Recon1_2_7-en

Reconstruction of the Hjortspring boat

This part deals with our understanding of the position of the bottom boards in the boat (it differs from the National Museum's).
Also the manufacture of paddles and rudders.

Skematisk fremstilling og navngivning af Hjortspringbådens konstruktionsdele

Schematic representation and naming of the Hjortspring boat's structural parts. (1)

Deck boards, paddles and rudders

Around 85 boards were found, tapered at each end, approximately 120 cm long, 7-8 cm wide and around 1.5 cm thick. Most were made of lime, a few of ash. We have interpreted them as deck boards.
Rosenberg (2) thought that these boards should protect the seams at the bottom of the boat.
We disagree, there is a need for foot support when paddling, so we placed them on the deck beams (3).
The first version of the deck boards were too flimsy for the, perhaps, slightly too heavy paddlers. They broke.
So a brand new set was made in mirror-split ash. The picture is from May 2020.
A suitable number of paddles had to be made. They are all individual, with different shaped handles and a length corresponding to the position in the boat. They should be longer at the front and back of the boat.
The blade of the paddle is very narrow. This is necessitated by the high paddle rate - approximately 1.5 s per stroke.
The surface of the paddles should be very smooth at the handle. The blade should be sharpened at the end so it breaks the water in a good way.
A collection of paddles. Most are made of ash, one of lime and without a handle.
The stern of the Hjortspring boat at the National Museum of Denmark. However, the remnant of a rudder was found in the front end. The steering oar is mounted on the starboard side aft of the small deck (4).
A rudder is completed. The length of the rudder blade and shaft is our choice.
Rosenberg (5) mentions the possibility of some kind of outrigger at the cleats on the stem block. This is an attempt to make such a rudder bearing.
The rudder bearing attached to the cleats of the tail block.
The rudder bearing mounted in place on the cleats and over the stretch rope. The National Museum team is measuring the boat for a 3D model of our boat.
A rudder is suspended in the outrigger (4). The solution was rejected. It was too unstable, perhaps due to the stretch rope.
Instead, the rudder was attached to the hazel branch at the aft thwart.
This location was used in the early days, until testing began together with the National Museum of Denmark.
From the very first sail. Note the position of the rudder aft (left).
The angle of the rudder oar - approx. 45° - results in poor rudder efficiency (4).

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Sources

GR: Rosenberg, G., Hjortspringfundet

2. GR. p. 86

3. Description of our work with the deck

4. Description of our work with the versions of the rudder position.

5. GR. p. 88

Language

The text in this article has been translated from Danish to English using the free DeepL translation programme.

Details: Created: 23 November 2024; Last Updated: 25 November 2024