Where Were The First Sailing Boats Built?

The Austronesian peoples invented the first true ocean-going boats, using technologies like multihulls, outriggers, crab claw sails, and tanja sails. This enabled the rapid spread of Austronesians into the islands of both the Indian and Pacific Oceans, known as the Austronesian expansion. Some of the ancient world’s most impressive shipbuilding originated in Egypt, where the approach to ship construction was diverse as the civilization itself. Egyptians were among the earliest ship builders, with the oldest pictures of boats found in Egypt dating back at least 6000 years ago.

The first sailing boats recognized by historians were those used by Egyptians in 4000 BCE. They were made of reeds and traveled the Nile using masts and sails. Archaeologists believe that the first sailing workboats originated around 6,000 years ago. The modern sailboat began taking shape in the late 1800s. The first small craft built in what is now Canada were two small craft launched at Port-Royal, Acadia, by François Gravé du Pont in 1606. The first recorded seagoing vessel, Galiote, was built in Newfoundland.

The earliest historical evidence of boats is found in Egypt during the 4th millennium BCE. A culture nearly completely riparian, Egypt was narrowly aligned along the Nile and served its needs. The story begins with the oldest known maritime vessels, reed boats discovered in Kuwait around 7,000 years ago. Modern archaeologists agree that the first sailing boats appeared about 6,000 years ago. Reed boats date back to ancient Egypt, where people built basic reed canoes and more complex wooden boats. Early boats were pushed along rivers.