What does this number measure?
Santa María was a carrack, or nao, with a fuller hull than the two caravels. This reference adopts the replica from the fifth-centenary programme described by Paul Balaresque Porta, a participant in the 1991–1992 crossing: his table gives a maximum hull length of 26.60 m. The bowsprit and rigging extending beyond the hull are excluded. This is a modern reconstruction, not a certain dimension of the ship of 1492. It must not be confused with the Fundación Nao Victoria replica launched in 2018 or other published reconstructions.
Compare the stated dimensions
The comparison uses the number in each fact sheet: altitude, height, diameter, length or distance, depending on the reference. Two values in metres do not necessarily describe the same property.
Source and limitations
The 1993 table gives 26.60 m for this replica. Other reconstructions have the same name but different dimensions; none of these values is a measurement of the original Santa María. Hull axis, excluding the bowsprit.
An interpreted fifth-centenary replica, not a survey of the original ship of 1492. Only the maximum hull length is calibrated; the projecting bowsprit, rigging, sails and rudder are excluded from this dimension. Masts and details are artistic. No historical photograph.
