Replica of legendary Spanish galleon to visit north Wales

A replica of a legendary Spanish galleon, the Galeón Andalucía, is set to visit north Wales from the end of May.

The breathtaking reproduction will soon visit Caernarfon and dock at Landerne Pier, its creaking timbers telling the story of one of the most legendary Spanish galleons of our time.

With five of its decks open to the public, visitors will be able to climb aboard from 29 May to 8 June and learn how the adventurous sailors of yesteryear sailed and lived.

The Galeon Andalucia is the replica of the type of vessel used by the Spanish Crown for maritime expeditions
during the 16th through the 18th centuries.

Galleons were intended to discover and then establish trade routes between Spain, America and the Philippines islands, and formed the then called Fleet of the Indies.

Innovation

With highly innovative designs at the time, galleons were armed merchant vessels which would way huge amounts, with tonnages ranging from 500 to 1,200, with overall lengths ranging from 130 to 200 feet.

They were designed to cross the largest oceans as efficiently as possible, and for three centuries, these Spanish galleons crossed the Atlantic Ocean back and forth, sailed around the Caribbean Sea and the American coasts, covering the Pacific route as well.

The ships carried seamen, merchant traders and settlers, while their holds bore loads from American and Asian trade.

Galleons were the most popular of the Spanish ships which took the lead on commercial and cultural relationships between Spain, America and Asia for more than three centuries.

These ships formed the so-called Indies fleet, which sailed from Seville, Spain, to America –Mexico and Panama–, where they linked up with the other great commercial route that extended the navigation to the Pacific Ocean: the Manila Galleon Route or China Route.

This last route linked Manila to Acapulco, and brought riches from the Far East to Spain and Western civilizations.

Spanish Galleons such as the one set to visit Caernarfon played the leading role on the longestmaritime commercial route (in both time and length)  in the history of navigation during three centuries.

The Galeón Andalucía

To build this outstanding replica, three years of research were required to study the shapes, details, and dimensions of the original Spanish galleons of the Indies.  This information was gathered from the main historical and naval archives in Spain.

After completing this research, the construction design process took place over six months, followed by the actual building of the galleon, which required 17 months and the work of 150 people until it was ready to set sail in February 2010.

A whole host of innovative techniques were used in its construction, including building the hull and decks using fiberglass-based systems, and then covering the structure, decks, and hull with pine and iroko wood.

This was the first time such a technique was used on ships over 500 tons which are intended for ocean navigation.

The replica of this galleon is a 500-ton vessel, measuring 49 meters in length and 10 meters in beam. It has four masts and nearly 1,000 square meters of sail area across six sails. Its average speed is 7 knots.

Since its launch, the Galeón Andalucía—crewed by between 15 and 35 people—has sailed across the world’s great oceans and seas.

It has crossed the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Atlantic, and navigated the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, South China Sea, Aegean Sea, Bosphorus, and the Caribbean, covering tens of thousands of nautical miles in tribute to its historic predecessors.

Visit from 29 May to 8 June at Landerne Pier (Caernarfon) from 10am-8pm.

The organisers encourage anyone interested to book their tickets now at tickets.velacuadra.es in order to secure their place.

Schools and associations can schedule a visit by sending an e-mail to [email protected]

Tickets: regular: £12 / childs (5- 10 years): £6 / £30 Family (2 adults + up to 3 children between 5- 10 years). Free for children under 5 years old, who must be accompanied by an adult.