Caravels

The caravel (Galician: carabela, IPA: [kaɾaˈbɛla]; Portuguese: caravela, IPA: [kɐɾɐˈvɛlɐ]; Spanish: carabela, IPA: [kaɾaˈbela]) was a small sailing ship that developed from the fishing craft of Galicia, Portugal, and Atlantic Andalusia. It could be rigged either entirely with lateen sails or with a combination of lateen and square sails. It was noted for its capacity for sailing windward (beating) and for its remarkable speed. Caravels were used by the Portuguese and the Spanish for voyages of exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries, in the Age of Exploration. The caravel is a poorly understood type of vessel. Though there are now some archaeologically investigated wrecks that are most likely caravels, information on this type is limited. We have a better understanding of the ships of the Greeks and Romans of classical antiquity than we do of the caravel.