KUPUNA
Photos by Andrew Kydd
KUPUNA was built in Hawaii by Andy Kydd at Kihei, Maui. The hull is 12′9″ LOA with a slender 2' beam, and the outrigger gives her an overall span of approximately 8'. Built of marine plywood and sapele to Andrew’s own design, she was inspired by the outrigger sailing canoes of Gary Dierking. KUPUNA (which means ancestor) was launched without a rig in August 2022. In the summer of 2023, Andy designed and built the rig, which he describes as “shunting proa style—to come about you let go of the tack, which becomes the clew, and haul in on the clew to convert it to the tack.” Andy has had fun learning to work the rig and reports that the canoe sails well downwind and on a reach, but will not make headway to windward. He plans to make adjustments next spring and will be fitting a removable leeboard.
KITTY
Photo by Bob Runnalls
Bob Runnalls of Kelowna, British Columbia, built his 9′6″ Nutshell pram, KITTY, during the Covid-19 pandemic. With no prior boatbuilding experience and “very little carpentry of any sort,” he found the construction challenging but was helped by the detailed Joel White plans. KITTY’s hull is ½″-thick marine-grade mahogany plywood on a laminated Douglas-fir ’midships frame and stem. The breasthook and quarter knees are ¾″ Douglas-fir. Since launching the boat on Okanagan Lake, Bob has been rowing KITTY and says she is “very stable even in rough waters.” He plans to build a sailing rig and has already made the daggerboard and its trunk.