[quote=goneturtle]The word catamaran is derived from a Tamil word from Sri Lanka/Ceylon meaning "bound wood" (something like "kattumaram") When Europeans began exploring the Pacific, they called the double hulled craft used by Pacific Islanders "catamarans," based on their familiarity with the boats from southern India (namely around Madras, which had no deep water port so passengers and cargo were carried over the waves on "kattumaram") and Sri Lanka.
If only the Pacific Islanders had come to America before Columbus, we might have been sailing cats all along...;-)[/quote]
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