Llaüt (com a objecte) — Traditional Mallorcan object

What is

The quintessential Mallorcan work boat: wooden hull, two rodes (pointed bow and stern), flat sail. Fishing and cabotage. This sheet looks at the llaüt as an object: shape, parts, gesture. The job and the history are in vela llatina i mestres d'aixa .

How is

Hull: without transom mirror; two circles The bow ends in the capellet (cap de mort).
Size: from less than 1 to 50 tons; The length was measured in pams.
Structure: keel (spine), stem and codast, costelles (ribs), folre (planking), gunwale (end of the gunwale), escalemots.
Deck: cover, cossia (central hole), hatches.
Rigging: arbre (mast), two-piece antenna (car below, penalty above) joined with enginyes and reinforced with the quimelca; stern boot.
Material: wood from the Majorcan mountains (pine, holm oak, olive for curved pieces, juniper; please verify per piece).

How is fa

The mestre d'aixa draws with inherited templates, not with plans. Arbor (keel, rodes, costelles), folre, caulked with tow and pitch, cover, rigging. Process in the job file . Today it is almost only restored.

Com s'usa

Fishing: the longline llaüt is called palangrer ( longline ); also nanses, xarxes ( nansa , gànguil i xarxes ).
Sail with flat sail: you set sail and change board passing the antenna; maneuver of two or three people (detail to be verified).
Beaching: in the escar or the vorera hut, dragged on timbers (Majorcan term to be verified) ( escars ).
Today: recreation, regattas (Diada de Vela Llatina de Cala Gamba) and festivals (Portocolom).

Vocabulary

llaüt: double-roped boat with flat sail.
capellet: finishing of the bow stem.
roda: curved piece of bow or stern.
quilla: dorsal spine of the hull.
costella: rib.
regala: plank that finishes the gunwale.
cossia: central roof hole.
antena: yard of the sail (car + penalty).
pam: span, length measurement.
palangrer: longline llaüt (Bal.).

History

1249: first documentary record of a llaüt in Mallorca.
1398: place assigned to beach longline llaüts (Mostassaf, DCVB).
1926: llaüt Mare Nostrum, by Antoni Ferrer (Palma).
1945: llaüt Alzina (Cala Ratjada); BIC in 2008.
2010: inventory of 782 boats, 733 flat sail.
2022: BIC Immaterial of the llatina sail.
Complete details in the job file .

On veure'n

Maritime Museum of Mallorca (Palma); Museum of the Sea (Port de Sóller).
Portocolom: largest traditional fleet; Traditional Boat Festival (from 2025).
Cala Gamba: Llatina Sailing Day.
La Nau Project (Amics del Museu Marítim): boats saved from scrapping.

Why is it design

Shape tested for centuries: the hull is the result of tests in the sea itself.
Symmetrical: two circles, enters and leaves the beach and the waves on both sides.
Template as a file: the design lives in the templates and in the hands, not in plans.
Repairable piece by piece: a rib or a board is changed, not the boat.

For the project

Central exhibition piece: a llaüt restored as a “perfect design object”.
Technical drawing of the llaüt with its vocabulary (sheet for the atlas), with a mestre d'aixa.
Contact: Maritime Museum of Mallorca, Association of Traditional Boats (Portocolom).

Frequently asked questions

What is Llaüt (com a objecte)?

The quintessential Mallorcan work boat: wooden hull, two rodes (pointed bow and stern), flat sail. Fishing and cabotage. This sheet looks at the llaüt as an…

What are the traditional words for Llaüt (com a objecte)?

Some words: antena, capellet, cossia, costella, llaüt, palangrer, pam, quilla.

Sources

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

Open it in the atlas →