Ship Building

The ships used in the early period of European exploration were called barcas and barinels but their square sails were clumsy and the ships were slow to respond. One reason for this was that in order to fill their sails properly these ships had to travel into the wind at a minimum angle of 67 degrees. Thus, once the ships were caught sailing into the wind, it was difficult, if not impossible, for them to turn around. The Portuguese quickly realized that a new type of ship and new sails were needed. The Portuguese modeled their new ships on this principle and the result was the caravela, which had an axled rudder and earlier models had two to three masts all using lateen sails. Future versions of the ship would have four masts, with the fourth mast forward (the mast closest to the bow) being square-rigged. Two of the three ships in which Christopher Columbus made his voyage in 1492 were caravels, the Niña and the Pinta.

By the end of the fifteenth century, another sail, the sprit sail, was fixed on the bowsprit to help better control the caravel. Furthermore, improvements in both the durability and strength of ropes, a result of newer materials, meant that handling square sails became much easier for sailors. The number of crew members required to handle the ship decreased as a result. Ship builders also adopted the best sailcloth - either cotton or linen canvas - from merchants in Genoa and Marseilles, and this newer fabric had the advantage of being more durable.

Beyond the changes to the basic sail structure of Portuguese vessels, builders realized that the stability of the ship's hull must be improved as well. When sailing in storms or high seas, it is essential that the vessel remain waterproof. The deck planks on caravels were placed edge-to-edge (no gap between planks) and were sealed with oakum (shredded hemp) and covered with a layer of tar or pitch. Hatches (that allowed sailors to go below deck) and companionways (stairways from one deck to another) were minimized to help make the ship watertight. Structurally, the hull was reinforced with the use of skids (larger planks fixed to the side of the ship that function much like a bumper on a car) to cushion collisions with the dock when the ship was loading and unloading in port.

Whereas the yard of a square sail pivots on the mast and can turn easily to the required angle with the use of ropes, to swing the foot of a lateen yard behind the mast and rest the sail in another direction when the ship was already beating to windward required a great deal of strength and a large crew. If the sail should happen to break loose during the maneuver, there was the danger that the ship could be turned on its side.