A sailboat is a sail-driven vessel that uses wind power as its thruster. The ship's construction was generally made of wood and was long used as a shipping backbone both civilian and military until the discovery of steam engines and iron/steel vessels in the 19th century in line with the many Industrial Revolutions pioneered by the British through the invention of steam engines by James Watt.

At first, the sailboat was driven by human power as a rower and sail. Models of this type of ship can be seen on viking ships, Ancient Egyptian ships, Ancient Roman ships, Ancient Indian ships until the time of Borobudur Ships that have used sailboats. Along with the development, it is used kapa bercadik sails as found in Indonesia, ships using triangular sails such as those found in the Middle East and rectangular sailboats used by europeans towards the beginning of the century of exploration, as well as folding sailboats with models found in Japan or China.