Editing Proa (section)

{{Short description|Type of multihull sailboat}}
{{About|the sailboat|the German basketball league|ProA|the dinosaur|Proa valdearinnoensis}}
[[Image:proa1.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Caroline Islands|Carolinian]] ''[[Wa (watercraft)|wa]]'' in [[Pohnpei]] with a single [[outrigger]] typical of Pacific proas]]
[[File:CanoeTacking.webm|thumb|right|Shunting maneuver on a Pacific [[single-outrigger]] proa]]
[[File:Boracay paraw sailboats 010.jpg|thumb|A ''[[paraw]]'' in [[Boracay]], [[Philippines]], with the double-outriggers typical of Southeast Asian proas]]
[[File:Austronesian Sail Types.png|thumb|Traditional [[Austronesian people|Austronesian]] generalized sail types.<ref name="Doran1981">{{cite book |last1=Doran |first1=Edwin B. |title=Wangka: Austronesian Canoe Origins |date=1981 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=9780890961070}}</ref>
<br>'''A''': Double sprit ([[Sri Lanka]]) 
<br>'''B''': [[Spritsail|Common sprit]] ([[Philippines]]) 
<br>'''C''': [[Crab claw sail|Oceanic sprit]] ([[Tahiti]]) 
<br>'''D''': Oceanic sprit ([[Marquesas]]) 
<br>'''E''': Oceanic sprit ([[Philippines]]) 
<br>'''F''': [[Crab claw sail|Crane sprit]] ([[Marshall Islands]]) 
<br>'''G''': [[Tanja sail|Rectangular boom lug]] ([[Maluku Islands]]) 
<br>'''H''': [[Lug sail|Square boom lug]] ([[Gulf of Thailand]]) 
<br>'''I''': [[Lug sail|Trapezial boom lug]] ([[Vietnam]])]]
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[[File:Sail plan proa.svg|thumb|[[Sail-plan]] of a proa.]]-->

'''Proas''' are various types of [[Multihull|multi-hull]] [[outrigger boat|outrigger]] [[sailboat]]s of the [[Austronesian peoples]]. The terms were used for native [[Austronesian ships]] in European records during the [[European colonisation of Southeast Asia|Colonial era]] indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the double-ended [[single-outrigger]] boats of [[Oceania]], the [[double-outrigger]] boats of [[Island Southeast Asia]], and sometimes ships with no outriggers or sails at all.

In its most common usage, the term ''proa'' refers to the Pacific proas which consist of two (usually) unequal-length parallel [[hull (watercraft)|hull]]s. It is sailed so that one hull is kept to [[Windward and leeward|windward]], and the other to [[Windward and leeward|leeward]]. It is double-ended, since it needs to "[[Shunting (sailing)|shunt]]" to reverse direction when [[Tacking (sailing)|tacking]]. It is most famously used for the ''[[sakman]]'' ships of the [[Chamorro people]] of the [[Northern Marianas]], which were known as the "flying proas" for their remarkable speed.<ref name="Folkard">{{cite book |last1=Folkard |first1=Henry Coleman |title=The Sailing Boat: a description of English and foreign boats |date=1853 |publisher=Hunt and Son |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B10BAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR3}}</ref>

In Island Southeast Asia, the term ''proa'' may also sometimes be used, but the terms '''perahu''', '''prau''', '''prahu''', '''paraw''' and '''prow''' are more common. These differ from the Pacific proas in that they are not double-ended and have a [[trimaran]] configuration with two [[outrigger]]s. These are widely used in the native ships of [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]], and the [[Philippines]], and continue to be used today as traditional fishing, cargo, and transport vessels.

Proas are traditionally rigged with the [[crab claw sail|crab claw]] and [[tanja sail]]s. The modern proa exists in a wide variety of forms, from the traditional archetype still common in areas described, to high-technology interpretations specifically designed for breaking speed-sailing records.