Audrey Wells and the Virtual Nau

What better way to start the new year than to look at a project which uses modern technology to recreate virtually a ship from 1606?    Dr. Filipe Castro,  of the Nautical Archaeology Program, Texas A&M University, working with the university’s Visualization Sciences department committee chairman Fred Parke and one of his students, Audrey Wells, have reconstructed a Nau, a Portuguese spice trader, the Nossa Senhora dos Martires (Our Lady of the Martyrs,) in 3D. More than simply a visual model, however, the project also looked at the hydrodynamics, stability and sailing performance of the ship. The project also considered the human ergonomics. How was it possible for such a vessel to carry a crew of 450, 220 tons of peppercorns, other cargoes, guns, supplies, and food and water for a six month voyage?  Using computer modeling, they are learning the secrets of sailing the ship lost on September 14, 1606, off the coast of Portugal.

The project is discussed in the The Cyber-Resurrection of Our Lady of the Martyrs in the Fall 2011 Surveyor, the journal of the American Bureau of Shipping.  See also, Virtual Nau.

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