Lorcha (boat)
Thelorchais a type of sailing vessel having a junk rig with a Cantonese or other Chinese-stylebatten sailson a Portuguese or other European-stylehull.The hull structure made the lorcha faster and able to carry more cargo than the normaljunk.The advantage of the junk rig was in its ease of handling and resulting reduced crewing requirement, together with its relatively low cost of construction. Owing to its simplicity, it was also easier to repair. Lorchas were made locally ofcamphororteakand generally were of 30 to 150 tonsburthen.
History
[edit]This type of vessel was developed around 1550 inMacau,then aPortuguese colonyinChina.[1]This hybrid type of vessel sailed faster than traditional eastern ships. British merchants began to use lorchas in Chinese waters after theFirst Opium War.
TheVũng Tàu shipwreckis a lorcha that sunk near theCôn ĐảoIslands and has been dated to about 1690.[2]
A type of lorcha sailinglighterwas used formerly inBangkokto carryriceout to ocean ships over the bar of theChao Phraya River.[3]
The bookThe Sable Lorcha(1913) was written byHorace Hazeltine.[4]It was adapted to film in 1915.
See also
[edit]Notes and references
[edit]- ^Skene's Elements of Yacht Design,8th Edition 1973, Francis S. Kinney, Page 164.ISBN0-396-06582-1.
- ^Flecker, Michael (1992)."Excavation of an oriental vessel of c. 1690 off Con Dao, Vietnam"(PDF).The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.21(3): 221–244.doi:10.1111/j.1095-9270.1992.tb00369.x.
- ^Mast & Sail in Europe & Asia: Chapter 11
- ^"San Francisco Call 17 March 1912 — California Digital Newspaper Collection".cdnc.ucr.edu.
External links
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