Caravel

A small highly maneuverable three masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish for exploration's long voyages. Because of its smaller size, the caravel, unlike the Chinese junk or the Indian Ocean dhow, was able to explore upriver in shallow coastal waters. With the lateen sails affixed it was able to go speedily over shallow water and take deep wind, while with the square atlantic type sails attached, the caravel was very fast. Its economy, speed, agility, and power made the caravel esteemed as the best sailing vessel of its time. It generally carried two or three masts with lateen sails, while later types had four masts.

The caravel is believed to have originated in the early 1400s as a combination of the rounded hull design of the Cogs and barcas with the lateen sails used on Mediterranean galleys. Caravels typically displaced 50-100 tons, and were about 65 ft long and 20 ft abeam.

The Nina and Pinta of Christopher Columbus were probably caravels, while the Santa Maria was the larger carrack.

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