A typical pirogue with a fine entry, a full beam and narrow stern
Striped bamboo bowsprits are hard to beat
they built in the sandy bays must have been very similar to their home-town models.
The closest pirogues to Mauritius at that time were those being used around the coastline of Madagascar, and these were of the dugout variety that carried a sail and an outrigger. But with the skill of European boatbuilders now being available, the design was soon superseded by planked hulls, as suitable local timber was in plentiful supply at the time. Because of the relatively shallow lagoons, their draught still had to be minimal, and even though sails were used, there is not much evidence of outriggers. The British were now taking a strong interest in Isle de France, as pirates and corsairs were using the island as a base for their ships, that would attack British merchantmen plying the trade
The rig was really basic and was made up of bits of wire, old bottle screws and odd lengths of line
route to India and beyond. With a large naval and land force the British took the island in 1810, renamed it Mauritius, set up a government and later freed the slaves, who numbered over 65,000.
The island became a republic in 1968 with sugar being its main export. People of Indian descent form 69 percent of the total population of 1.2 million. Creoles, the descendants of the African slaves, make up most of the balance and only around three percent are European.
It seems today that mostly Creoles work in and sail the pirogues. I was lucky to find a group preparing their boats for a race in the lagoon. Like many of the smaller pirogues they measured 6.7m overall, with a maximum beam of 1.68m that reduced considerably toward the stern. Each boat had a bowsprit, usually made from bamboo, and a mast that was anything but straight!
Their rig was more like a gunter rig than anything else, with a sprit that must be over 9m long. The rig was really basic, even on new boats, and was made up of bits of wire, old bottle screws and odd lengths of line. But the lack of any flash gear did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the crews preparing the boats for the race.
Some of the hulls were old "clunkers" made from heavy timber planks, but they made up for their cumbersome build with their bright colour schemes! One of the pirogues looked like the hull
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September/October 2011 Professional Skipper 69
was made of Fibreglass, but I was told it was thinly planked and well sanded between each coat of paint. That pirogue turned out to be the fastest in the fleet, even though the mast was a young tree, minus its branches! Having no keel or outrigger, the crew provided the stability and their number was dictated by the wind strength at the time of the race. A medium breeze, I was told, required a crew of around nine to 11, but in a fresh breeze the pirogue would be crowded with up to 14 on board. They had no fancy trapezes, just a line from the mast to hang on to.
Pirogue racing is alive and well in Mauritius, and it was good to see it doesn't take modern gear to make a good race.
VIP.S75
