Editing Outrigger (section)

==Powered vessels and sailboats==
{{See also|Outrigger boat}}
An outrigger describes any contraposing float [[rigging]] beyond the side ([[gunwale]]) of a boat to improve the vessel's stability. If a single outrigger is used it is usually but not always [[windward]].<ref>''Early Ships and Seafaring: Water Transport Beyond Europe''; Sean McGrail; Glossary</ref>{{Why|reason=an explanation of the benefit of windward positioning would be useful here|date=March 2024}} The technology was originally developed by the [[Austronesian people]]. There are two main types of boats with outriggers: double outriggers (prevalent in [[maritime Southeast Asia]]) and single outriggers (prevalent in [[Madagascar]], [[Melanesia]], [[Micronesia]] and [[Polynesia]]). [[Multihull]] ships are also derived from outrigger boats.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Texas|first1=Edwin Doran Jr.|title=Outrigger ages|journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society|date=1974|volume=83|issue=2|pages=130&ndash;140|url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_83_1974/Volume_83%2C_No._2/Outrigger_ages%2C_by_Edwin_Doran_Jnr.%2C_p_130-140/p1}}</ref>

In an [[outrigger canoe]] and in [[sailboats]] such as the [[proa]], an outrigger is a thin, long, solid, [[hull (watercraft)|hull]] used to stabilise an inherently unstable main hull. The outrigger is positioned rigidly and parallel to the main hull so that the main hull is less likely to [[capsize]].  If only one outrigger is used on a vessel, its [[weight]] reduces the tendency to capsize in one direction and its [[buoyancy]] reduces the tendency in the other direction.

On a [[keelboat]], "outrigger" refers to a variety of structures by which the [[running rigging]] (such as a [[sheet (sailing)|sheet]]) may be attached outboard (outside the lateral limits) of the boat's hull. The [[Racing Rules of Sailing]] generally prohibit<ref>{{cite web | title=The Racing Rules of Sailing 2017-2020 | url=http://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/WorldSailingRRS20172020-[20946].pdf#page=35 | access-date=2016-11-12 }}</ref> such outriggers, though they are explicitly permitted on specific classes, such as the [[IMOCA 60|IMOCA Open 60]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/IMOCA%20CR_2008-[5871].pdf#page=14 |title=Class Rules - IMOCA 60 (Open 60 Monohull)| access-date=2016-11-12 }}</ref> used in several major offshore races.