Amaran - English text- tri-point semi-proa

Psychomedical Help: working with mind, spirit and soul in physical disease like cancer

The name Amaran was used by Piet Viegers for his innovative three-pod. 

 However, his Amaran, smart and aesthetic as it was, lost it's floats.

To solve the problem of loosing floats on amarans for general use, a new frame has been developed. This frame has more possibilities to limit the diving movement of the floats. It consist of three bamboo-epoxy legs.  Wheels at the end of each leg serve to control the direction of the floats. A horizontal bar at the base enables the floats to vertically adapt to the waves.

A vertically flexible float as such, adapting to the waves, prooved successful on Gougeon Brothers' trimaran  Adrenalin .

Adrenalin, soon after its first successes in the competition, was ruled out for further participation. This classic response to real innovations, led to Adrenalins disappearance for nearly twenty years. In the fall of 2009, the trimaran emerged in New Zealand; alive and kicking.

Trimarans,  including Adrenalin, have a strong horizontal bar at the end of their trampolines. Its is stabilised by shrouds. This horizontal bar gives the designer an opportunity to create a device that can limit the diving movement of the float. On Adrenalin, a wooden spring has been attached to the end of the bar, to fulfill this task. It works well. In New Amaran their is no horiontal bar at the end of each leg. Rather, the frame ends in a vertical bar. The bar is fixed with X-crossed (dyneema) shrouds to the other two bars, at the end of the other legs.
This vertical bar enables the application of a shockcord (front float), or an air cushion (port and starboard float) that limits the float from diving under.

New Amaran is not yet to carry a cabin. It starts with a lozenge-shaped bamboo-epoxy platform, fixed below the main, in between the rear legs. 

From here  the front float is controlled.

When sailing, new Amaran configures like a tri-point semi-proa: one rear float and the steering front float are aligned, while the second rear float is on the luff side, like a pacific proa.

After tacking, the formerly luff float becomes the rear float and is aligned with the front float. They form the new bow, over which the vessel sails. The former rear float, now the luff ama, is parallelled to the other rear float (the parallellity of their positions is fixed, as their wheels are connected with lines).

In the proa configuration, New Amaran has the following dimensions:

Late summer 2010 the platform had its first and dry tryout in the open. It proofs stable. Dyneema X rigging and mast and spreaders await placement, spring 2011.