PJOA — Boats with Soul is a venture I co-run, bringing together our shared passion for sailing proa, designing and building boats, and introducing this remarkable type of craft to a wider audience.
The idea for PJOA came from Janusz Ostrowski, whom I met in 2013 at a proa gathering in Mielno. Two years later, we decided to develop a proa that would be accessible to a broader group of users.
Previously, to the best of our knowledge, proas were built mainly by enthusiasts who designed and constructed their own boats, drawing inspiration from traditional craft originating in the Marshall Islands, Tonga and the Caroline Islands. By adapting traditional solutions through their own experience and design sensibilities, they created successive generations of boats that were continually modified and refined.
However, this often involved constant experimentation – quite literally, tying and untying components in slightly different ways each time. There was plenty of building, testing and searching for solutions, but rather less actual enjoyment of sailing.
Our aim was to create a small boat, approximately 5 metres long, that would be:
- properly and safely designed,
- correctly rigged and equipped,
- intuitive and consistent to trim and operate,
- sound and safe to handle under sail,
- based on proven, reasonably standardised solutions,
- inspired by its traditional ancestors, yet contemporary in design,
- characterised by good seaworthiness.
There were also practical requirements: the boat had to be transportable on a car roof, easy to assemble and prepare for sailing, and straightforward to maintain.
Our plans coincided with an order Janusz received from Hungary, from a group of enthusiasts based near Lake Balaton, who were looking for precisely this type of proa. The first sketch was developed for a boat intended to be built from plywood using the stitch-and-glue method.
In the meantime, however, we decided to redesign the boat and use a construction technology I had previously developed and applied when building BassoOur intention was to combine all the qualities we had set out to achieve with ease of maintenance, reduced repair requirements and the possibility of using the boats in rental fleets.
In 2014, we launched the first PJOA boat, Laguna, on Lake Niegocin in Poland. Since then, we have designed nine different boats and jointly built several of them. Full sets of plans and documentation have also been developed for most of the designs and are available to purchase. Laguna. Od tego czasu zaprojektowaliśmy dziewięć różnych jednostek, a kilka z nich wspólnie zbudowaliśmy. Do większości projektów powstała również pełna dokumentacja, którą można kupić.
Boats based on our designs have been built in various parts of the world – from Japan and the USA to countries across Asia and Europe, with a further build underway in Madagascar.
My role in the project includes design support, 3D modelling, preparation of technical documentation and plans, marketing, and co-developing the brand. I am also involved in building prototypes, rigging and testing the boats. Janusz, as an engineer, is responsible for calculations, structural analysis and developing new solutions, which we then implement and refine together.
Under the PJOA brand, we have exhibited at boat shows in Poland and Germany. Alongside the boats themselves, we also design crab claw sailsa distinctive and essential feature of these craft.
More about the project can be found at pjoa.eu.