Table of Contents
What new technology helped the Portuguese sail against the wind?
These new ships, called caravels, used triangular sails that, unlike square sails, allowed ships to sail against the wind. By placing rudders at the back of the ship, the Portuguese also improved the steering of ships.
What allowed Portuguese ships to sail against the wind as well as with it?
used triangular sails that, unlike traditional square sails ,allowed ships to sail against the wind. You just studied 14 terms!
What technology helped the Portuguese to be successful sailors?
The caravel was developed specifically for long-distance trade by Prince Henry the Navigator from Portugal. It had two or three masts that used square sails on open water, but switched to triangular lateen sails when closer to shore.
What device made it sail from Europe to the Americas?
Some innovations that made the Age of exploration possible were the compass, the astrolabe and, new ships, such as the caravel.
What technology allows caravels to travel faster?
Advances in ship design allowed ship builders to construct sailing vessels capable of long ocean voyages. In the late 1400’s, the Portuguese developed the caravel. The caravel had three-masts for stability and more sails which allowed it to sail faster than earlier ships as well as navigate shallow harbors.
What allowed ships to sail against wind?
Caravels had triangular lateen sails that allowed ships to sail against the wind. A moveable rudder made the caravel more maneuverable.
Why do sailors depend on the wind?
Sailors rely on wind to get where they are going. Even power ships prefer not to steer into a strong headwind, and in the Age of Sail, ship captains chose routes that followed regular wind patterns and currents to help them get to their destination in the shortest amount of time.
What did the Portuguese import by the sea route?
Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pepper and turmeric had long been products which were difficult to obtain in Europe and brought in by caravans and experienced merchants coming from the East.
How did the by the wind sailor get its name?
This incredibly strange and beautiful species is known as a colonial hydroid. They are similar to the Portuguese man o war as they are made up of a colony of tiny individual animals. They are not true jellyfish. Its characteristic sail gives the animal its name, ‘by-the-wind-sailor’.
Why are jellyfish called by the wind sailor?
They are not true jellyfish. Its characteristic sail gives the animal its name, ‘by-the-wind-sailor’. The sail allows the organism to catch the wind and travel on ocean currents, using its stinging tentacles to prey on young fish and other small animals while it travels.
What kind of SAIL does a pelagic sail have?
A thin, semi-circular fin (sail) attaches diagonally across the top of the float and tiny short tentacles hang down from the float into the water below. A pelagic (open ocean) species commonly recorded around British and Irish coasts in the autumn and winter-time when storms are most common.
How does a sail work on a sailboat?
The direction of the sail along the float determines which way the by-the-wind-sailor will travel. If the sail runs north-west to south-east along the float it will drift left of the wind direction, if the sail runs south-west to north-east it will drift right of the wind direction!