Thousands of years ago Austronesian seafarers mastered the design
and construction of blue water capable multihull sail boats. They used
these boats to explore and colonize vast reaches of the Pacific and Indian
Oceans. On April 2, 2019 we will be graced by the visit of Mimi George,
one of the world’s leading researchers of this ancient technology. The
following paper presents some of her 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 long
slender arms of the traditional claw sail bend over to spill heavy wind but are
stiff enough to capture the forces of light to moderate airs. Also here is a web site further describing the efforts to preserve Polynesian boat building culture: |
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