Vasa II: Rigging and Sailing a Swedish Warship of 1628. the Material Remains and Archaeological Context

Provides the meticulous reconstruction and comprehensive analysis of the 17th century shipwreck of Vasa and her rigging, shedding valuable light on the Age of Sail seamanship.

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.

Fred Hocker is the Director of Research at the Vasa Museum, responsible for historical and archaeological research concerning Vasa, the ship, and its contents. He is formerly the Yamini Associate Professor of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A & M University and worked as a wooden shipwright and shipkeeper at Mystic Seaport Museum before entering the academic world. He is also an active crew volunteer on Kalmar Nyckel, a sailing recreation of a full-rigged ship of the 1620s–1640s.