The online edition of the Diccionari català-valencià-balear (DCVB) by A M Alcover and F de B Moll defines a llaüt as a low tonnage vessel (between one and fifty tonnes), lateen-rigged and sometimes with a jib known as a polacca, used for fishing and coastal navigation.

The first llaüts that came into operation around the Balearic islands towards the end of the 18th century were called barques del bou [wing net boats] and until well into the 20th century they always fished in pairs.

There are several generations of wing net boats or llaüts. The San Miguel would belong to the first generation of wing net boats. The first generation includes llaüts of up to 12-14 metres in length, propelled solely by sails and built between 1800 and 1920. Second generation wing net boats share propulsion by sails with the first engines, which were installed in 1925. From the third generation on, beginning in 1940, vessels are built to incorporate only and exclusively an engine and abandon sails, and the shapes vary considerably. They are no longer large llaüts to become wing net boats (trawl vessels), with more powerful engines and fishing methods more suitable to a single boat so they have no need to fish in pairs.

Regarding the start and finish dates for the generations, they may suffer variations of between two and four years, more or less, as modernization in each of the generations was not immediate but gradual and depended on each shipowner. It must also be borne in mind that the Balearics fishing fleet has been very long-lived, which means that some generations overlapped. One example would be the Balear, built in 1924, so second generation, which was active until December 1997 and, therefore, shared three generations, with 73 years of service.

So, the llaüt was initially a vessel usually devoted to fishing and, also, it must be said, to smuggling, activities which were practised, especially around Santanyí, interchangeably and arbitrarily depending on the moment, the occasion and the necessity.

Manuel Gómez Planas – Sebastià A. Adrover Vicens