Swahili racing teams come together several times a year to compete in traditional hand-crafted, arabic-styled Mashua dhows in the Lamu Archipelago off Kenya's northern Swahili Coast.
Intense village rivalries build over the years, often reaching pitch fever on race day. The winners will return with team bragging rights and a certain village swagger that may last several months until the next race.
These four magnificent racing dhows are in near-perfect formation, positioned towards the noonday equator sun on the first day of the New Year. They are in the lead as they prepare to tack around the buoy (top left) and change course, back again to the starting point at Shela, a small Swahili fishing settlement on the island of Lamu. Several dhows capsized at this challenging point in the race.
The finest dhows are selected from each village to compete and race under sail through a complicated series of buoys, combining speed and balance with elaborate tacking and maneuvering competence. About sixteen young men are crowded together into each of these hand-crafted dhows to give the necessary weight, balance, and stability against a stiff coastal wind.
The art of Swahili dhow racing requires considerable team skill as the dhows manoeuvre back and forth through the Manda channel and ultimately out to the edge of the open sea.
The races are usually organized in conjunction with a cultural festival or an Islamic religious holiday. This particular race and celebration of Swahili dhow culture is held yearly on New Year’s Day and is based in Shela, a small Swahili fishing village on the island of Lamu.
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© National Geographic Yourshot, Editor's Favourite, July 2019. Story and assignment: “Rites of Passage.”
Swahili racing teams come together several times a year to compete in traditional hand-crafted Arabic-styled Mashua dhows in the Lamu Archipelago just off Kenya's northern Swahili Coast.
Intense village rivalries build over the years, often reaching pitch fever on race day. This magnificent racing dhow and crew are in the lead as they move into the final leg of the race. They are the ultimate winners and will return to their village on the island of Pate with team bragging rights and a certain village swagger that will likely last several months until the next race.
Six crewmen in the lead dhow are perched on an adjustable plank that hangs out over the choppy waters for added balance, speed, and stability. About sixteen young crewmen all together are crowded into each dhow to give the necessary weight, balance and stability against a stiff coastal trade wind.
The ubiquitous trade winds have been instrumental in the evolution of Swahili culture and commerce over the years since it was first established in the 14th Century as an Omani trading outpost and settlement on the classic coastal run between Zanzibar and the Arabic world further to the north.
The art of Swahili dhow racing requires considerable team skill as the dhows tack and manoeuvre back and forth through the Manda channel and ultimately out to the edge of the open sea. The finest dhows are selected from each village to race under sail through a complicated series of buoys, combining speed and balance with elaborate tacking and maneuvering competence.
The races are usually organized in conjunction with a cultural festival or an Islamic religious holiday. This Shela-based race on the island of Lamu is organized yearly by Peponi's on New Year's Day.
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Traditional hand-crafted, Arabic-styled fishing dhows rest at sea as a hot equator sun sets over the Indian Ocean and the Lamu Archipelago off Kenya's Swahili Coast. Manda Island and the Shela dunes of Lamu appear on the horizon.
The larger dhows (including the POV vessel) come from a small village further south on Mozambique’s stretch of the Swahili Coast. The three smaller Mashua dhows with folded sails were likely crafted in the traditional dhow-building village of Matondoni on the Kenyan island of Lamu.
Swahili racing teams come together several times a year to compete with the smaller, lighter Mashua dhows. The finest dhows are selected from villages across the archipelago to race under sail through a complicated series of buoys in the Manda channel, combining speed and balance with elaborate tacking and maneuvering competence.
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Dhow Culture | Social Documentary
Tags: Swahili Dhow waterscape landscape dreamscape Nature Nautical Vessel Outdoors Kenya Orange Sea Horizon Water DavidSchweitzer DocumentaryPhotography StreetPhotography HumanInterest VisualAnthropology PhotoJournalism people DhowCulture Mashua Lamu racing island shela sailing crewman Africa IndianOcean sun sunset boat
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Swahili racing teams come together several times a year to compete in traditional hand-crafted, arabic-styled Mashua dhows in the Lamu Archipelago off Kenya's northern Swahili Coast. Intense village rivalries build over the years, often reaching pitch fever on race day.
These four magnificent racing dhows are in near-perfect formation, positioned towards the noonday equator sun on the first day of the New Year. They are in the lead as they prepare to tack around the buoy (top left) and change course, back again to the starting point at Shela, a small Swahili fishing settlement on the island of Lamu. The winners will return to their village with team bragging rights and a certain village swagger that may last several months until the next race.
Dhow Culture | Social Documentary | myFaves
Tags: waterscape landscape dreamscape Competition Nature Outdoors Kenya Orange Sky Cloud Sports Race Indian Ocean DavidSchweitzer DocumentaryPhotography StreetPhotography HumanInterest VisualAnthropology PhotoJournalism people DhowSeries DhowCulture CloudPorn Mashua MashuaDhow Lamu Archipelago racing island shela buoy sailing sail tacking wind coast Africa Dhow Swahili boat
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A Swahili crewman is perched at the far end of an adjustable dhow plank that hangs out over the water for balance and stability as this traditional hand-crafted arabic-styled Mashua dhow sails the Lamu Archipelago off Kenya's northern Swahili coast.
Dhow Culture | Social Documentary
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