Editing Proa (section)

==History==
{{Main|Outrigger boat|Austronesian expansion}}
[[File:Chronological dispersal of Austronesian people across the Pacific.svg|upright=1.25|thumb|Map showing the migration and expansion of the [[Austronesians]]]]
[[File:Succession of forms in the development of the Austronesian boat.png|left|thumb|Succession of forms in the development of the [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] boat (Mahdi, 1999)<ref name="Mahdi1999"/>]]
[[Catamaran]]s and [[outrigger boat]]s were very early innovations of the [[Austronesian peoples]] and were the first true ocean-going ships capable of crossing vast distances of water. This enabled the [[Austronesian peoples]] to rapidly spread from [[Taiwan]] and colonize the islands of both the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] and [[Indian Ocean|Indian]] oceans since at least 2200 BC. The first outriggers evolved from the more primitive double-hulled [[catamaran]]s. There are two types of outrigger ships based on the number of [[outrigger]]s: the single-outriggers (which include catamarans with unequal hulls) and the double-outriggers (sometimes called [[trimaran]]s). Single-outriggers evolved first and are the dominant form of Austronesians ships in [[Oceania]] and [[Madagascar]]. They have largely been replaced by the more versatile double-outrigger ships in [[Island Southeast Asia]]. Double-outrigger forms, however, are absent entirely in Oceania.<ref name="Mahdi1999"/><ref name="Doran1974">{{cite journal |last1=Doran |first1=Edwin Jr. |title=Outrigger Ages |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |date=1974 |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=130–140 |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 |access-date=2019-06-22 |archive-date=2019-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608182436/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_83_1974/Volume_83,_No._2/Outrigger_ages,_by_Edwin_Doran_Jnr.,_p_130-140/p1 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Doran1981"/>

Catamaran and outrigger technologies were introduced by Austronesian traders from Southeast Asia to the [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]]-speaking peoples of [[Sri Lanka]] and [[Southern India]] as early as 1000 to 600 BC. This is still evident in the terms for "boat" in [[Tamil language|Tamil]],  [[Telugu language|Telugu]], and [[Kannada language|Kannada]] (''paṭavu'', ''paḍava'', and  ''paḍahu'', respectively), which are all cognates of [[Proto-Western-Malayo-Polynesian]] *padaw. Early contact by Austronesians with [[Arab people|Arab]] sailors may have also influenced the development of the [[lateen sail]] in western ship traditions, derived from the more ancient Austronesian [[crab claw sail]].<ref name="Mahdi1999"/><ref name="Hourani">{{cite book |last1=Hourani |first1=George F. |title=Arab Seafaring: In the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times |date=1951 |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages=100–104}}</ref>

Many of these traditional vessels are now extinct. Either lost during the colonial period or supplanted in modern times by western boat designs or fitted with motor engines.<ref name="blackburn"/><ref name="Goetzfridt">{{cite web |last1=Goetzfridt |first1=Nicholas J. |title=Proa and Navigation |url=https://www.guampedia.com/proa-and-navigation/ |website=Guampedia |access-date=22 June 2019}}</ref>