A PROA
The cross-braces or outriggers are of two-by-four-inch clear spruce six feet long, and their outer ends are bolted to a solid spruce timber twelve feet long, four inches wide, and ten inches deep. They should be sharpened at both ends with an adze, draw-knife, or a chisel and plane.
A mast twelve feet long and three inches in diameter is stepped seven feet from the bow, and to it a lateen rig is lashed fast having the gaff eighteen feet long and the boom fifteen feet in length.
A block and tackle at the bow will pay off the angle and another at the stern will regulate the position of the sail.
Cross-wires for braces may extend under the short decking to steady the outrigger and keep it from racking the braces, and three or four narrow planks can be laid across the braces close to the large boat on which the boy and a friend or two may sit when sailing.
A rudder may be attached to the stern of the large boat, as shown in Fig. 17, or an oar can be used to steer with.
Paint the boats any desired color, and for the first time give them at least three or four thin coats not less than two days apart, so that one will dry thoroughly before the next one is laid on. Never put thick or gummy paint on a boat; thin it down and apply two coats rather than one thick one.
A Lark
Perhaps the safest kind of a sailing-craft next to a catamaran is a lark with a broad beam and flat at both bow and stern. There are various forms of the half-rater, but the one shown in Fig. 24 is easy to construct and requires less careful fitting and joining than the hulls with pointed bows and long, overhanging sterns.
In general construction this hull is similar to the punt, and when putting it together the description for the building of the punt must be borne in mind.