Sixty years since trans-Atlantic tripDEVORAN-based designer of catamarans, yachtsman, explorer and marine archaeologist 87-year-old James Wharram will be cel-ebrating the 60th anniversary of his first trans-Atlantic crossing from Falmouth to the West Indies later this month.

On September 27, 1955 James along with his two women crew set sail from Falmouth aboard Tangaroa, a self-built 23 ft. long flat-bottomed double canoe, which in modern yachting par-lance is now called a catamaran.

Thor Heyerdahl had crossed the Pacific in 1948 from Peru to Poly-nesia to prove that the inhabit-ants of the central Pacific islands had migrated from South Amer-ica by sailing raft. A theory now questioned by eminent anthro-pologists. The Western world and Heyerdahl at this time concluded that the Polynesian craft were not seaworthy enough to complete any long ocean voyages.

In 1953 at the age of 25, having extensively researched and stud-ied Polynesian and Pacific craft, James embarked on a mission to prove that these were in fact extremely capable vessels. He de-signed and built the first British ocean-going double-canoe/cata-maran, the Tangaroa.

James said: “My quest was to sail the Atlantic to prove the dou-ble canoe was a seaworthy vessel. An ambitious project to prove Thor Heyerdahl was wrong.”

With two German girls Jutta Schultze-Rohnhof and Ruth Merseburger as crew he set sail from Falmouth for Las Palmas and then onto Trinidad.

“From that voyage, with a great-er understanding of ocean sail-ing double canoes I built a 40ft, V-eed hull catamaran in Trinidad named Rongo and sailed it 1,500 miles north to New York. Then I made the first ever multi-hull voy-age from west to east across the stormy North Atlantic in 1959. This led me to become a designer of catamarans,” said James.

His inspiration for his first voy-age came from reading The Voy-age of the Kaimiloa by French-man Eric De Bisschop. He said the book is probably the most influen-tial book in his extensive library.

De Bisschop built a 38ft junk rigged, Pacific-inspired, dou-ble canoe in Hawaii in 1938 and sailed it with a companion across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans (via Cape of Good Hope) to

Toulon in France, thereby prov-ing that the Pacific double canoe was a seaworthy craft, capable of making long ocean voyages.

James, who describes himself as a “disciple” of De Bisschop, said this was probably the reason he found himself in Falmouth 60 years ago ready to embark on a thrilling voyage of discovery.

A Fellow of the Royal Geo-graphical Society, James Whar-ram is often described as the “father” of multi-hulls. Interna-tionally acclaimed for his sterling work, here in the UK he has not had the recognition he so rightly deserves.

His voyages of exploration, de-signs and adventures warrant a place in our maritime history both locally and nationwide.

Since these first pioneering voy-

ages, James, from 1973 assisted by his co-designer Hanneke Boon, has been designing Polynesian-style catamarans for people to build themselves, to bring the concept of seaworthy, ocean-go-ing double canoes to the Western yachting public, meeting a lot of resistance from the British yacht-ing establishment on the way.

“Particularly in the early years, when people still could not accept that a ‘native’ boat could be as good or better a sailing ship than a Western-type yacht, especially when such a craft was self-built by an ‘amateur’,” he said.

In 1987-92 James and his part-ners built a new flagship, the 63ft catamaran Spirit of Gaia, which they sailed into the Pacific and round the world, to study Indo-Pacific canoe-craft.

In 2008-09 James and Hanneke conceived the Lapita Voyage expe-dition, sailing two double canoes based on traditional Polynesian hull form, from the Philippines to Tikopia and Anuta in the Solo-mon Islands. The ‘Lapita Voyage’ was a major expedition in experi-mental marine archaeology.

It was the first exploration of one possible migration route into the Central Pacific by ethnic sail-ing craft. The two boats were do-nated to the remote Polynesian islands for future transport use.

Today, James continues to fol-

low his passion for designing catamarans with his life hav-ing come full circle again with a brand new design, the same length as Tangaroa, a lightweight trailer sailer/coastal trek catama-ran, the MANA 24.

He said: “She has modern fea-tures and influences, but essen-tially the design philosophy that inspired me as a young man still motivates me now.”

“I think that modern sailing boats are being priced out of the market. Not just by 20 per cent VAT but by the price of moorings and marinas. The best solution to this is to self-build your boat and to trail it home.

“Assisted by a team of Cornish enthusiasts, local designer and CAD expert Simon Holman, the computer cutting firm Fibrefu-sion and the Cornwall Marine Network, we have tied all our sail-ing, design and building knowl-edge into this new 24ft car trailer-sailer design to be sold as an easy to assemble ‘Ikea’ style kit boat using state of the art CNC ma-chines, 3D graphics and a design concept we hope will appeal to an audience of adventurous, free spirited people. “

In a Pathé newsreel clip filmed in Falmouth see the Tangaroa moored at the quay (https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t72lKIpb3VY).

James Wharram and his two German women crew aboard catamaran Tanagaroa moored alongside the south side of Customs House Quay prior to sailing the Atlantic in 1955

In Port8 @thepacket

with David Barnicoat

Wednesday September 16, 2015 t Newsdesk: 01326 213341 Email: editorial@packetseries.co.uk

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8Marshall Islands tanker Kirstin (30,006/09) arrived from Loch Long, Scotland for bunkers in Falmouth Bay and sailed for Nova Scotia, Canada.Marshall Islands tanker STI Battery (29,785/14) arrived from Milford Haven for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Amsterdam.British research vessel Severn Guardian (22/12) sailed from the Port Pendennis Marina to Newlyn.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9Antiguan tanker Sloman Hermes (11,298/12) arrived from Terneuzen, Netherlands for bun-kers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Milford Haven.Panamanian landing craft Arromanches (290/87) arrived from the Isles of Scilly to County Wharf to load building materials.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10Norwegian vehicle carrier Verona ( 37,237/00) sailed from No. 2 dry-dock for Le Havre, France. Dutch salvage tug Bluster (2,311/88) arrived from Brittany, France to County Wharf and sailed later to take up salvage station in Fal-mouth bay.Liberian tanker Pacific Onyx (28,426/13) ar-rived from Brazil for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Pembroke.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11Belgian general cargo vessel Fast Sam (1,983/94) arrived from the River Thames to load glass at the County Wharf and sailed for Gunness, Humber River.Panamanian bulker Frontier Lodestar (92,752/11) arrived from the North Sea Canal, Netherlands for bunkers in Falmouth Bay and sailed for Quebec, Canada.Bluster (2,311/88) sailed from Falmouth Bay for Ijmuiden, Netherlands.Curacao reefer Sierra Loba (5,100/97) sailed from Falmouth Bay for Amsterdam, Nether-lands

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12Antiguan general cargo vessel Nordana Emma (9,611/05) arrived from Emden, River Ems, Germany for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Port Colbourne, Labrador, Canada.Faeroese tanker Fure Fladen (11,377/03) ar-rived from Teesport to Crossroads for bunkers and sailed for Bethiaou, Algeria.Dutch general cargo vessel Stellaprima (6,902/91) arrived from Alabama, USA to Fal-mouth Bay to await orders.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13Liberian bulker Belo Horizonte (42,951/12) ar-rived from Salvador, Brazil, to Falmouth Bay.British tanker Sarnia Cherie (GIB/tco 3,043/07) arrived from Port Jerome, River Seine, France for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Milford Haven.Irish general cargo vessel Arklow Rebel (2,999/05) arrived from Bordeaux, France for bunkers in the Carrick Roads and sailed for Hull, River Humber.Liberian lpg tanker Navigator Neptune (17,840/00) arrived from Le Havre, France for bunkers in the Carrick Roads.Marshall Islands bulker Besiktas (94,145/11) arrived from Puerto Nuevo, Columbia for bun-kers in Falmouth Bay

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14Navigator Neptune (17,840/00) sailed from Falmouth Bay to sea in a south westerly direc-tion and slow steaming to wait for orders in the Atlantic.Bahamian passenger ferry Commodore Clipper (14,000/99) arrived from Portsmouth into No. 3 dry-dock.Panamanian bulker Ocean Cygnus (89.603/06) arrived from Mount’s Bay for bunkers in the bay and sailed for Port Cartier, Canada.Besiktas (94,145/11) sailed from Falmouth Bay for Europoort, Rotterdam.

Shipping movements

James Wharram