While mostly known for their colorful sails, the vinta is in itself a feat where shipbuilding is concerned. It blends form and function, and makes use of various design influences from some of the islands in Mindanao and its neighbors. It also demonstrates ingenuity, and shows the kind of skill our early craftsmen had to build these beautiful boats.
Usually, the vinta hull was made from lawaan, while other parts were made from mangrove wood. Lawaan was preferred material as it was large enough to be used as parts of boats and made them sturdy enough for sailing the seas. Mangroves, or bakawan, were aplenty along Mindanao’s southernmost shores.
These traditional outrigger boats are associated with the Yakan, Tausug and Sama Bajau people living in the southern Mindanao, specifically the Zamboanga Peninsula and Sulu Archipelago. The rectangular sails are known as bukay.
Aboard these majestic-looking boats, early navigators would explore islands within and beyond the sea’s horizon in search of food and new places. If you look closely, the prow of the vinta resembles the open mouth of a crocodile, while some portions have okir carvings particularly the prow. The outrigger sailboat has been known to sail either as a fisherman’s boat or for use in cargo. At times, the vinta was also a houseboat.
References:
“The Boats of the Tawi-Tawi Bajau, Sulu Archipelago, Philippines.” n.d. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/16980/1/AP-v29n1-51-88.pdf.
Doran, Edwin. 1972. “WA, VINTA, AND TRIMARAN.” The Journal of the Polynesian Society 81 (2): 144–159. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20704848?seq=1.
Funtecha, Henry F..“Baroto, paraw, batil, barangay, etc: Panay’s maritime legacy”. https://www.thenewstoday.info/2009/02/27/baroto.paraw.batil.barangay.etc.panays.maritime.legacy.html
SCOTT, WILLIAM HENRY. 1982. “Boat-Building and Seamanship in Classic Philippine Society.” Philippine Studies 30 (3): 335–376. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42632616?seq=1.
“Yakan – Balanda’.” n.d. Sil-Philippines-Languages.Org. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://sil-philippines-languages.org/online/yka/dict/lexicon/lx00385.html.