This is the tacking outrigger "Short Dragon" (a historical joke; one famous Viking longship was called "Long Dragon" -- yes it had a dragon-headed prow). The vaka (main hull) is 16 feet long, about 22 inches wide at the sheer, 14 inches wide at the very bottom, about 23 inches deep amidships, has about 3 inches of rocker, and sinks about 7 inches with me inside (no gear or rig). It is built of 1/4 inch A/C exterior plywood, glassed on the outside and on the inside from waterline down (including bottom). The bottom is finished with epoxy and graphite -- I never used that stuff and was curious about its scratch resistance and desirability for mid-season touch-up. With all decks and seats amounted the vaka weighs about 150 pounds.

The 14 foot long V-bottom ama is 14 inches wide amidships, 14 inches deep amidships, is decked and sealed and foam-filled, and weighs about 70 pounds. I added super-heavy fiberglass strips on the V-bottom (keel) where the v-keel will be digging into sand and pebbles. The ama holds up my weight plus its share of the akas in water, and still has at least an inch freeboard to spare (I weigh 170 pounds; half of the aka weight is 15 pounds).

The desirability for this kind of ama for a tacking boat is up to question. First designed for use in proa-mode, the ama seemed like a good enough idea, its V-bottom offering ease of construction and quiet re-entry into the water (no annoying slapping), its weight useful windward ballast, and its flotation volume just enough for safety (re-entering boat from the water, sail-aback flotation safety, possibly sinkable/floodable for righting proa and emptying vaka of some water after capsize). I decided to try it for the tacking mode when I changed my mind about the rig (the hulls are symmetrical reflecting my original intention to permit proa-mode sailing). After testing I may decide to change the ama to something more suitable for tacking -- probably something similar to Gary Dierking's foam-and-glass amas for his tacking outriggers, with float volume forward.

The akas are laminated from Douglas Fir flooring planks from lumber store (clear of knots and finish-planed; they came with a shallow, wide central groove which I have to plane flat). They are three planks toward the aka end and 4 planks toward the vaka end. At 30 pounds combined they are heavy, but I am comforted by the thought that the akas probably will not break. Since this is a tacking outrigger canoe, the akas do need to be stronger than those used for a shunting Pacific-mode proa (ama always kept to windward, never taking sail or hull loads).

The assembled boat is 7 feet wide, outer gunwale to outer gunwale. This width is required by my garage if I want to store the boat with akas loosely assembled in their posi-tions. I was also thinking of trailering the boat fully assembled.

The sail rig is planned to be variable for experimentation. I will start with a yawl rig: a 37 sq ft standing lug (mizzen) from the Wooden Boat Store (for their small Nutshell Pram) and a 44 square foot used Ber-mudan sail for the main (raised off a stub mast so I can drop the whole thing quickly). I may change the main to a 54 square foot standing lug (also from Wooden Boat Store), and for that I would have to build a new mast step further forward.

I also have a more central mast step if I have to drop the main in sustained gusts or if I want to push off into windy weather (for me defined as 20-25 mph) -- I would then move the mizzen mast to the 3rd step to use it as a heavy weather sail.

The leeboard is captured between upper and lower rails and can slide about 22 inches fore and aft of center for various hull center-of-lateral-resistance adjustments. The rudder is a doubtful experiment with an In-donesian side-rudder arrangement (reminds also of a Viking-era steering oar) set up about a foot behind the aft aka. It will be attached to its bottom bearing with a line (running into hull and attached to bungie or some other flexible attachment method), such that the rudder can tilt up if it hits bottoms and can be easily shipped/unshipped. It is also easily reachable for repair. It might not be large enough or aft enough to steet the canoe through the wind in a tack -- I will have to see what happens. My thought was, that I wouldn't need as powerful a rudder for a canoe so sensitive to crew weight position.

I will probably carry an auxiliary steering oar about 8 feet long to be used to kick the boat over if needed (or provide extra power for downwind sailing with bad following sea) but also to try our single-oar rowing (like a gondola): I want to see if a long oar whose push balances the ama rotation and aided by rudder trim would be a useful propulsion device.

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