The Stopover boats in Sète 2024: El Galeón, the only galleon in the world

Ce navire est la seule réplique de galion espagnol du monde. Midi Libre – PHILIPPE MALRIC

El Galeón is one of a kind. This three-masted ship, expected for Stopover in Sète, is an exact reproduction of the Spanish galleons which crossed the Atlantic in the 16th century to trade with the new colonies in America.

How many of them were in the heyday crisscrossing the Atlantic between Spain and the Americas ? How many ultimately sank due, sometimes, to attacks by pirates attracted by – on the way out – the quantities of olive oil, wine, clothing, tools and weapons and – on the way back – by gold and silver ?

150 men on board

Remains that the Spanish galleon is the one which, in the 16th century, opened the first important trade routes. These ships, with large holds, heavy, carrying horses and up to 150 men at the same time as their goods (which each made the surface area of ​​1.5 m2 during the long crossing) marked time . But they have not reached us. Fortunately, the Nao Victoria Foundation has embarked on the reconstruction of Spanish floating heritage!

Logbook

Name: El Galeón
Type: galleon
Launched in 2011
Spanish Pavilion
Home port Huelva
Length: 49.40 m
Post height: n.c.
Sail area: 730 m2
Number of sailors on board: 12

Reconstruction based on an 18th century book

After having succeeded, in the 1990s, in recreating the carrack which allowed Magellan to sail for the first time around the world, this foundation immersed itself in the 130 boards of the Demonstrative dictionary of the configuration and anatomy of all modern naval architecture written between 1719 and 1756 by Juan José Navarro de Viana y Bùfalo to be able to redraw the dimensions of ;rsquo;a galleon.

Where and when to see it ?

From March 26 to 29, Quai d'Algiers since April 1, Quai Durand. Entrance with the single ticket which gives access to the deck of all tall ships. Ticket office: Quai de la République or at the tourist office and on the website escalasete.com

Two years of construction

It then took two years for some 130 craftsmen from different trades to build this unique boat of its kind which – for the record – serves as the setting for the last scene of the last episode of Pirates of the Caribbean. But the essential thing is not there. The presence of this impressive galleon for the third time at Stopover in Sète allows us to see the navigation conditions – and life – on board such units which went to sea for long weeks in very ancient times. And it was already luxury compared to the Nao Victoria.

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