When Were Sailing Vessels Invented?

The Austronesian Expansion, which occurred around 3000 to 1500 BC, was facilitated by the invention of catamarans, outriggers, and crab claw sails. These inventions allowed the Austronesian people to colonize the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia, then sailed further onwards to Micronesia, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar. The first sailing boats recognized by historians were those used by Egyptians in 4000 BCE, made of reeds and traveling the Nile using masts and sails.

The earliest depiction of a maritime sailing vessel is from the Ubaid period of Mesopotamia in the Persian Gulf, from around 3500 to 3000 BCE. Ships in both the Mediterranean and the north were single-masted until about 1400 BCE, likely rigged for one basic type of sail. With experience, square sails replaced the earliest historical evidence of boats found in Egypt during the 4th millennium BCE.

Egypt was a culture nearly completely riparian, narrowly aligned along the Nile. Some of the ancient world’s most impressive shipbuilding originated in Egypt, where the approach to ship construction was as diverse as the civilization itself. The rise of oceanic navigation began when the basic Mediterranean trading vessel, the Venetian buss, passed through the Strait of Gibraltar in the 8th century.

The first evidence of sailing can be found in the first great civilizations, with boats with sails dating back to 3200 BC. The modern sailboat began its history in the late 1700s and early 1800s, with the peak of engineering development occurring during this period. From prehistory until the second half of the 19th century, sailing craft were the primary means of maritime trade and transportation.