WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -caravel, a light sailing ship of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries in Europe, much-used by the Spanish and Portuguese for long voyages. Apparently developed by the Portuguese for exploring the coast of Africa, the caravel’s chief excellence lay in its capacity for sailing to windward.

Detailed explanation-2: -The caravel (Portuguese: caravela, IPA: [kɐɾɐˈvɛlɐ]) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing windward (beating).

Detailed explanation-3: -Carrack. The carrack (called nao, for ship, by the Portuguese) was the beast of burden of the 16th century, carrying cargo and troops to faraway lands.

Detailed explanation-4: -Da Gama sailed from Lisbon on July 8, 1497, with a fleet of four vessels-two medium-sized three-masted sailing ships, each of about 120 tons, named the “São Gabriel” and the “São Rafael”; a 50-ton caravel, named the “Berrio”; and a 200-ton storeship.

Detailed explanation-5: -The various mast-based classification includes – sloop, fractional-rig sloop, cutter, ketch, schooner and catboat. The sloop is the most common mast type, where a single mast supports two sails called the headsail (or foresail) and the mainsail.