About the ship

The keel of the new Götheborg was laid 11 June 1995. This had been preceded by several years of preparation, and much more work was yet to come before the construction of the new ship could commence one year later. The three materials of the keel that were placed on the keel blocks are the largest parts present in the hull – the oak logs weighed about ten tonnes before the materials were cut out.

Measured in logs, 4,000 m³ of oak and pinewood was used to finish the hull. After making a 1:1 scale drawing of the hull form, the manufacturing of the beam could begin – an effort that would last for two whole years. When all the beams and stems were elevated, one could observe how big and impressive the ship would become.

There are three whole decks on the ship: A lower deck, an upper deck, and a weather deck. Further, the stern has a cabin deck and sundeck. To make the hull waterproof, every plank has a wedge-shaped aperture, a joint, into which tarred flax is put. Not only does this make the hull waterproof, but also more resilient and strong. There is a total of 16 kilometers of joints in the deck and planking. Given that a skilled person would caulk 40 metres per day, one could understand that this was a time-consuming operation that required endurance.

The last big step that remained before launching was to protect the lower part of the hull from shipworms that are found in saltwater and that feed on wood. A blanket made out of tar and cattle hair was laid close to the planking as a protection from the worms. The exterior of the blanket was nailed with thin pine wood planks, and finally anti-fouling paint.

The spaces used by the 18th-century crew has been kept as historically accurate as possible. For instance, the green colour of the furniture comes from a board of a cutting found during the excavation. The main body of today’s crew and most of the modern technology are placed in the space that at the time used to be the cargo hold. A lot of effort has also been put into concealing all the pipes, cables and culverts passing through the interior.

Götheborg of Sweden has 26 sails with a total area of 1,964 m². The regular set of sails is comprised of 18 sails with a total area of 1,550 m².

The sails on board were historically made out of hemp or flax. For the new sails, flax was chosen, as flax canvas is still being produced today. Flax is a durable material that was extensively used in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Götheborg has three different sails aboard, the most common being the square rigs. These sails are laced to yards with lace lines och are hauled down using haul and tacks to the desired trim. The biggest sail on board is the main topsail with an area of almost 250 square meters. There is a total of nine square rigs on board that make up a total of 1300 square meters.

The 18th century East Indiamen were mainly downwind vessels. The rigging is an exact replica of the original one from the 18th century. Rigging is the common title of all masts, rods, and other spars – as in yards, bowsprits, and sprits – as well as sails, blocks, and ropes.

The ropes of the standing rigging (the shroud and the stay) and the running rigging together have a weight of about 20 tons. There exist no contemporary methods for the manoeuvre of the rigging; it was completely handled with manpower. The capstan on board, which is aimed to provide extra power when needed, was also managed with manpower.

The East Indiaman Götheborg is a three-masted ship with square rigs (square sails) on all three masts. The mainmast and the foremast have topgallant sails, topsails and courses. The aftermast has a topsail and a Latin type spanker sail. In the bow is the bowsprit with a jib boom, and hanging below that are two more square sails: the spritsail and the sprit-topsail. A ship of this kind used to be called a frigate-rigged ship, although we nowadays refer to it as a full-rigged ship.

In order to ensure the safety of the professional crew on board, authorities and classification bodies require an amount of technical equipment.

The ship contains propulsion machinery, power generators, pumps, equipment for producing drinking water, high-pressure fire extinguishers, a modern kitchen with fridges and freezers, ventilation, air conditioning, and a complete laundry room. These are all well concealed in the interior of the ship, creating "two ships in one" – a historical and a modern one.