The saintoise (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃twaz]; Antillean Creole: Sentwaz) or canot saintois (literally: dinghy from les Saintes) is a fishing boat without a deck, traditionally maneuverable with the sail or the ream.
[2] The traditional saintoise is constructed from several types of wood to create the hull (spruce for the keel, mahogany for the edges and the floor, Tabebuia pallida for members and bow).
Sails (foresail and mainsail) are linked to the mast and the boom (in bamboo) by lianas called ailes de ravèt (literally: cockroach wings).
The traditional saintoise was created by ship carpenters from the Brittany province of France, who settled in les Saintes around the 18th century, and needed a small fishing boat.
It spread rapidly among the fishermen of the Lesser Antilles, mainly in Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, la Désirade, Marie Galante, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin where it replaced the unstable Gommier, a traditional dugout fishing boat.