Gaiasdream

Gaiasdream is the tenth boat I have designed and built. To this tally I recently added an light, open-transom fast dinghy for my son Joshua, named after Joshua Slocum – the first man to sail single-handed around the world.

I have worked hard to maximize the environmental credentials of all my boats. With Gaiasdream I have taken the quest for a truly sustainable yacht to a new level, even buying 100% green electricity to power the shed while she was built. The mast, hulls, cabin and crossbeams are built from Australian plantation timber. The engine, a standard Nissan diesel, I converted to run on recycled vegetable oil. The stove and oven run on ethanol and 600watts of solar panels provide more than enough electricity.

So how do the proa’s claims of speed, efficiency and superior sea keeping stack up in reality? Comfortably exceeding the speed of the wind in anything less than 15kts of breeze, she may well be the fastest cruising yacht on Pittwater. Despite her 71foot length, her long-range displacement, including tools, fuel and provisions, is a mere 9tons. She carries 172square metres of sail, of which 13square metres are in the 22metre wing-mast.

One of Gaiasdream’s most enviable attributes only becomes apparent when you leave the calm safe waters of Pittwater and head out onto the lumpy Tasman Sea. With the shorter hull to windward, when sailing upwind the tips of both the shorter hull and the main hull hit the oncoming waves at approximately the same time. The awkward “corkscrew” motion, with which sailors of conventional catamarans will be all too familiar, is almost completely absent.

So, with the boat finally complete and after a successful summer of sea trials, it’s time to set sail!