32 foot proa

Paul is having fun designing a 32 foot offshore proa with long time proapist Russell Brown. It is designed for ease of construction using mostly plywood and constant camber foam cored panels (shown in green).  See the attached pics of the preliminary design:

Retracting Drive Unit

The retracting drive unit in the 35 MKII is a little different from others that have been built.  Where others have employed single or multiple constant-velocity joints to keep the angular velocity constant, we can use a simple universal or Cardan type joint.  This works because the tail shaft is in alignment with the stub shaft coming from the gear when the unit is deployed.  The universal joint also functions as the hinge point for the strut.

Riptide 35 MkII Launch Day

The new Riptide 35 MkII Longboard hit the water for the first time today in Anacortes. It was a beautiful November day, the boat trimmed well, and the retracting drive unit we designed for the boat performed better than our expectations (9 knots with an 18 HP engine and zero vibration).  Thanks and congratulations go to new owners Peter & Mary Salusbury and Jim Betts Enterprises for their hard work and dedication.