Toop (also known as toup, prauw toop or perahu toop) is a type of boat-ship produced in

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

. Appeared at the end of the 18th century, and built in local shipyards, this type of boat is one of the results of the incorporation of 'Western' and ' Nusantaran' technologies that began in the shipyards of the 17th and 18th European trading companies. This type of boat is commonly used for long-distance shipping. In the first half of the 19th century, this was the most common type of boat used by sailors and traders in Nusantara.Bruijn Kops, G.F. de (1854): 'Iets over de Zeevaart in den Indischen Archipel', Tijdschrift voor Nijverheid en Landbouw in Nederlandsch-Indië, 1, pp. 21-69. Majority of toop is owned by merchants from the western area of Nusantara.Liebner, Horst H. (2016). ''Beberapa Catatan Akan Sejarah Pembuatan Perahu Dan Pelayaran Nusantara''. Jakarta: Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.

Description

Java Amiral E Paris Pirogue de passage de Surabaya et Caboteur nomme Toup

Two to three masted, toop carries 2 similar trapezoid sail on the main mast and the fore mast; the sails are arranged in such a way that a toop can turn the bow towards the wind without lowering and moving the sail under the new wind, something very beneficial if beating to windward in a narrow place. The stern is equipped with European-style

fore-and-aft A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing ship rig with sails set mainly in the median plane of the keel, rather than perpendicular to it, as on a square-rigged vessel. Description Fore-and-aft rigged sails include staysails, Bermuda rigged sails, gaff ...

sail, and there may be three or four small

headsail A sail plan is a drawing of a sailing craft, viewed from the side, depicting its sails, the spars that carry them and some of the rigging that supports the rig. By extension, "sail plan" describes the arrangement of sails on a craft. A sailing c ...

s attached to the bowsprit. The masts are not bipod or tripod, but only a single masts that was reinforced with shrouds similar to European masts attachments. Toop in general used for long-distance shipping and shows the much similarities with European design: The stern of many toop is quadrilateral ( transom), and the shape of the hull is more similar to European sailing vessels than Nusantaran boats. Most of these boats are made using the same technique with those used to build European ships: Attaching the framework to

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

first before the attaching the outer planking. The boat sometimes also carried oars, numbered between 16 and 20. Some of them also towed a sloop behind that could carry the entire crew. The presence of large sloop indicates that the toop is prepared to operate in areas without dock facilities that can facilitate loading and unloading activities. The hull of toop is decked at fore and aft. The square stern has ornamental carvings. At the aft there is a cabin which rises slightly above deck and covered with a roof inclined longitudinally. South Sulawesian toop had this cabin entirely below deck. In light loads, the upperworks at sides were raised with mats. A

cargo hatch 120px, View of the hold of a container ship A ship's hold or cargo hold is a space for carrying cargo in a ship or airplane compartment. Description Cargo in holds may be either packaged in crates, bales, etc., or unpackaged (bulk cargo). Acc ...

is present abaft each mast. South Sulawesian prau toop only has 2 masts, the ones from Surabaya has taller masts. However, different illustrations and descriptions showed variations of toop's hull: There are European-type hulls, with rectangular sterns and middle (axial) steering; there are boats with bow similar to European ships, but using side steering (double quarter rudder) and stern decks similar to

padewakang Padewakangs were traditional boats used by the Bugis, Mandar, and Makassar people of South Sulawesi. Padewakangs were used for long-distance voyages serving the south Sulawesi kingdoms. Etymology The origin of the name is unknown, though some ...

. The difference of hull forms suggests that the word 'toop' actually refer to the

sail plan A sail plan is a drawing of a sailing craft, viewed from the side, depicting its sails, the spars that carry them and some of the rigging that supports the rig. By extension, "sail plan" describes the arrangement of sails on a craft. A sailing c ...

, a combination of fore-and-aft 'Western' sails and two elevated rectangular sails that seems to be a variety of

tanja sail Tanja sail ( Malay: ''layar tanjak'') or tanja rig is a type of sail commonly used by the Austronesian people, particularly in Maritime Southeast Asia. It is also known as the tilted square sail, canted rectangular sail, rectangular balance lug ...

s. The carrying capacity of toop is about 40–60 koyan (96.8–145 metric tons), the largest being 100 koyan (241,9 metric tons). There are toop which is favored by

Bugis The Bugis people, also known as Buginese, are an Austronesian ethnic groupthe most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassarese and Torajan), in the south-western province of Sula ...

, the shape is look like a padewakang, but uses two to three masts whose rigging is European-styled, and carrying a kind of

spritsail The spritsail is a four-sided, fore-and-aft sail that is supported at its highest points by the mast and a diagonally running spar known as the sprit. The foot of the sail can be stretched by a boom or held loose-footed just by its sheets. A ...

. These boats are generally larger than padewakang, and only used for trading.Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië. v.16:no.2 1854. p. 364. Western hulled toop is favored by the Dutch to be armed in case of war. U.S. office of strategic service noted the dimensions of toop: A length of , breadth of , and depth of .

References

{{Indonesian traditional vessels Boats of Indonesia Boats Boat types Ships Sailing ships Ship types Indonesian inventions Sailboat types Merchant ships Two-masted ships Three-masted ships Four-masted ships Tall ships

Description

See also

References