Proa Sailing Videos
These are the sailing fishing boats that will take Hawaii’s commercial fishermen to sea, safely and profitably, when gas becomes too expensive.
After cruising down this page, you may ask why we only have videos of Russell Brown’s proas. Aren’t there videos of other proas out there? Good question!
There are videos of others, but they are mostly of small ones. Even the ones most people in the proa community consider “large” are barely capable of carrying a couple of people plus basic camping gear. There are some big ones that are so weird and poorly designed they’ve never gotten away from the dock, or when they do, they break or end up on the rocks. Breaking the boat is not good.
There aren’t any proas out there in the size range we’re building except Russell’s. As far as size goes, proa sailors generally consider Russell’s proas “huge”. And Russell’s boats don’t break: they’ve been all over the world, from Puget Sound to Mexico to Australia, up and down the East Coast of the USA, in the Caribbean, and across the Atlantic to Europe.
And he’s a proa expert. Russell was born the son of a multihull designer, was sailing when he was 10, and has been designing and sailing his own proas since he was 14. We believe he is the world’s foremost expert on the design and sailing of modern proas built with modern materials, and we’re proud to know him and have him on the Advisory Board for the Splash Project.
Russell Brown’s Proa Jzerro Sailing In Port Townsend September 2012
Russell Brown’s Proa Jzerro Sailing Downwind
Russell Brown’s Proa Jzerro On The First Leg of the Race To Alaska (R2AK) in 2015
Russell Brown’s Proa Jzerro Sailing Past Socorro Island
Proas are faster than most motorboats but don’t use any gas; they don’t pound in a choppy sea, and the motion is far, far less than that of a motorboat at the same speed. This translates into less crew fatigue and more energy for fishing when you get to the fishing grounds; and a better-rested crew when they hit the dock back at their home port to unload fish.
We feel the world is not only ready for, but also in desperate need of this energy-efficient sailing technology for fishing boats. Click on the blue text below to find out more about our “Splash” project: