Mast And Sail In Europe And Asia

Excerpt from Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia The present chapters are the outcome of some years of varied sea travel. They attempt to record the peculiarities of the principal types of sailing-craft in Europe and Asia which I have observed, or of which I have had experience, and in many cases have handled for myself; and to consider, to some extent, the causes which have been at work in the development of boats and the results attained under the conditions with which they have had to contend. This book can only pretend to be a contribution to the literature of the subject, - indeed it would be wellnigh impossible for any one man personally to know the coastlines of the earth in sufficient detail, and to study or handle all the numerous types of sailing-boats, developed with endless variety and ingenuity, in every locality, with sufficient intimacy to write on the whole subject. I can only hope here to indicate to those whose tastes are similar to my own the infinite interest of a study which Mast and Sail can afford him. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This works tells a vivid story of how private Chinese traders and junk masters in in Southern China waters defended themselves, over 100 years ago, against foreign economic power.

"Southeast Asia is one of the most significant regions in the world for tracing human prehistory over a period of 2 million years. Migrations from the African homeland saw settlement by Homo erectus and Homo floresiensis. Anatomically Modern Humans reached Southeast Asia at least 60,000 years ago to establish a hunter-gatherer tradition, adapting as climatic change saw sea levels fluctuate by over 100 metres. From about 2000 BC, settlement was affected by successive innovations that took place to the north and west. The first rice and millet farmers came by riverine and coastal routes to integrate with indigenous hunters. A millennium later, knowledge of bronze casting penetrated along similar pathways. Copper mines were identified, and metals were exchanged over hundreds of kilometres as elites commanded access to this new material. This Bronze Age ended with the rise of a maritime exchange network that circulated new ideas, religions and artefacts with adjacent areas of present-day India and China. Port cities were founded as knowledge of iron forging rapidly spread, as did exotic ornaments fashioned from glass, carnelian, gold and silver. In the Mekong Delta, these developments led to an early transition into the state known as Funan. However, the transition to early states in inland regions arose as a sharp decline in monsoon rains stimulated an agricultural revolution involving permanent ploughed rice fields. These twin developments illuminate how the great early kingdoms of Angkor, Champa and Central Thailand came to be, a vital stage in understanding the roots of modern states"--

This encyclopaedic volume synthesises 25 years of research and development of this unique rig as adapted to western craft. It is a work which has been welcomed by the growing number of yachtsmen and designers throughout the world who already enjoy the benefits of junk rig or who wish to do so. Now available as an ebook for the first time, Practical Junk Rig examines the design and aerodynamic theory behind junk rigs and discusses how best to sail them. It outlines the rig in detail, the principles that underlie it, considers possible alternative shapes and arrangements and analyses performance, all assisted by a wealth of detailed line illustrations.