Palari (boat)

The name is derived from the Makassarese word biseang palari. Biseang means "boat", and lari means "to run" or "running". The word pa is a suffix used in forming nouns designating persons according to their occupation or labor, similarly to the English suffix -or/-er. The meaning of palari would therefore be equivalent to "runner". This description underlines the fact that this vessel was nimbler and faster than its predecessor, the padewakang. == Description ==

A typical palari would be about 50–70feet (15.24–21.34m) in length overall, with a length at the waterline (lightly laden) of 34–43 feet (10.36–13.1 m). The sails were made using light canvas, while the topsails were of linen cloth. The vessel would be crewed by seven or eight men. Steering was achieved using double quarter rudders (a pair of rudders, one hung from each side of the stern quarters of the boat). Under favorable conditions, they could reach 9–10 knots (16.7–18.5 km/h) in speed. A vessel with 30 ft LWL would have a capacity of nearly 400 pikul (22.7–25 tons). The palari hull was based on an older type of bost from Sulawesi: the pajala. Pajalas were open coastal vessels usually having a tripod mast carrying a single large tanja sail. The hull was carvel-built, and like other Malay boats, it was double-ended (meaning that the boat came to a point at the bow and stern, finishing with a stem and sternpost). The pajala hull was adapted into a palari by adding more planks to increase the freeboard by about 2–3feet (61–91cm). An overhanging stern deck (called ambeng in Malay) was also added, and the whole boat was decked over. == History ==

Pajala to palari hull In the 18th century, the Bugis people sailed a type of perahu similar to the patorani. Those craft had a pajala-type hull and were rigged using a canted triangular sail and a tripod mast, similar to a pajala. Vessels of this type were seen trepanging on beaches in northern Australia between 1800 and 1840. In 1880, a boat dubbed "Bugis prahu" seems to have been an early prototype for the palari hull. It featured a western-styled deck with a traditional (indigenous) stern. A bowsprit and jibsail was also been added, but the boat still used a tanja sail on a single tripod mast. There was no cabin at the stern. This prototype was developed further in later vessels by adding additional planking: raising the freeboard and thereby increasing cargo capacity. A step was set into the bow and the overhanging stern deck (ambeng) was also added. Rigging: from padewakang-tanja to palari-pinisi The first Sulawesian true pinisi (that is, a palari hull combined with a pinisi rig, rather than the tanja rig) is thought to have been a built in 1906 by shipbuilders in Ara and Lemo-Lemo for a skipper based in Bira. In addition to the two-masted type, there was also a single-masted variants called palari jengki (also known as the one-masted pinisi). "The pinisi would form an uninterrupted line, as they anchor side by side, along the shore. One may go on board a pinisi from one end; walk over the decks of the vessels and get off at the other end; so that one may move from the south to the north of the island without stepping on the soil between." During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army commandeered Biran pinisi to transport materiel and other supplies. In consequence, many vessels were targeted and sunk by Allied planes and warships. However, the weak economy meant that new merchants could only afford to build the lambo, which was smaller in size than the pinisi. The main competition was still with the leti-leti, of which there were a similar number. Starting in the 1970s, the traditional sailing vessels started to be motorized. It was found that the traditional palari hull was effectively incapable of accommodating engines, unlike the hull of the lambo. A new type of vessel, the lambo-pinisi, took over the role of palari-pinisi, and then evolved into the PLM (Perahu Layar Motor — motorized sailboat), which can load up to 300tons. == See also ==