Proa
A
proa, also seen as
prau,
perahu, and
prahu, is a type of multihull sailing vessel. While the word
perahu and
proa are generic terms meaning
boat in their native languages,
proa in Western languages has come to describe a vessel consisting of two unequal length parallel hulls. It is sailed so that one hull is kept to windward, and the other to leeward, so that it needs to "shunt" to reverse direction when tacking. The English term
proa usually refers specifically to the South Pacific
proa as described in the journals of the British ship HMS
Centurion. The
perahu traditional outrigger boat is most numerous in the various islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. These differ from the South Pacific vessels. Traditional proas superficially resemble outrigger canoes, but have a buoyant lee hull and a denser, ballasted hull to windward for stability. To Americans, the boats of the Marianas Islands are arguably the most recognizable version.