Mackinaw boat

The Mackinaw boat is a loose, non-standardized term for a light, open sailboat or rowboat used in the interior of North America during the fur trading era.

With its lightness, speed, cargo capacity, and double-ended flexibility, the canoe delighted fur traders of European origin.

[1] With the help of a sail and a favorable wind, a Mackinaw boat could cover an equivalent distance with much greater ease than by rowing with paddles.

[1] The Mackinaw boat hull's relative flexibility and efficient movement through the water became less important in the 20th century with the invention of the outboard motor and other powerboat innovations.

[1] A few new Mackinaw boats began to be built after 1990 for explicit purposes of historical re-enactment and skills preservation.