Lakatoi (also Lagatoi) are multiple-hulled

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

watercraft A watercraft or waterborne vessel is any vehicle designed for travel across or through water bodies, such as a boat, ship, hovercraft, submersible or submarine. Types Historically, watercraft have been divided into two main categories. *Raf ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. They are named in the

Motu language Motu (sometimes called Pure Motu or True Motu to distinguish it from Hiri Motu) is a Central Papuan Tip language that is spoken by the Motuans, an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea. It is commonly used today in the region, particul ...

and traditionally used in the

Hiri trade cycle Hiri is the name for the traditional trade voyages that formed an important part of the culture of the Motu people of Papua New Guinea. Origins The Motu live in a comparative rain shadow – the dry season is unusually harsh, and there are not ...

. Lakatoi (whose literal meaning is ''three dugouts)'' are fashioned from two or more dugout logs fastened together to give stability and cargo-carrying capacity. The two or more dugouts are joined by booms, with a platform built on top. The sail is a

crab-claw sail The crab claw sail is a fore-and-aft triangular sail with spars along upper and lower edges. The crab claw sail was first developed by the Austronesian peoples by at least 2000 BCE. It is sometimes known as the Oceanic lateen or the Oceanic sp ...

. Horridge (2008) discusses the rig and how the craft is manouvred.

Gallery

File:Picturesque New Guinea Plate V (a) - Loading Lakatoi, Port Moresby.jpg, Loading a ''lakatoi'' at

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, prior to 1885 File:Picturesque New Guinea Plate VII (a) - Lakatoi, Near Elevala Island.jpg, ''Lakatoi'' near Elevala Island, prior to 1885 File:PSM V52 D045 Papuan lake dwellings with a lakatoi under sail.jpg, Papuan lake dwellings with a ''lakatoi'' under sail, 1898 or before File:Papua Lakatoi 2s 6d stamp with POSTAGIE variety.jpg, 1901 stamp by the British Government depicting a ''lakatoi''

References

Multihulls Water transport in Papua New Guinea {{sailing-stub

Gallery

See also

References