In 2022 I wanted to put all the lessons I had learned in messing around with outrigger canoe sailing into practice by building a new boat from scratch.

Now, at this point, a few things had become apparent. Firstly, every lesson I learned about how NOT to build a boat and outrigger came from my own mistakes. And secondly, those mistakes appear only once all the preparation, planning, designing, building, and testing have been completed. Thus, making outriggers, crossbeams, and rigging designs from my own design process was clearly not the most efficient method. I welcomed all the mistakes and lessons, but to start from scratch meant that I would be multiplying the number of things that I could screw up by some order of magnitude.

I therefore decided to refer to established boat and rigging designs that have been at least tried and tested by people much smarter and more experienced than myself. Working from someone elses design would allow me to at least have a trustworthy boat that I could use as a platform for adjusting and experimenting with the fun aspects of boatbuilding, without worrying about whether the general design would float.

It was also important to find a design that was not-too-traditional, as my access to the materials and methods of native South-Pacific areas is limited. I discovered the wonderful book on outrigger canoe building by Gary Dierking, and decided to follow his design for a simple plywood Wa’apa design.