Proa (Malay, prau), the general term in the Malay language for all vessels, from the sampan or canoe to the square-rigged kapal, but in western usage confined to the swift-sailing craft that the pirates of the Indian Ocean made familiar to sailors in eastern waters. The chief points which characterize these vessels are that while the weather-side is rounded the lee-side is flat from stem to stern, that both stem and stern are exactly similar in shape, and that there is a small similarly shaped hull swung out from the side of the main hull on poles, which acts as an outrigger and prevents the vessel heeling over. The main hull carries the mast rigging and an enormous triangular-shaped sail.
Proa
