Replica of Nao Victoria to visit Plymouth this summer
Nao Victoria is the first ship to ever sail around the world. A replica of the Spanish carrack will be in Plymouth this July and August.
An exact replica of the Nao Victoria will be berthing in Plymouth’s historic Sutton Harbour this summer.
The ship will arrive on 28 July, one day before the four-day Sutton Harbour Classic Boat Rally. The vessel will stay in Plymouth until 21 August.
Build in 1992, the tall ship is the only replica of the famous original.
See video of the Nao Victoria replica below
The Nao Victoria was the first vessel to successfully circumnavigate the globe in 1522 as part of Magellan’s Expedition.
The Spanish carrack set sail from Seville on 10 August 10, 1519 as one of five ships in the expedition, which aimed to find a new westbound route to reach the ‘Spice Islands’ – now known as Indonesia.
Three years on, the Victoria was the only ship to return to Spain.
The remaining 18-man crew on board were unaware they had completed the first ever round-the-world voyage.
The 27-metre long, three-masted replica is an exact copy of the 16th century original with four decks, 290 square metres of sail, and a main beam measuring 6.7 metres.
The ship will be visiting the UK for the first time this summer when it sails into Plymouth.
The commercial marketing manager for Sutton Harbour Holdings Ltd, Charlotte Malcolm, said: “Sutton Harbour regularly hosts visits from historic tall ships which prove enormously popular with visitors, bringing the waterfront to life and reminding us of how Plymouth once looked in the days of legendary maritime achievements.”
She continued: “We are especially excited to be welcoming the Nao Victoria this summer and hosting the first ever visit to the UK from one of the most famous replica tall ships in the world; it will be an incredible coup for Plymouth, and further reinforces that the destination truly is Britain’s Ocean City.”
The Nao Victoria replica was built for EXPO, the World’s Fair held in 1992 in Seville.
It is the only replica of the famous original which crossed three oceans to achieve the first round the world voyage.
The ship is managed by the Fundacion Nao Victoria, whose main goal is to educate people about maritime history.
The replica has previously undertaken a world tour visiting American and Northern Europe.
It is used as an exhibition vessel, acting as a self-contained museum on board where visitors can learn more about the era of the explorers.
For more information on the ship’s visit to Plymouth, visit the Fundacion Nao Victoria website.
The arrival of the Nao Victoria follows a number of successful visits from tall ships to Sutton Harbour, including the three-masted barque Kaskelot and Westcountry trading ketch The Irene, which both visited in 2015.
This autumn, Sutton Harbour welcomes Shtandart, a sea-going replica of the legendary frigate built by the Russian Tsar Peter the Great in 1703.
This three-masted, 34-metre long wooden replica will be berthed in the harbour from 6-9 October.
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