Well over a thousand years ago the Polynesians were the first to master the design and building of blue water capable multihull sail boats.  They then used these boats to explore and colonize the vast reaches of the Pacific.  This coming spring we will be graced by the visit of Mimi George, one of the worlds leading researches of this ancient technology. The following paper presents this research and also touches on her efforts to help preserve these capabilities among living Polynesians.  A particularly interesting part of this research is the finding that the tips of the traditional crab claw sail will twist off to spill heavy wind but are stiff enough to capture the forces of light air.

Also here is a web site further describing the efforts to preserve Polynesian boat building culture: