Ship profile for the sailing ship: "Niña"

Photos of the sailing ship:

Please click into a photo to see it in higher resolution.

Niña, Steve Tompkins, Chicago , 08/2000

Source, location, date:
Steve Tompkins,
Chicago,
08/2000

Niña, Steve Tompkins, Chicago , 08/2000

Source, location, date:
Steve Tompkins,
Chicago,
08/2000

Technical data of the sailing ship:

Name:Niña
Registered port:Delaware/Bahia
Nation:USA/Brazil
Type of ship:Caravela Redonda
Year built:1988-1991
Yard:Valenca, Brazil
Overall length:28.04 m
Length (hull):21.51 m
Breadth:5.48 m
Draught:2.13 m
Sail area:184 m2
Ship's hull:Holz / Wood
Power:145 PS
Engine:OM 352

Portrait of the sailing ship:

Last update: 24 Oct 2000

  • in 1986, the Columbus Foundation was formed in the British Virgin Islands to raise money to build the three ships that Christopher Columbus used in his encounter with the New World,
  • next two years were spent in research, due to money and time constraints it was possible to build only one replica first, it was decided that the "Niña" would be built
  • "Niña" was a caravel, which was a common trading vessel in use during the Age of Discovery, Caravels were also used as cargo carriers, warships, patrol boats, and even as pirate ships, advantages were speed, a shallow draught, and manoeuvrability, they were good sailing ships
  • in 1988, the Columbus Foundation hired John Patrick Sarsfield, an American engineer, maritime historian, and expert on Portuguese caravels, to design and construct a replica of the "Niña", Valenca in Brazil was the building place for the hull, Jonathan Nance, British maritime historian, and one of the main researchers of the project, was asked to finish the ship, in Dec. of 1991 she left the Banks of Rio Uno in Valenca
  • since June of 1992 the "Niña" has been continually touring and discovering new ports, covering the East Coast of the U.S., the Great Lakes, the Missouri River as far Northward as Sioux City, the Ohio River, the Tennessee River, the Illinois and Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, in January of 1996 the "Niña" left Texas, sailed across the Gulf of Mexico to the Western Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and arrived on the West Coast in March, for a 13 month tour of California, Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver. The ship then sailed to Mazatlan, Mexico to spend four months during the winter of 1997 taking passengers out for day trips in the Pacific Ocean, used for Discovery and that is precisely what it will continue to do, and this is what makes this attraction vessel unique
  • the "Niña" seems to be the most historically accurate replica of a Columbus ship

Contact:

Website (English, 25 Dec 2022):
https://www.ninapinta.org/
Discover Columbus' Ships: building of the replicas Niña and Pinta, infos about the original ships, activities, photos, store, schedules and contact

Literature for further reading:

We recommend the following references for your further research of the ship. The references marked with have been included in the generation of the ship profile on this page.

Otmar Schäuffelen
"Die letzten grossen Segelschiffe"
Delius Klasing Verlag 2002 ISBN: 3-7688-0483-6
(10. aktualisierte und erweiterte Auflage)
Page: 400 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data

American Sail Training Association (ASTA)
"Sail Tall Ships! A Directory of Sail Training and Adventure at Sea"
2007 ISBN: 978-0-9799878-0-9
(17th Edition)
Page: 219 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact