The Ulua Hawaiian sailing outrigger. Over 100 sets of plans purchased… how many built/building?
I will update and add to this this as I find out more. Here is what I know today. If you are building an Ulua, drop me a line!
- Gary Dierking himself – multiples, including this fiberglass one for some clients. Also a white one and a red one?
- Me as you have been reading all along, I hope! A work in progress. Standard 18′ length, will rig to sail, possibly rig with ‘broken wing’ for sailing.
- Ted Hardie. Standard 18′ foot length, located Big Island, Hawaii. No manu, currently not rigged for sailing, but he says he has plans. More here.
- Kent Robertson. Location: Kauai, North Carolina. Beautiful construction, damaged during shipping to Hawaii, status unknown.
- Dan St. Gean. 2 hulls built (?) one as a 21′ tri. Manu per Gary’s instructions. Also see here. He has also been helpful with some advice.
- David Lowry. Washington state. Stretched design to 24′. Sailing with rig from previous boat on lakes of Eastern Washington. We have corresponded, and I thank him for his help.
- Ben Corbett’s 24′ (7.5M) stretch Ulua equipped with a paddle racing style ama.
- Adam Hussey. Sailing rig, standard length, Kauai, Hawaii.
- Michael Litter. SF bay area. 24-foot stretch. We had a few emails early in the project, and I see he has a photo of his hull on Gary’s site, otherwise I don’t know his progress.
- Paul Luginbuhl. Standard length, in Switzerland?
- Bill Dochnahl. 27 footer under construction (?) Pic from Gary’s site. More here.
the vertical pieces in that water–the lee boards–what are they called on uluas?
The leeboard is called a ‘leeboard’. Traditional Hawaiian canoes did not have them. The Western-style rudder with tiller is also anachronistic, an addition by Gary Dierking. Traditional steering was by steering oar, which is probably not as efficient as a deep, narrow rudder/foil, and traditional sailing outriggers probably could not go to weather. See the book Hawaiian Canoe-Building Traditions for pictures, though not much technical discussion.