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{{Short description|Traditional outrigger boat from the Philippine island of Mindanao}}
{{for-multi|the Romanian village of Vinţa|Lupşa|the Sama-Bajau boat also known as "lepa-lepa"|Lepa (ship)}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=March 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
[[File:A Sama-Bajau vinta with sails (1923).jpg|thumb|A Sama-Bajau fishing vinta in Zamboanga with the characteristic colorful sails (c.1923)]]
[[File:Bajao boat with sail unrolled.jpg|thumb|A small Sama-Bajau tondaan with sails deployed (c.1904)]]
[[File:Two large Moro vintas, Mindanao, Philippines (Hornell, 1920).jpg|thumb|Two large [[Moro people|Moro]] vinta from Mindanao in the houseboat (''palau'') configuration (c.1920)<ref name="Hornell 1920">{{Cite journal |last=Hornell |first=J. |date=1920 |title=The Outrigger Canoes of Indonesia |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/18925#page/50/mode/1up  |journal=Madras Fishing Bulletin |volume=12 |pages=43–114}}</ref>]]
The '''vinta''' is a traditional [[outrigger boat]] from the [[Philippine]] island of [[Mindanao]]. The boats are made by [[Sama-Bajau]], [[Tausug people|Tausug]] and [[Yakan people]]s living in the [[Sulu Archipelago]],<ref name="Doran 1972">{{Cite journal |last=Doran |first=Edwin Jr. |date=1972 |title=Wa, Vinta, and Trimaran |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_81_1972/Volume_81%2C_No._2/Wa%2C_vinta%2C_and_trimaran%2C_by_Edwin_Doran_Jnr.%2C_p_144-159/p1?page=0&action=searchresult&target= |journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=81 |issue=2 |pages=144–159 |access-date=January 7, 2015 |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411031227/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_81_1972/Volume_81%2C_No._2/Wa%2C_vinta%2C_and_trimaran%2C_by_Edwin_Doran_Jnr.%2C_p_144-159/p1?page=0&action=searchresult&target= |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Zamboanga Peninsula|Zamboanga]] peninsula, and southern Mindanao. Vinta are characterized by their colorful [[tanja sail|rectangular lug sail]]s (''bukay'') and bifurcated [[prow]]s and [[stern]]s, which resemble the gaping mouth of a crocodile. Vinta are used as fishing vessels, cargo ships, and houseboats. Smaller undecorated versions of the vinta used for fishing are known as '''tondaan.'''<ref name="Nimmo 1990" />
The name "vinta" is predominantly used in Zamboanga, [[Basilan]], and other parts of mainland Mindanao. It is also known as '''pilang''' or '''pelang''' among the Sama-Bajau of the Tawi-Tawi islands; '''dapang''' or '''depang''' among the [[Tausug language|Tausug]] in [[Sulu]]; and '''balanda''' or '''binta''' in [[Yakan language|Yakan]] in [[Basilan]]. It can also be generically referred to as ''[[lepa-lepa]]'', ''sakayan'', or ''[[bangka (boat)|bangka]]'', which are native names for small outrigger vessels.<ref name="Nimmo 1990" /><ref name="SIL Philippines">{{Cite web |title=balanda' |url=https://sil-philippines-languages.org/online/yka/dict/lexicon/lx00385.html |website=Yakan Dictionary |publisher=SIL Philippines}}</ref>
==Description==
The vinta has a deep and narrow hull formed from a U-shaped dugout keel (''baran'') built up with five planks on each side. It is usually around {{convert|4.5|to|10|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length. The most distinctive feature of the vinta hull is the [[prow]], which is carved in the likeness of the gaping mouth of a crocodile (''buaya''). It is composed of two parts, the lower part is known as ''saplun'', while the flaring upper part is known as ''palansar'', both are usually elaborately carved with [[okil]] motifs. The stern has two upper extensions (the ''sangpad-sangpad'') which either emerge from the back in a V-shape, or are separated by a space in the middle. The stern may or may not feature okil carvings like the prow. Vinta hulls are traditionally made from [[Shorea negrosensis|red lawaan]] wood; while the dowels, ribs, and sometimes parts of the outrigger are made from ''bakawan'' ([[mangrove]]) wood.<ref name="Doran 1972" /><ref name="Nimmo 1990">{{Cite journal |last=Nimmo |first=H. Arlo |date=1990 |title=The Boats of the Tawi-Tawi Bajau, Sulu Archipelago, Philippines |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8c0f/9681a8f4c1cc02e96a5de94177cd775176f2.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Asian Perspectives |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=51–88 |s2cid=31792662 |access-date=November 14, 2019 |archive-date=November 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115113010/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8c0f/9681a8f4c1cc02e96a5de94177cd775176f2.pdf }}</ref>
[[File:Carved stern of a Moro vinta (Hornell, 1920).jpg|thumb|upright|left|140px|Detail of ''[[okil]]'' carvings on a vinta stern (c.1920)<ref name="Hornell 1920" />]]
[[File:Plan, midships section, and lines of a vinta (Doran, 1972).png|thumb|Plan, midships section, and lines of a vinta (Doran, 1972)]]
[[File:A Moro vinta outrigger canoe.jpg|thumb|A small [[Moro people|Moro]] vinta (tondaan) from the [[Philippines]] (c. 1905) showing the bifurcated stern]]
The hull is covered by a removable deck made of planks or split bamboo. It has a central house-like structure known as the ''palau''. This is used as a living space especially for vinta which are used as houseboats by the Sama-Bajau. The ''palau'' can be taken down to convert the houseboat into a sailing boat. However, this is usually only done when absolutely necessary for vinta which function as houseboats. When traveling, vinta are usually paddled or poled in shallow and calm coastal waters, with frequent stops along the way for supplies. They only sail when crossing seas between islands in a hurry.<ref name="Nimmo 1990" />
Vinta have two bamboo outrigger floats (''katig'') which are supported by booms (''batangan''). Large boats can have as many as four ''batangan'' for each outrigger. The floats are slightly diagonal, with the front tips wider apart than the rear tips. The front tips of the floats also extend past the prow and curve upwards, while the rear tips do not extend beyond the stern. Additional booms (''sa'am'') also extend out from the hull and the main booms. These provide support for a covering of planks (''lantay'') which serve as extensions of the deck.<ref name="Doran 1972" /><ref name="Nimmo 1990" /><ref name="Vinta" />
Vinta are usually rigged with a [[tanja sail|rectangular lug sail]] locally known as ''bukay'', on a biped mast slotted near the front section. These are traditionally decorated with colorful vertical strips of the traditional Sama-Bajau colors of red, blue, green, yellow, and white.<ref name="Nimmo 1990" /> The patterns and colors used are usually specific to a particular family or clan.<ref name="Vinta">{{Cite web |date=March 7, 2017 |title=Vinta |url=https://samaloutrigger.wordpress.com/vinta/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021132124/https://samaloutrigger.wordpress.com/vinta/32124/https://samaloutrigger.wordpress.com/vinta/ |archive-date=October 21, 2019 |access-date=November 20, 2019 |website=Samal Outrigger}}</ref>
Smaller sailing versions of the vinta used for fishing are known as "tondaan." They are usually undecorated and lack the upper prow and stern attachments. They are rigged with a mast and a sail at all times, though a temporary ''palau'' can be erected amidships if necessary. Modern vinta are usually tondaan instead of the larger houseboats. Like other traditional boats in the Philippines since the 1970s, they are almost always motorized and have largely lost their sails.<ref name="Nimmo 1990" /><ref name="Pareño">{{Cite news |last=Pareño |first=Roel |date=October 9, 2016 |title=Colorful Vinta Regatta Draws Thousands to Zamboanga City |work=Philstar Global |url=https://www.philstar.com/nation/2016/10/09/1631866/colorful-vinta-regatta-draws-thousands-zamboanga-city |access-date=November 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115032314/https://www.philstar.com/nation/2016/10/09/1631866/colorful-vinta-regatta-draws-thousands-zamboanga-city |archive-date=November 15, 2019 }}</ref>
Along with the [[balangay]], lightly armed vinta were also used in the civilian squadrons of the [[Marina Sutil]] ("Light Navy") of [[Zamboanga City]] and Spanish-controlled settlements in [[Mindanao]] and the [[Visayas]] in the late 18th to early 19th centuries, as defense fleets against [[Piracy in the Sulu Sea|Moro Raiders]].<ref name="Warren 2002">{{Cite book |last=Warren |first=James Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w1_3-ff6u-gC |title=Iranun and Balangingi: Globalization, Maritime Raiding and the Birth of Ethnicity |date=2002 |publisher=Singapore University Press |isbn=9971-69-242-2 |location=Singapore |page=109}}</ref><ref name="Mallari">{{Cite journal |last=Mallari |first=Francisco |date=1986 |title=Muslim Raids in Bicol, 1580–1792 |url=https://philippinestudies.net/ojs/index.php/ps/article/view/1238/3892 |journal=Philippine Studies |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=257–286 |jstor=42632949}}</ref><ref name="Dery">{{Cite journal |last=Dery |first=Luis C. |date=1989 |title=The Era of the Kris: Moro Raids in Sorsogon and Kabikolan and Their Impact on Philippine History, 1571–1896 |url=http://www.nast.dost.gov.ph/images/pdf%20files/Publications/NAST%20Transactions/NAST%201989%20Transactions%20Volume%2011/SS%201%20The%20Era%20of%20the%20Kris,%20Moro%20Raids%20in%20Sorsogon%20and%20Kabikolan%20and%20Their%20Impact%20on%20Philippine%20History,%201571%201986,%20Luis%20C.%20Dery.pdf |journal=Transactions National Academy of Science |volume=11 |pages=145–166}}</ref>
==Carvings==
Vinta are usually carved with [[okil]] designs, similar to the ''[[lepa (boat)|lepa]]'' and ''[[djenging]]'' boats of the Sama people. The three most common motifs are ''dauan-dauan'' (leaf-like designs), ''kaloon'' (curved lines), and ''agta-agta'' (fish designs). All three are used in carving the ''buaya'' design of the prow. The hull of the vinta is decorated with one to three strips of curvilinear carvings known as ''bahan-bahan'' (meaning "bending" or "curving"), which are reminiscent of waves. In new boats, these designs can be painted with the same colors as the sails, but once the paint wears off, it is usually not repainted.<ref name="Nimmo 1990" />
==Reconstructions==
In 1985 the vinta ''[[Sarimanok (vinta)|Sarimanok]]'' was sailed from Bali to Madagascar to replicate ancient seafaring techniques.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 21, 2005 |title=Across the Indian Ocean, Aboard Prehistoric Ships... |url=https://gasycool.wordpress.com/2005/11/21/across-the-indian-ocean-aboard-prehistoric-ships/ |website=Windows on the World of SipaKV |access-date=January 6, 2015 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102043/https://gasycool.wordpress.com/2005/11/21/across-the-indian-ocean-aboard-prehistoric-ships/  }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Navigation Instruments |url=http://www.sundialsaustralia.com.au/#!navigation-instruments/cqck |website=Sundials Australia |access-date=January 6, 2015 |archive-date=December 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223172714/http://www.sundialsaustralia.com.au/#!navigation-instruments/cqck  }}</ref>
[[Zamboanga City]] celebrates vintas in the annual Regatta de Zamboanga during the city's Zamboanga Hermosa Festival each October. The participants are usually Sama-Bajau fishermen from the coastal areas of Zamboanga. Many of these modern "vinta" however, are not vinta, but are other types of ''bangka'' (like ''[[bigiw]]'') that merely use a vinta-patterned sail (often non-functional).<ref name="Pareño" /><ref name="Almonia">{{Cite news |last=Almonia |first=Chrisel |date=October 6, 2019 |title=200 Vintas Color Regatta de Zamboanga 2019 |work=ABS-CBN News |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/10/06/19/200-vintas-color-regatta-de-zamboanga-2019 |access-date=November 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115032312/https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/10/06/19/200-vintas-color-regatta-de-zamboanga-2019 |archive-date=November 15, 2019 }}</ref>
In 2016, [[Jolo]], [[Sulu]], also started holding an annual Vinta Festival each February 14.<ref name="Abadicio">{{cite news |last1=Abadicio |first1=Camille |title=Vinta Festival in Sulu aims to bring peace, progress to the province |url=https://www.cnnphilippines.com/regional/2016/02/17/vinta-festival-sulu-province.html |access-date=29 May 2023 |work=CNN Philippines |date=17 February 2016 |archive-date=May 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529071224/https://www.cnnphilippines.com/regional/2016/02/17/vinta-festival-sulu-province.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Other uses==
"Vinta" is also the name of a Moro dance that commemorates the migration of [[Filipino people|Filipinos]] into the archipelago. In the dance,  dancers imitating the movements of the vinta (vessel) by balancing perilously on top of poles. [[Parents for Education Foundation]] (PAREF) schools in the Philippines have adopted the vinta as their symbol.
== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed" widths="170" heights="170">
File:Vinta Boat of the Bajau Laut people.jpg|A modern undecorated tondaan without the prow and stern extensions and with a plain sail from the [[Bajau]] of [[Sabah]]
File:Samal boat, showing sails rolled up.jpg|A tondaan with the sails detached and rolled up in [[Tawi-Tawi]] (c.1904)
File:A Bajao boat.jpg|Two tondaan from [[Tawi-Tawi]] (c.1904)
File:Zamboanga del Sur gov. Flag.png|Flag of [[Zamboanga del Sur]] with a stylized depiction of a vinta in full sail
File:The state boat of Sultan Harun - Sulu, Philippines (1909).jpg|The state boat of [[List of sultans of Sulu|Sultan Harun Ar-Rashid]] of [[Sultanate of Sulu|Sulu]] is a large vinta (c.1898)
</gallery>
==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[Marina Sutil]]
* [[Londe]] (bininta), a related boat from the Sangir Islands
* [[Jukung]], a similar outrigger boat from Indonesia
* [[Djenging]]
* [[Tempel (boat)]]
* [[Lepa (ship)]]
* [[Bigiw]]
* [[Paraw]]
* [[Outrigger canoe]]
* [[Balangay]]
* [[Sama-Bajau people]]
* [[Austronesian people]]
{{div col end}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020329213852/http://www.pacific-tall-ships.com/Vinta.htm Vinta] at Pacific Tall Ships
* [http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Cynthia/Mindanao/mindanao_culture.htm Culture of Mindanao] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201075631/http://www.seasite.niu.edu/tagalog/Cynthia/Mindanao/mindanao_culture.htm |date=December 1, 2006 }}
* [http://www.bayanihannationaldanceco.ph/news/voyageforlove.htm ''The Voyage for Love and Peace''], from a dance company
* 1930s images of ''vinta'':
** [https://www.flickr.com/photos/johntewell/5049770551/?rb=1 Sailing near Zamboanga]
** [https://www.flickr.com/photos/johntewell/5050390840/ On the beach]
** [https://www.flickr.com/photo.gne?short=8Ghz55 On the beach in a Moro village]
** [https://www.flickr.com/photo.gne?short=8DhLZv Multiple sailing ''vinta'' moored with visible rigging] (at [[Malabang]])
** [https://www.flickr.com/photos/johntewell/4997631967/ Monohulls, outrigger canoes and possible ''vinta''] (at [[Malabang]])
{{Austronesian ships}}
{{Sailing Vessels and Rigs}}
[[Category:Moro people]]
[[Category:Culture of Zamboanga City]]
[[Category:Trimarans]]
[[Category:Canoes]]
[[Category:Exploration ships]]
[[Category:Sailboat types]]
[[Category:Outrigger canoes]]
[[Category:Indigenous ships of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Multihulls]]