Science. 1977 Jun 17;196(4296):1277-85. doi: 10.1126/science.196.4296.1277.
Sailing trials with two reconstructed Polynesian double canoes indicate that these craft can make good a course to windward up to approximately 75 degrees off the wind on long ocean voyages. This windward performance would have enabled Polynesians to exert a degree of control over their movements that would have been denied them had they only been able to sail or drift before wind and current. Indeed, without this windward sailing capacity there probably never would have been a Polynesian people today, for in a sense they are a product of their maritime technology. Had there been no great voyaging canoes, the settlement of Polynesia might have had to await the relatively late entry into the Pacific of the European navigators. But the Pacific was the scene of early innovation in weatherly sailing canoes, and as the European navigators "discovered" island after island, they were surprised to find that neolithic seafarers had preceded them into this vast ocean realm.
对两艘复原的波利尼西亚双体独木舟的航行试验表明，这些船只在长途航海中能够很好地向与风向成 75 度角左右的上风处航行。这种迎风行驶的性能使波利尼西亚人能够在一定程度上控制自己的行动，而如果他们只能顺风和顺水航行或漂流，他们将无法做到这一点。事实上，如果没有这种迎风航行的能力，今天可能就不会有波利尼西亚人了，因为从某种意义上说，他们是其航海技术的产物。如果没有伟大的航海独木舟，波利尼西亚的定居可能不得不等待欧洲航海家们相对较晚地进入太平洋。但是，太平洋是早期适合天气的航海独木舟的创新之地，当欧洲航海家“发现”一个又一个岛屿时，他们惊讶地发现，新石器时代的航海者已经先于他们进入了这个广阔的海洋领域。
