The largest longship discovered was 119 feet long, capable of accommodating at least 72 oars and a crew of 100. With a draft of only three feet and a huge 2,175-square-foot sail, the ship must have been swift and formidable. Excavators speculate that this ship, like others in Roskilde, could have been built with a shallow draft, allowing it to sail open oceans and rivers. Viking longships were known for their boat-building skills, which allowed them to create famed longships that helped them reach far-away lands.
The average speed of Viking ships varied from ship to ship but lay in the range of 5 to 10 knots (9 to 19 kmh). The maximum speed of a longship under favorable conditions was around 15 knots (28 kmh). The long-ship is a graceful, long, narrow, light, wooden boat with a shallow draft hull designed for speed.
A replica of the Gokstad ship, named Viking, was sailed across the Atlantic to the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. Replicas have topped 17 knots in ideal weather, but most sail in the 8-12 knot range. Some historians have proposed ships built in the Viking style, such as the Draken Harald Hårfagre, which reached 14 knots. A voyage made in 2006 with 65 crew showed an average cruising speed of 5.5 nautical knots and a top speed of 15-20 nautical knots.
Speed was variable from ship to ship, but it is thought that the quickest longships could achieve speeds of up to 17 knots with good sailing weather. With a square sail of about 90m2, knarrs could reach speeds of 10 knots. Sagas report Viking ships that set out from port and were never seen again.
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This is not a Viking ship, it is just a small “Viking boat”. In the Lofoten islands there is a replica of the Gokstad ship, it’s called Lofotr. It is 83 feet long and 20 metric tons. That is considered to be a medium sized Viking ship. Some years ago we pushed it up to 20 knots fore about 10 minutes, but then we thought it would be safer to put in an extra reef in the sail. It easily averages 10 knots over several hours. We where doing 14 knots several times. The big ships, like Draken, that is twice the size of the Gokstad ship should easily keep up a good speed due to the hull length.
The Longship Company’s ship, Sæ Hrafn, is about the same size as Polaris and has done six knots in a good wind, though four is probably more realistic. They give no reason to believe the Vikings sailed from the southern tip of Nova Scotia. Sailing from the southern tip of Newfoundland is more plausible. And where do they get the idea that Polaris is the only such ship in North America?
I think its fair to estimate vikings to be at the higher end of the speed such a boat could travel. These would have been experienced sailors who reached far outside of normal viking seafaring. They were master sailors before they ever embarked on their extreme journey,, whatever a viking could be imagined to do,, these would be the vikings who would be able to do it.
Well, in those calm conditions, the boat was nowhere near it’s top speed. Hull speed for a boat that size is close to 8 knots but I don’t know LWL exactly so can’t be more accurate. At full speed for 48 hours it could sail 380 NM. Unlikely to maintain full speed but just pointing out what a fools errand of unknown variables this is. If the viking boat was longer, it would be even faster.
Talk about reaching!..desperate to assert some kind of Viking claim…more typical of Yankee hubris and nonsense. This is more pseudo archaeology than anything else. Vinland has always been identified as the Newfoundland or Nova Scotia region as interpreted from the Sagas. I guess the the next stop for these two is Minnesota…gotta find Vikings somewhere in America..don’t you know.
A typical “doc”. I give that ship about 10 knots in a blow downwind – maybe a tad more. In a breeze, I’d say about 6-8knots on a reach, with considerable drift and lackluster upwind performance. All they had was a pronounced keel timber, but no actual foil. Tacking ion light air was probably assisted by rowing. They were fast compared to other ships of the day where they operated the most, but no better than the Meditterainian ships of the Italians or Arabs, which had more efficient sails that could pull a ship upwind. The Norse were not the only master shipwrights. I don’t think anything in that era could have outrun a Chinese junk down wind. The ship/boat in this article is extremely strong and stiff. I wouldn’t hesitate to sail her on a passage. She would only be limited by space for provisions. The larger the scale of this type of construction, the more flexible the hull. Big Norse ships would “slither” over large swells, leaking a lot of water as their plankings moved and pinched. Very likely there were men on duty 24/7 as bailers when needed. I would be very interested to hear from anyone who sailed the Drakken Harald Harfargre, that can either refute or corraborate this by mentioning the bilge pump activity on that crossing. Not sure how modern methods are relatable to 8th century ones.
I am the soul of RAGNAR LOTHBROK . I remember well my time in 860 AD when we wanted to conquer the world . but even we were limited in our power, for our epoch lasted only 250 years, then we perished or settled somewhere . people, it was a beautiful time that will never come again . our souls now live in vahalla with the gods who take good care of us . when we look at you here on earth, we wish never to come back to this world . you do not have beautiful times, and it hurts us to see what has become of humanity . no honour, no backbone . i wish you a beautiful life in spite of everything . your RACKNAR LOTHBROCK of valhalla
Wauw, look at that small boat. She ain’t much more than a viking dinghy. The seagoing viking-longboats were far bigger than that…. here in Denmark the biggest ever found was more than 37meters – with a crew of perhaps 100 warriers. How many would fit into that boat ? Max 15, I guess How is this relevant. Yes it is, as you know ….. length = speed