Evolution of the European Ship
Northern European Style
Viking ships were "clinker built". Called knorrs, they were long and slender and had a large square sail. The were shallow and rather like a large canoe with two bows (pointy front ends). They were steered with a single oar from the side. They were swift and capable of long voyages (attested to by the historic voyages of Vikings to North America and through the Middle European river systems to the East. However, they could not carry large cargos. Hence, the need to raid and pillage on the way.

By 1200 or so these Knorrs were used all over northern Europe but gradually had two castles added to the bow and stern. These were raised platforms for fighting from. A small castle was sometimes added to the mast for bowmen to stand and fire from. They were also shorter and more heavy bodied.

By 1350 the hull had changed again. It was higher and broader still. It had a rudder at the stern and a distinct bow. It had a square main sail and was somewhat slower than the lanteen rigged ships of the Mediterranean, but it was solid and used for coastal trading.

Clinker built ships.
Northern ships were clinker built. That is, their hulls were made of over-lapping planks hand cut with adzes. This was for a very simple reason - they had not invented the saw. The system worked very well and only had one problem - on ships longer than 100 feet joining the planks became too difficult.
Other than that they made better joints and needed less caulking.

The Mediterranean Style
The early single-masted lanteen rigged ship of the Mediterranean traders was chunkier than the Northern knorr. But in the calmer water of the sheltered Mediterranean sea traders found them faster as a lanteener could sail a shorter course into the wind as it tacked (zigzagged into the wind).

By 1200 the lanteener had become heavier and had two masts and castles.

Carvel built ships
Southern or Mediterranean ships had their hulls made in the carvel fashion.
Their smooth-sided wooden planks were fitted edge to edge over a frame and sealed with calking in between. The Southerners could do this because they had saws and could make square-cut planks.

Carvel planking required a strong inside frame. While Northern ships were solid planking with an added frame, Southern ships were a solid frame with added planking. The carvel-type ships suffered a serious drawback in that they were difficult to make water-tight and water constantly seeped in. Their advantage was that they could be made to any length.

The smaller Caravel was a favourite ship of early explorers. But these ships were hard to handle with their huge sail spars and the open decks offered little protection for the crew or the stores. The only cabin space was in the stern as the forward decks had to be kept clear to allow the heel of the huge spar to swing freely. Obviously, this kind of arrangement, while it suited short coastal trips, was intolerable for long ocean voyages.

Eventually by 1350 the northern and Mediterranean styles combined to form a sturdy, faster and larger open-ocean going vessel. It was carvel built for extra length, had both square sail (for power) and lanteen, ( for manoeuvrability close to land and faster tacking) and a castle fore and aft. They also had the strait Stern-post and stern-rudder.

Columbus's small carrack, the Santa Maria , was larger than the coastal caravel and made for long ocean voyages. It had a large mainmast and sail which gave it most of it's driving power, and a small top sail above it. Two smaller masts held smaller sails that were used for trimming, later ships had smaller main sails and added topsails to the other two masts. They also had a set of guns (cannon) for protection.

By the time Flinder's sailed into unknown waters, explorers had experience and knowledge of the kinds of disasters awaiting them and the possible means to reduce the risks. Ships were larger, stronger, faster and more manoeuvrable.

However, it was rare that captain's always had the financial support or co-operation of their sponsors which gave them opportunity to choose and gather the best of anything for the journey. Flinder's boats were often leaky and unsound requiring frequent re-fitting. Baudin's trip was well supported and his supplies were excellent, but he was blighted with numerous "hangers on". The result was over-crowding and inefficiency.