POSITION OF THE AMA
Posted on October 6, 2007
Many times I was asked why is it that the ama, or what is more commonly called the float on an outrigger canoe, is placed on the left side of the canoe and not on the right side. It needs to be said that the position of the ama is always on the left side of the canoe across Oceania, as well as in the Comores, the Nicobar Islands, the ratnagiri canoe from India, the Maldives Islands, Ceylon etc. And if not on the left side, Madagascar and the Philippines have double outriggers, however those double outrigger are propulsed by sails and not paddles. Some have told me that this is because most people are right handed. Well, yes, but that would not make any difference because a canoe needs same amount of paddle propulsion on the right and on the left , and besides many people are left handed. Placing the float on the left is in my opinion either the continuation of a very ancient tradition, or the result of some religious beliefs. But it is certainly not an adaptation to some sailing technics, otherwise the ama would not always be on the left side.
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