How to Rig The Wharram Melanesia 16 Sailing Canoe

How to rig a homemade crabclaw sail on a Melanesia 16 sailing canoe.

My rig was made from a couple of small willow trunks and a cut down spinnaker as per James Wharram's plans. I did a few modifications such as add some mahogany cleats and a small spreader setup. I sailed this boat extensively in the summer of 2023 and it is a fine vessel. The rudderless steering was easier than I expected to get accustomed to. The flexible booms enable a sort of "auto-reefing" in winds grater than 15-20 kts.

The canoe is not a proa and sails like a trimaran on one tack and a catamaran on the other.

Here are the plans for the boat:

[PrimitiveTim]

This is literally the coolest thing you've ever done 😁

[dominictarrsailing]

looks good! I especially like the bike trailer for it want to see more of that!

I reckon it might work better to have the sheet tied at the back, and the free end come from the front back to your hand. it will be the same mechanical advantage but the ergonomics of pulling towards your body will be a lot easier

[leemelbourne]

Having to tie off the outriggers with rope every time you rig would be pretty inconvenient. I am curious about other solutions that would be faster to setup.