяцев назад

Nice paintjob and sail. Will you switch to premium materials once you like the performance?

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

well polytarp is good enough for the pacific islanders who invented this sort of boat! Plus, i feel that using a blue polytarp is very relatable. People perceive yachting as an elite sport, but if I am using the same sort of tarp regular people use to cover their junk it's clear that I must have made it and therefore they could too.

@BalkanShipyards 6 месяцев назад

@@dominictarrsailing Thant my friend is true Shunting spirit! The Force is with U BSY

@b.l.a.c.k-shiva Месяц назад

Very cool 😎 Why not go the other way so your outrigging pushes into the water instead of lifting out? I wish you had tracked the speed, but I'm def going to dig into your journey. Terrence Howard has me thinking sail design 💎 😉 Peace and Health

@dominictarrsailing Месяц назад

This way is better! Previously I built one that tacked so outrigger is down on one tack, up on the other. Prefer this side. Makes it like a very long skinny monohull because as the outrigger starts to lift drag drops away

@b.l.a.c.k-shiva Месяц назад

@@dominictarrsailing Oh the drag becomes tremendous...? Hm 🤔

@dominictarrsailing Месяц назад

@@b.l.a.c.k-shiva well, the drag increases. the ama (outrigger float) that I have is a good size for a shunting pacific proa (ama to windward) actually it's just enough to support my body weight. if it was tacking, I'd want a larger ama, so that it can support the boat when pressed on the down tack without digging in. Although, on a small size boat like this, the crew weight is a lot in comparison to the boat, so you could balance it by sitting outward on the other side. That can be a bit risky if you accidentially gybe though, and are sitting in the wrong place! Also, some early trimarans had small ama, and they could capsize diagonally forward by pushing the outrigger under then tripping over it. Modern trimarans have ama that are large enough to support the entire boat, for example, a volume of 200% the entire displacement.

@OgLid 6 месяцев назад

Like bird with its wing out….!

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

thank you!

@BalkanShipyards 6 месяцев назад

Fast boat brah! That sail is about as big as I would go too... The Polish gang go to 12 square meters, yet I think it's too much for my sailing grounds... I too sail a 9 square meter, I'm pleased it reefs easy, since I had some hairy situations running onto a sandy beach with rocks all around, boat speeds up and develops aggressive weather helm, but too late to leave the helm, Jenia put in a reef on a run! That's the JR's greatest advantage, reef when ever, on course, in seconds. The CC is much more efficient, more power and sheeting can be way off yet still very powerful, JR needs to be in the groove at all times, though inferior to CC no matter what. Reefing??? I broke my balls thinking about that, your Zipreef is a novel solution, I may have missed something in the vid, so I suppose you plan taking the unzipped part off? or wrapping it around the boom?? can you reach it safely when sail is down, or is it way aft of the stern??? Keep experimenting with this system, I truly like it... Happy Shunting bro, Balkan Shipyards

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

I unzip the end, take it off and stuff it in a bag. these spars are a 0.3m longer than the hull so I have to crawl to the end of the hull and reach out. There is some slack in the shunt line so I release that and push the tack out, makes it easier. If this boat was the size of havaya I don't think I'd have spars that overhung the end! I'm thinking about ways to make that easier. Maybe have slot in extentions instead of always long spars? I just did some calculations and pjoa laguna (95kg rigged, 10m sail) has almost the same sail area displacement ratio as me with a 8.76m sail. sail_area/((boat_weight+crew_weight)/1000)^(2/3) I get ~35 which is also same for a hobie 14.

@BalkanShipyards 6 месяцев назад

Dood u will go down as a great shunter, extensions for spars exceeded the brilliance of the zip! Please try to add a second reef, 1 already works, 2 will give me more peace... My mind is full of fear when I think about shunters... The fastest of the lot, yet boasts the least RM... That's a bad recipe for staying mast to the heavens rather than to the horizon... Extensions only for first reef, second can live with long spars. Zips the best, biggest, strongest and most plastic possible, and I think bro, u have reefed the CC, which is by far, the best Shunting sail in the world. That's keeping Shunting mate ❤️ Great Force, Balkan Shipyards

@dominictarrsailing 6 месяцев назад

@@BalkanShipyards I was thinking just the yard up pizza slice reef after this. 8.7 zip off to 6, then pizza reef to 4. 4m^2 will make 25 knots feel tame I think. Yeah I wouldn't do 2 sets of extensions too wonky!

@BalkanShipyards 6 месяцев назад

@@dominictarrsailing U mean from new clew once reefed, going up to middle of yard for example??? I love that man!!! I will leave u to figure out the details, since I got a full plate at the moment.... Yet My next Proa could well be a ZipReefed Lateen..... Keep Shunting bro, more than ever....

@jacobhowell-lw8to Месяц назад

Hi Dominic, do you think your proa design in these videos is big enough to go out with two people? I am interested in building something similar and both would like to stay as small as possible but also be able to take a passenger! Appreciate your thoughts.

@dominictarrsailing Месяц назад

Yes i have taken friends out on it a number of times. Sailing with 2, paddling or motoring with 3. I made it slightly short (4.2m) to fit on my cat, but if you made it 4.8 (two sheets long) then that would be better

@dominictarrsailing Месяц назад

Btw, i there is a link to the plans i drew in the build video description!

@nm3231 5 месяцев назад

Would love to know the dimensions of your waka and ama so I can try to make my own proa for paddling, sailing, fishing, is there anywhere with this info ??

@dominictarrsailing 5 месяцев назад

There is a link to the plans in the description of the build video. Please make a video of what you come up with!