The New Sails of Hokule'a

Hokule'a is outfitted with two new sails (drawing by Honolulu Advertiser artist Greg Taylor), the fore sail 290 square feet and the back sail 318 square feet. (The back sail is slightly larger to give the canoe weather helm (i.e., drive the canoe closer to the wind when it tries to get easting in the easterly trade winds.) The sails are different from the sails Hokule'a has used in the past (drawing by Honolulu Star-Bulletin artist David Swann). The new sails on Hokule'a look like the old ones turned upside down, without the booms, and are made of dacron instead of canvas.

Why the new sails?

1. The new sails, made out of dacron rather than cotton, are stronger and lighter than the old sails; they also have less stretch in them, allowing the canoe to sail without a boom.

2. The new sails allow the crew to shape each sail more effectively, eliminating an area of induced drag that used to form near the outer top corner (the clew) of the old sail.

3. The new sails, without booms along their lower edge allows the wind to come cleanly off the sail, producing more drive and lift. In short, the sails are more aerodynamic than the old sails (no turbulence created by the booms).

4. Without the booms, the canoe is lighter; also there is less weight aloft and the center of effort is lower, so the canoe is more stable.

5. Without the booms, the canoe is safer, as there are two fewer wooden parts to break or to injure someone while the rigs are being raised or lowered.

6. The greater efficiency of the sails allows the canoe to point closer to the wind: 56-60 degrees from the wind rather than 67-70 degrees with the older sails. This better windward ability will allow the crew to make more easting against the easterly trade winds in the northern and southern hemispheres-necessary on the first three legs which will take the canoe 3000 miles to the east of Hawai'i.

The main disadvantage of the new sails is that they put more pressure on the spars, making the spars more prone to breakage; and (2) the full pull of the sail is concentrated where the sheet lines from the clews of the sails are attached to the back manu; to compensate a second sheet line was added, attached to a side railing.

A Controversial Use of Non-Traditional Sails?

The new sails are non-traditional in design and materials. The Polynesian Voyaging Society recognizes this. We also know that the canoe could not make the voyage to Rapanui using the old rig, as the windward ability of the canoe with the old rig would not allow the canoe to get 3000 miles upwind from Hawai'i. Yet we know such voyages were madefrom Hawai'i to the Marquesas, from Marquesas to Mangareva, and from Mangareva to Rapa Nui. The fact that Polynesians reached these islands is beyond dispute. Oral traditions and archaeological findings suggest the settlers to Rapa Nui came from the Marquesas or Mangareva. How they made the voyages, given the traditional sail design and materials, is not known. But clearly, to have made these voyages, these ancient sea people must have been extraordinary canoe builders, sailors, and navigators. The Polynesian Voyaging Society retraces these migration routes with great humility, knowing that the ancient mariners who first traveled them did so without the advantages of the modern materials and designs that we use today.

Even though PVS could not sail the routes using the same canoes and sails that the ancient did, the journey was important enough to make for the following reasons:

--to honor the people who found and settled Rapa Nui. Rapa Nui is the most isolated high island on Earth, and its discovery and settlement by Polynesian voyagers is one of the great accomplishments of exploration in human history. How did they find such a small island, over a thousand miles upwind of the nearest Polynesian settlement? What sailing strategies and navigations systems might they have used, given the environmental conditions along the route?

--to honor our elders and kupuna and the many others who contributed to voyaging and its revival in the last 25 years.

--to train a younger generation of deep sea sailors and navigators to perpetuate Hawai'i's proud traditions of voyaging and navigation.

--to explore our history and learn more about the history of Rapa Nui: By the time Europeans reached the island in the 18th century, it was practically treeless. No canoes. What happened to the trees? Because of the limited size of the island, perhaps the population outgrew the capacity of the island to support the people; or some natural disaster (e.g., a prolonged drought) may have caused the island environment to deteriorate beyond recovery. What lessons does the history of Rapa Nui have for Hawai'i and the planet earth?