The Columbus Ships Again Sailed the Ocean Blue in 1992

These full size replica's were built by the Spanish Goverment and sailed to 'The New World' on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's Voyage in 1492. The Santa Maria (87ft) had three masts (fore, main, and mizzen), each of which carried one large sail. Foresail and mainsail were square sails, the sail on the mizzen mast (at the stern) was a triangular sail known as a lateen, there was also a small square sail on the bowsprit, and small topsail on the mainmast above the mainsail. The Pinta (74ft) also had three masts, as did the Niña (70ft).

Sailtexas.com sailed on the Niña in 1994 as a guest, Captain David Hiott explained that the design was basically a boat for light coastal work/fishing and not intended for serious offshore. Chief Mate was Jose Antonio Barrera from Spain (who was on the 1992 crossing), Bosun; Matthew Otto and a crew of volunteers.

The design was considered fast in the 1480's when the original Niña was launched. Niña was actually a nickname; she had been named the Santa Clara, but as she had been owned by a family called Niño, she was always called Niña (ships by tradition always being female). Niña has a top speed of 7.5 knots (8.6 miles per hour) in 20 knots of wind, and is able to point to 70 degrees - but makes 80-85 degrees(with leeward drift). A main mast of 56.5 ft, with a 42-foot spar made of two tree trunks lashed together, takes the mainsail of 882 square feet. Break a spar and you just go ashore and cut down two suitable trees for replacement!

The Niña at Corpus Christi, is rigged as her namesake under Columbus, the square 'trinquette' sail set on the fore mast with the square 'mayor' sail on the main mast and the fore & aft 'missana' sail on the mizzen (stern) mast.

In 15th century ship design, the crew did not go aloft; the spar lowers to the deck (to let out or put in a harbor furl; a line called a 'martinet' draws inboard any part of the sail that would otherwise fall outside the ship's rail.

When hoisted, the sail has a 'bowline' on both sides: when close hauled (sailing at 70 degree's to the wind), the lee leach bowline is led forward and sweated tight, to make good sail shape. The 286-square foot forecourse is set up in the same way with martinet and bowlines, the bowline for the weather leach being led forward to the bowsprit. The sails are made of fax.

The main sail has no reef points (to reduce sail area in high winds). For fine weather sailing one or two 'bonnet's' are added to the foot of the sail; we sailed with one bonnet of 210 sqft added to the main.

The Niña is steered by a long tiller with tiller and helmsman positioned below the poop deck with very little headroom. A small hatch above the tiller can be opened to allow the helmsman to stand on the wide tiller bar (steering with his feet) in good weather with head and shoulders above the deck, and his compass to his right.























The mizzen mast on the poop (stern) deck has a triangle fore & aft sail of 188 sqft, the spar being (the usual) two lashed tree limbs. On tacking, the heel of the spar is led back and around the mast (so the shape and set of the sail is not obstructed by the mast). On a broad reach (wind on the boat's side), the heel of the spar is taken to the boat's rail and 'close hauled' to within six planks of the centerline (planks are 6 inches wide).

On a 'run (with wind astern), the sail is furled by taking the heel of the spar to the foot of the mast and the clew line taken in -- as with this sail 'set' while running downwind, the boat's natural balance is off, giving excessive helm (and speed reducing drag).


In 1492 the two 'Caravels' (the Ninña and the Pinta) were faster than the 150 ton Santa Maria, a 'Carrack' (the merchant ships of their day), with a crew of 36 and was chartered by Christopher Columbus. The Caravel Niña (90 tons) had like the Caravel Pinta (70 tons), been sized by the Crown for alleged smuggling and failure to pay taxes. Both sailed with sailing masters from the families that had owned them, the Niña with a crew of 24, and the Pinta with 28 in crew under the Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the oldest brother of the Pinzon family.

All three vessels sailed heavily laden with supplies for a year; food would have been salt meat (mainly pork), salt fish, hard biscuit (seasoned but not old, specified Columbus), chick peas, olive oil, flour salted at the time of milling, and lentils. Fish caught on the outward trip was a pleasant addition, on the return an absolute necessity. Potatoes, chocolate, pineapple, blackberries and avocados were still waiting to be discovered! Living conditions on the ships were primitive. Columbus as Captain-General of the Fleet, had a small cabin (which he disliked), under the poop deck of the Santa Maria; the majority of the Santa Maria crew slept on deck, the hold being full of supplies, plus some goods to trade.

The master and crew of the Pinta and Niña all slept on deck, the hold being full. Cooking, mainly stews and soups, was done by the ship's boy on a 'fogon', an iron tray with iron windbreak using charcoal near the lee rail. There was no oven, and food was eaten from the lap.

How fast could they sail? As with all vessels powered by the wind, speed is dependent on the strength of the wind, over several days, ships of Columbus's day would average a little less than 4 knots (4.6 mph). Top speed for the vessels was about 8 knots (except in gale force winds), and without any wind - speed was zero. These speeds were quite typical for vessels of the period.

Columbus, as other mariners of his time, knew the Earth was round as the mast tops of approaching ships would first be seen...













Then more of the masts and sails.....
















And then, the ships theselves....





By 1407, Ptolemy's 2nd century AD maps (with 'North' at the top of the page), and his works translated from Arabic to Latin, surface in Constantinople, and within two years are available in Europe. Henry the Navigator (Prince Henry of Portugal) founds a navigation school at Sarges in Portugal.

Ptolemy however did not choose to use the Eratosthenes estimate of the size of the Earth, but choose instead the calculations of the Greek astronomer Poseidonius, whose figures make the Earth three-quarters its true size. Ptolemy also showed the Indian Ocean, incorrectly, to be an 'inland sea'.








In ships and technology however, it was China that was leading the World in 1400-1445, and was already sailing across the Indian Ocean and trading with Madagascar on the East Coast of Africa.

Under the third Ming Emperor of China, Admiral Zheng He's flagship the 440ft 'Treasured Ship' had nine masts,12 sails and a beam of 186ft.



The Chinese ships were the first to have 'rudders', 'watertight compartments', fore and aft 'lug sails' that could be worked with small crews from the deck. The Chinese traded with Madagascar, navigation was by 'dead reckoning' although they also had a form of astro-navigation, 'Al Kermal', from the Arabs. Admiral Zheng He [also known by his religious name of 'Sanbao'] between 1405-1433 A.D. is believed to have even sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, he died on his seventh voyage and China retreated from being a great maritime nation into 500 years of isolation.

History tells us, that no civilization has lasted more than a 1,000 years. In China, the knowledge of how to build 400ft ships, and the expertise to man and sail them, was gone within the lifetime of the craftsmen that had built them, and the mariners who had sailed them.

In 1487 - 300 years into Western Civilisation, Portuguese Caravel's under Bartholomew Diaz rounded Africa in search of spices, gold (and to save souls in China), but the crew mutinied as they sailed up the East African coast and Diaz had to return. He had however shown that there was a sea route eastwards to China, and the King of Portugal withdrew any interest in Columbus and his idea's of sailing west to do the same thing. Columbus returned to Spain and won the support of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile

In 1492, Columbus sailed with his Spanish fleet of three ships, believing that the distance from the Canary Islands to Japan was only 2,400 miles - while it is actually over 10,000 and found a new unknown continent blocking the way to the nutmeg's, clove's, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, gold (and souls of China).

To-day, Western Civilization is in its 800th year and NASA's Voyager 1 (launched in 1977), is now over eight billion miles from Earth and has traveled further than any other human-made object and is now leaving our Solar System to explore Interstellar Space. It is being trailed by Voyager 2, launched on a different path in the same year, both are carrying discs that carry sounds and images of our Civilization should they meet up with a form of intelligent life in Interstellar Space in the far off future.