Polynesian Odyssey

[kgun]

Some days ago I saw a very interesting Tv program on our main Tv station about people living in the Pacific.

It is a French documentary film from 2009:

Original titel: Polynesian Odyssey
Regi: Olivier Comte og Helene Constanty

Summary:

In the Pacific Islands Polynesians live, a people there are a great mystery to. Where they came from when they first landed on the beautiful islands? This mystery has intrigued many explorers, including Thor Heyerdahl.


Norwegian Links (Use at translation service on the articles):

In the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo there is now a show called Star trails over the Pacific. And some of the things that first strikes a visitor is the huge distances we find in this "ocean continent". The Pacific Ocean covers a third of the earth and if you exclude Australia from the area, 99% is sea and 1% islands.

When James Cook arrived in 1769, he was met by the catamarans as great as his own expedition vessel (See image to the left. There are two models in the same area). The Polynesians had a maritime technology in many ways on par with the European. And they could navigate. They learned the sky by heart. Forwards and backwards, and in all seasons. That is how they found the road over the endless Pacific. The aniceinet Polynesians called it Star trails. And it was clear, they could feel the waves and if there was land beyond the horizon. The area was populated from the northwest, from Taiwan, 6,000 years ago. It has language researchers found.

Source: http://www.nrk.no/vitenskap-og-teknologi/1.1853098

http://www.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/744143/

http://tv.nrk.no/program/koid60007610/polynesias-gaate

Additional search:

Polynesias gåte

You get some YouTube videos there in English.

The polinesians were great navigators that could sail against the wind over enormous distances. They man even have been better sailors than Europeans / Americans. While people livinb by the Atlantic Ocean often saw the Ocean as an obstacle, they veiwed the Ocean as a friend and opportunity.

The catamaran were invented by the Polinesians by tying two canoes together. It is ideally suited to carry people across large distances and it is fairly safe.

Thore Heyerdahl concluded that the distant Pacific Islands were populated by chance or accident. This movie has another theory, namely that these people regularly crossed this enormous ocean navigating aided by nature, stars, the direction of waves, birds etc.

[kgun]

An old related article partly translated to English by me.

Lyngør, 14.3: A Norwegian designed sail is now about to revolutionize the sailing sport. Inspired by aircraft wings inventor Tore Lyngholm and Lyngør Seilmaker Workshop, with support from the Norwegian Research Council, have constructed a sail which works almost directly into the wind.

"Airoplane-sail"
WingSail is directly inspired by advanced aerodynamics: The air plane's curved upper side means that the air passing over the wing has a longer distance to go than the air passing the flat underside. This gives the wing a considerable boost.

- In theory, a sail that is designed with a curved and a flat side to give a good effect even almost straight up into the wind. This is precisely our sails do in practice, said Brodersen.

So far, sailboats only exploited a small proportion of wind power, especially when the boats sail against the wind. Traditional sailing can barely go higher than 30 degrees on the wind. With a wing sail the boat steerage way even at five degrees.

Better efficacy
Extensive tests in wind tunnel at the Norwegian Institute of Technology shows that the new sail provides significantly more effective than traditional sail in all wind conditions, and especially 15 to 30 degrees on the wind.

Source: http://www.newswire.no/?melding=1899...left=2&right=1