February 8th , 2010 → 1:03 pm @ admin
Hey there,
Today we thought we give you some more insight on the terms used to describe the components of modern multihulls. Ever heard about ‘vaka’, ‘ama’ or’aka’? No? Well, here you go:
All three terms stem from the Malay and Micronesion language and refer to parts of the outrigger canoe. In fact vaka does actually mean canoe or main hull (though very roughly translated).
Wikipedia gives us following explanations:
* Aka – The aka of a multihull sailboat is a member of the framework that connects the hull to the ama(s) (outrigger). The term aka originated with the proa, but is also applied to modern trimarans.
* Ama – The term ama comes from the proa*. The vaka is the main hull, the ama is the outrigger, and the aka or iako (Hawaiian) is the support connecting the two (not three) hulls. The term ama and aka have been widely applied to modern trimarans.
* Vaka – A proa consists of a vaka, the main canoe-like hull; an ama, the outrigger; and akas, the poles connecting the ama to the vaka.
So literally speaking, a catamaran is a pair of Vaka held together by Aka, whereas the trimaran is a central Vaka, with Ama on each side, attached by Aka.
*Proa (or prau or prahu) is a multihull sailing vessel. While the word proa just means boat in its native language, the term proa in Western languages has come to describe a vessel consisting of two (usually) unequal length parallel hulls. It is sailed so that one hull is kept to windward, and the other to leeward, so that it needs to reverse direction when tacking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proa)?
