Hey all,
I've read that the "Madness" proa is intended for coastal sailing and "island hopping." How much "hopping" are we talking here? I live in the Western Pacific and we have lots of islands. How far is "too far" for this craft, assuming reasonably good weather, caution, etc?
G.
Designer John Harris in his blog “The Life of Boats” writes the following: ".
Madness wasn’t designed for offshore work. It’s not a structural thing—I fully expect Madness to be durable in nasty coastal conditions, which can of course rival anything found at sea. The issue is that the boat is quite low-slung and light and pretty wet in waves. Unless you’re a French singlehander, a week of gale conditions would probably kill you."
I’d say unless you’re familiar with such pastimes I.e getting stuck at sea for an extra week in a 28" wide canoe, it would make sense to take his comments very seriously. Compared to, for example Bieker/Brown’s “offshore proa” Madness is much lower, narrower, and probably wetter in adverse conditions.