Caravel 15th century Not likely to be a pirate ship, but the European overseas empires would not have existed without this ship, and therefore no Caribbean pirates. The caravel was a small, highly maneuverable ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing windward (beating). Caravels were used by the Portuguese and Castilians (Spain) for the oceanic exploration voyages during the 15th and 16th centuries.   With a length of almost 14 m (scaled) the design resembles caravels of the same size as Niña(Santa Clara) and Pinta from the 1492 quest for Asia. It is in minifig-scale or 1:40’ish. The model will have the dimensions Length: 40 cm, Height: 45 cm (with stand), Width: 10,5 cm (Beam) There is approx. 1300 bricks in the model.  In this digital rendering, I have shown both a lateen rigged and square-rigged version.