Editing Proa (section)

==Historical descriptions of the proa==
[[File:Joangan, or the Spanish-built Joanga.jpg|thumb|An illustration of a Spanish-built ''[[joangan]]'' in [[Francisco Ignacio Alcina]]'s ''Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas'' (1668)]]
The [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] were the first Europeans to encounter the double-outrigger Southeast Asian ships, initially with derivative vessels from the [[Malabar Coast]], which they called the ''parau''. They applied the same name to similar ships in their colonies in Southeast Asia. Similarly, the Dutch encountered them when they colonized the islands of [[Indonesia]], calling them ''prauw''. This was rendered as "praw" by the [[British Empire|British]], later evolving to "proa". In [[French colonial empire|French]] territories in the Pacific Islands, they were known by the more general term ''[[pirogue]]''. Although technically restricted to outrigger sailing vessels, European sources often applied the term indiscriminately to any native ships of Southeast Asia.<ref name="Folkard"/><ref name="blackburn">{{cite book |last1=Blackburn |first1=Graham |title=The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ships and Boats |date=2003 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=9781860648397 |page=262 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q-h6i3GpMQUC}}</ref>
[[File:A Piratical Proa in Full Chase.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A "piratical proa in full chase" in ''The Pirates Own Book'' (1837) by Charles Elims. Note the [[tanja sail]] and the absence of outriggers.]]
[[Image:Anson proa.jpg|thumb|right|Plan of a [[Micronesia]]n "flying proa", from a 1742 sketch by [[Peircy Brett|Lt. Peircy Brett]], an officer on Lord Anson's round-the-world voyage]]
The earliest written accounts of the single-outrigger Pacific proa (though not by name) were by the [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] scholar [[Antonio Pigafetta]], who was part of [[Ferdinand Magellan]]'s 1519–1522 circumnavigation. They encountered the native ''[[sakman]]'' ships of the [[Chamorro people]] in the [[Marianas|Islas de los Ladrones]] ([[Mariana Islands]]). Pigafetta describes the outrigger layout of the ''sakman'', and ability to switch bow for stern, and also notes its speed and maneuverability, noting, "And although the ships were under full sail, they passed between them and the small boats (fastened astern), very adroitly in those small boats of theirs."  Pigafetta likened the ''sakman'' to the [[Venice|Venetian]] ''fisolere'', a narrow variety of [[gondola]].<ref name=pigafetta>{{cite book |title=The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803: Explorations by Early Navigators |author1=Emma Helen Blair |author2=James Alexander Robertson |author3=Edward Gaylord Bourne |publisher=A. H. Clark Co. |year=1906 |url=https://archive.org/details/philippineislan96bourgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/philippineislan96bourgoog/page/n107 99] }}</ref>

[[Image:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Vlerkprauw met gehesen zeil op het strand TMnr 20025613.jpg|thumb|right|A double-outrigger [[Indonesia]]n ''[[jukung]]'' (c. 1970) with a [[crab claw sail]]. These were known by the [[Dutch people|Dutch]] as ''vlerkprauw'' (literally "wing ''prauw''). It is one of the vessels known as "proas" in [[Island Southeast Asia]]]]
The accounts of Magellan's crew were the first to describe the [[Chamorro people|Chamorro]] proas as "flying". The subsequent [[Spanish East Indies|colonization of the Micronesia and the Philippines]] provided further references to proas in [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] records.<ref name="Goetzfridt"/> They also described double-outrigger ships from the [[Philippines]], like the account of the ''[[karakoa]]'' in [[Francisco Ignacio Alcina]]'s ''Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas'' (1668) which describes them as "sailing like birds."<ref name="alcina">{{cite book|author=Francisco Ignacio Alcina|title =Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas|year =1668|url =https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21366897?selectedversion=NBD197673}}</ref>

During his [[George Anson's voyage around the world|1740–1744 circumnavigation]], [[George Anson, 1st Baron Anson|Lord Anson]] applied the term proa to the double-ended Micronesian single-outrigger ships.  His fleet captured one in 1742, and [[Peircy Brett|Lt. Peircy Brett]] of {{HMS|Centurion|1732|6}} made a detailed sketch of the proa.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ixtapa-zihuatanejo.com/info/historia2da.htm |title=History: Drake and Anson |access-date=2007-10-26}}</ref>  Rev. Richard Walter, chaplain of ''Centurion'', estimated the speed of the proa at twenty miles  per hour (32&nbsp;km/h).<ref name=Folkard/> Although aware of earlier [[Spanish empire|Spanish accounts]] of the boats of the [[Spanish East Indies]], Anson's account was the first detailed description of a Pacific proa to the English-speaking world.<ref name="charnock"/> In the subsequent voyages of [[James Cook]] in [[Polynesia]], he referred to the similar native single-outrigger canoes there as "proes", differentiating them from the double-hulled [[catamaran]]s which he called "pahee" (Tahitian ''[[Pahi (ship)|pahi]]'').<ref name="Finney">{{cite web |last1=Finney |first1=Ben |title=Founding the Polynesian Voyaging Society; Building Hōkūle'a |url=http://archive.hokulea.com/ike/kalai_waa/finney_building_hokulea.html |website=Hawaiian Voyaging Traditions |publisher=Polynesian Voyaging Society |access-date=22 June 2019}}</ref>

These accounts fascinated both the British and American public, ushering in a period of interest in the design by [[Sailing (sport)|sports sailors]]. Working from the drawings and descriptions of explorers, western builders often took liberties with the traditional designs, merging their interpretation of native designs with Western boat building methods. Thus this Western "proa" often diverged radically from the traditional "proa" to the point that the only shared feature was the windward/leeward hull arrangement.<ref name="charnock">{{cite book |last1=Charnock |first1=John |title=An History of Marine Architecture |date=1802 |publisher=R. Faulder |location=London |pages=313–316}}</ref> 
:''The Proa darted like a shooting star''
:[[George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Lord Byron]], "The Island", 1823