Shipbuilding History » Yachts & Boats

People settlement appeared on the banks of the rivers, lakes and marine harbours for ages, and water-ways became the first transport highways for building of domestic infrastructure and organization of public mutual relations between people. The art of shipbuilding reflects in a great deal, and sometimes anticipates the level of human civilization development. It shows brightly the high level of science, natural science and technique development.

Building of ships always leaned on all arsenal of sciences and handicrafts, on professionals experience and technical art of engineers. They were reflecting a lifestyle, world view of people and their general aspirations in their turn. Boatbuilding

The real possibilities of the coastal countries on mastering of marine spaces are the main criterion of economic power and political role of the state in a world association. All variety of scientific discoveries is reflected in marine technologies and shipbuilding practice to the present tense. Researches of ocean, atmosphere and space always come on service to navigators, stipulating efficiency of navigator and safety of human life at the sea.

Modern historical science doesn't determine some exact dates about building of the first seagoing crafts. However all of writen witnesses, that reached our days, mention sea crafts and existence of commercial sea routes, linking practically all of human civilizations on the coast of the World ocean between themselves. In legends and narrations of ancient greek philosopher Plato is mentioned about ancient marine civilization Atlantide, which ruled not only on the European and African coasts of Atlantic, but also on the American continent, thus with chronologic references to 9000 A.D.

Shipbuilding

Like marvellous historical monuments of overland building and masterpieces of antique city architecture unique on technological complication and beauty, so perfect navy existed at all times of human civilization and always was personification of the most front-rank scientific thought and production potential of marine states. Historical evidences of the distant trips of ancient navigators do not allow to reject their ability to determine the location of a ship far from coasts in clear or cloudy weather, in the day-time or at night, as well as their knowledge about sea currents, ebbs and flows, accuracy of weather predictions and onshore winds. Except for merely theoretical navigation and astronomic sciences, geographical knowledges in marine sailing directions and travelling manuscripts, sailing skill requires saving and passing from generation to generation of unwritten practical experience, maintenances of sailors high qualification who are able to make certain, exact and bold decisions about navigation at stormy winds of high sea and dangerous waterways of coastal routes.

The ancient indirect evidences of ships architecture and navigation conditions quite often confirm the high marine art of the East-Asiatic countries, where shipbuilding technologies, new hardware and navigation sciences about distant navigation came in Mediterranean from.

Unfortunately, generally recognized and documentarily indissoluble history of seagoing takes beginning only from medieval Europe, from a Boatbuilding

mighty and numerous venetian fleet. Venice was the basic supplier of large crafts called nave in the period of crusades (1096-1270). The construction of these crafts was changing constantly in subsequent ages, and to the beginning of 16th century venetian four-masted nave had a fully perfect form of the hull and they were sizeable.

Every large vessel was considered unique engineering building to the beginning of 20 century. Navigators participated directly in planning and building of these large vessels, they had a large experience of marine trips and accident-free navigation in the difficult and stormy conditions of sailing.

Responsibility for nautical qualities and safety of seagoing of new ships laid fully down at the same old sea captains. They became coast shipbuilders in expectant of new distant trips, building for their future marines new ships taking into account both historical experience of navigation and their own practical skills and knowledges of features of ship exploitation in the ocean sailing. Thus, the success of shipbuilding science was strictly entrusted the capabilities of designers - captains, and also subordinate to them crews to execution of the long marine expeditions, to the maintainance of ship military efficiency and their lives in tough conditions of sailing at the ships projected by them.

Shipbuilding

It is possible to take as truth the statement that if certain project decisions on a hull form and ship architecture were saved through the ages and circulated simultaneously in a few countries, corresponding vessels can be considered fully nautical or optimum on the sailing conditions in the set districts of ocean or, on a marine slang, meeting claims of «good marine practice» (the best and historically checked technical decisions, which answer modern conditions of seagoing).

It's obvious that the ship is good not only because it can sail in general, but because it is able to reply the requirements made to it on self-sufficiency, carrying capacity, speed of motion and navigability in the simple and difficult conditions of sailing. People were trying to adjust a ship to co-operating with a water and air environment as good as possible at all times from the beginning of seagoing. These two environments - water and air, interacting between themselves, generated the most dangerous factors exactly in a gale. They are threatening waves under squall-hurricane winds.

Long time building experience of river and marine vessels was gained by the method of attempts and fails, what resulted in very long historical terms in the shipbuilding evolution. The experience attained quite often perished together with its bearers - sailors. Followers were forced to repeat their way or create something new in area of shipbuilding and seagoing.

Certainly, the first thing what wise sailors understood was that it's absolutely hopeless to fight against a raging element. Rowers wear themselves out fast enough in a stormy conditions, and oars, if they are not hidden, are broken and cripple rowers. A sail is torn off, a mast is broken and as a result there is uncontrollable ship with its crew, load and passengers, begging all of the known gods about mercy on the surface of a stormy sea. True sailors marked, except for prayers and cry in such anxious hours, that wide and rounded hulls with high Boatbuilding

shoulders are able to hold out a log on a large wave, practically not flooding, and round, as barrels, are least heeled and broken under the wave blows, even if on narrow decks threatenings wave streams walk quite often about. The non-resistance of stormy element, as the main rule of the nonconflicting planning, is brightly shown up in the hull form and general ship architecture of the most known historical ships and vessels of the ocean sailing.

Appearance of the sailing ships of unlimited sailing region resulted in the epoch of the Great geographical discoverings, when during the few decades of the end of 15 - beginning of 16 centuries a Spanish fleet visited practically all distant districts of the World ocean. But «Unconquerable Spanish Armada» suffered a shattering defeat from a stormy element in sailing round the Great Britain islands already in the middle of 16th century, when in default of minimum navigation-hydrographical construction of coast, exact navigation maps and necessary knowledge about the hydrometeorological conditions of sailing district, greater part of great squadron ships appeared on the stones and shoals near-by a coast.

And now there are quite a bit of coastal aquatoriums of the World ocean, not provided with harbours, which are refuges from the stormy winds. Ships and vessels can depend only upon experience of captains and on own stormy nautical qualities at sailing in such opened aquatoriums. Stormy navigability is the major condition of marine transport communications efficiency maintenance in such dangerous districts of coastal aquatoriums. Stormy navigability also is an obligatory requirement for vessels and marine engineering buildings, which master marine natural resources.