What are the origins of Sailing Canoes?
Sailing Canoes became a natural extension as an alternative means of propulsion for many types of canoe across the whole of Oceania. Sailing canoes were amongst some of the largest ever constructed throughout the Pacific and were used in Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia in a variety of forms. Sailing canoes were used not only on Polynesian double hulled voyaging canoes up to one hundred feet in length, but for smaller canoe forms designed for solo use by fisherman who would paddle to their fishing spot in the still of the early morning and sail home in the afternoon powered by the afternoon sea breezes and trade winds. Sailing rigs were used and continue to be used on a variety of outrigger types, both single, double and double hulled. Double outrigger sailing canoes are common to Micronesia and the islands of the Philippines and Indonesia, whilst the single outrigger sailing canoes are common to Polynesia as was the double hulled sailing canoes.
