Tanja sail

running before the wind, with "goosewing" sail configuration (receiving wind from aft). Also called tanjaq, tanjak, tanja', tanjong, or tanjung sail. The Mandar people call it sombal tanjaq because when the wind blows the lower part of the sail (peloang) would "mattanjaq" (lit. "kick"). In colonial British records, it is sometimes written as "lyre tanjong", a misspelling of layar tanjong (layar means "sail" in Malay; layag in Philippine languages). ==Origin==

depicting a double-outrigger vessel with tanja sails in bas-relief (c. 8th–9th century) There are several different theories regarding the origin of tanja sail. The sail might be a derivative of the older Austronesian triangular crab-claw sail. It developed from the fixed mast version of the crab-claw sail and is functionally identical, with the only difference being that the upper and bottom spars of the tanja sail do not converge into a point in the leading edge. According to H. Warington Smyth, the Malay tanja sail is an adaptation and development of the primitive square sail, with boom at the head and the foot. The Malay tilted the sail forward, to bring the tack right to the deck, turning the sail into the most powerful of lifting sails on a wind. ==Characteristics==

'' ships in Sulawesi with furled and unfurled tanja sails '' from Halmahera, Maluku Islands (c. 1920) with a tanja sail Tanja sail can be distinguished by its canted/oblique design. The sail face is asymmetrical in shape and most of the area is elongated to the sides, rather than upward like those of lug sail. Tanja sails were rigged similarly to crab claw sails and also had spars on both the head and the foot of the sails; but they were square or rectangular with the spars not converging into a point. The masts have curved heads with grooves for attaching the halyards. The lower part of two of the bamboo poles of the mast assembly have holes that are aligned and slotted across a piece of timber, functioning as a hinge. The forward part of the mast assembly had a forelock. By unlocking it, the masts can be lowered across the ship. The sail can be rotated around the mast (lessening the need for steering with the rudders) and tilted to move the center of pull forward or aft. The sail can even be tilted completely horizontally, lifting the bow above incoming waves. The sail is reefed by rolling it around the lower spar. In addition to the tanja sails, ships with the tanja rigs also have bowsprits set with a quadrilateral headsail, sometimes also canted as depicted in the Borobudur ships. == Usage ==

Most Southeast Asian and Austronesian vessels used the tanja sail. This type of sail may have brought Austronesian sailors as far as West Africa sometime in the 1st millennium CE, with its feasibility proved by an expedition carried out by a replica ship using such sail in 2003, Some examples of vessels that use tanja sails include: • Balangay • Benawa • Borobudur ship • Djong • Garay • Kakap • Karakoa • Kelulus • Kora-kora • K'un-lun po • Lancaran • Lanong • Mayang • Padewakang • Pajala • Pangajava • Patorani • Pencalang • Perahu == See also ==