Vasa II: Part 1. Martnet, whipstaff, and spritsail topsail. The material remains of a 1628 warship rig

The Vasa shipwreck revealed a lost world in 1961, with the remains of the rigging, including lower masts, blocks, deadeyes, rope, cable, and nine sails. This provides an unparalleled opportunity to reconstruct the rigging and understand how ships were sailed in the seventeenth century.

Format: Hardback
Length: 472 pages
Publication date: 30 September 2023
Publisher: Nordic Academic Press

When Vasa was raised in 1961, a lost world was revealed in astonishing detail. Among the most remarkable finds were the remains of the rigging. Normally, shipwrecks offer only a few clues to the structure above the waterline, but on Vasa, the lower masts, a myriad of blocks and deadeyes, hundreds of meters of rope and cable, and – most astonishingly – nine sails from the ship and its boat survive. The unique finds provide an unparalleled opportunity to reconstruct the rigging in detail and to form an understanding of how ships were sailed in the seventeenth century. With a sail plan, rigging, and steering gear that are substantially different to the classical full-rigged ship of the nineteenth century, the evidence from Vasa paints a vivid picture of ship-handling in the Age of Sail. Vasa II Part 1 presents more than a thousand finds of wood, metal, and cloth from the most complete rig to survive from before 1800, which form the basis for a complete reconstruction of the rig and sailing performance of a large warship of the 1620s.

When Vasa was raised in 1961, a lost world was revealed in astonishing detail.

Among the most remarkable finds were the remains of the rigging.

Normally, shipwrecks offer only a few clues to the structure above the waterline, but on Vasa, the lower masts, a myriad of blocks and deadeyes, hundreds of meters of rope and cable, and – most astonishingly – nine sails from the ship and its boat survive.

The unique finds provide an unparalleled opportunity to reconstruct the rigging in detail and to form an understanding of how ships were sailed in the seventeenth century.

With a sail plan, rigging, and steering gear that are substantially different to the classical full-rigged ship of the nineteenth century, the evidence from Vasa paints a vivid picture of ship-handling in the Age of Sail.

Vasa II Part 1 presents more than a thousand finds of wood, metal, and cloth from the most complete rig to survive from before 1800, which form the basis for a complete reconstruction of the rig and sailing performance of a large warship of the 1620s.

Dimension: 297 x 210 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789188909114