In Tilia, we have a monument to 12 years of excellent work. This is evident from the many articles, books and films that describe Tilia, her manufacture and testing as a living witness to ancient Nordic society and transport.
The exhibition at the Linde Yard with boats, tools, posters, films and lectures is a good tool for spreading knowledge about sailing in ancient times, especially the earliest Iron Age. And finally, through our analysis of every element of the boat and the experience of handling her, we have a unique wealth of knowledge that can lead back in time, to the Bronze Age, to an understanding of Bronze Age ships and transport.
Now we have been confronted with an opportunity for a new research project on the use of ships in the Bronze Age, namely participation in a project that will lead to a plausibility study of the use of sails on Bronze Age (and probably Iron Age) ships.

In early December (2005) we were contacted by Boel Bengtsson via Anton Englert from the Viking Ship Museum. Boel has a master's degree in maritime archaeology from Southampton University in England, where her thesis dealt with the rock carvings of southern Scandinavia from a maritime perspective (of course there were also a few pictures of Tilia as part of the illustrations). Boel has a couple of world championships in dinghy sailing and participated in the Olympics in Atlanta.

Together with his brother, Bjørn Bengtsson, who also has a number of Olympic races behind him, Boel has done some test sailing in a Canadian canoe equipped with an A-mast and a square sail.

Boel wants to work with us to test Tilia with such a mast and sail to prove, as part of her PhD thesis[2], that Bronze Age boats used sails.
Bjørn is the designer in her project.

Boel and Bjørn Bengtsson visited us on the weekend of 10-11 December to discuss a collaboration. From our side, Jørn Anders Jørgensen participated with his experience in sailing Viking ships, Niels Peter Fenger with his knowledge of fluid mechanics and practical experience in sailing and myself with knowledge of rock carvings, project management and sailing.

We got to know Boel and Bjørn as very knowledgeable and enthusiastic people. Their ideas about testing Tilia with an A-shaped mast and a square sail sounded interesting and well-founded, and we decided to continue our contacts as we considered the project to be of interest to the guild on the basis of the information.

Since then, we have been in intense correspondence about the construction details of rigging Tilia with a mast and sail, partly to outline solutions and partly to get to know each other and our intentions better.

Boel has had a meeting with Max Vinner and Erik Jørgensen, Vikingeskibshallen, to discuss sail materials etc. Max would like to participate in some of the sailing events.

A number of proposed solutions are under consideration. B. & B.'s proposal for the size of the rigging (28 m2, sail) seems to us to put too much strain on Tilia and be too risky, at least initially.

Our position is, of course, that the Tilia must not be damaged during sailing, nor should any permanent changes be made to the boat's current appearance.

We are about to describe the project in more detail, including the priorities.

We have indicated that there could be up to three trials in 2006. However, it is unlikely that it will be possible to complete the sea trials in 2006, which is why there will probably be sailings in 2007 after Tilia returns from Frankfurt am Main on 1 July 2007 as expected.

Knud V. Valbjørn

On Thursday night, Boel, Bjørn, Vivian (Bjørn's wife), Boel and Bjørn's mother and Bjørn's 1½-year-old child arrived at Fenger's house, where he had offered to accommodate them with his usual hospitality.

Friday was spent rigging Tilia with mast, standing and running rigging, mast and ‘belaying pin benches’ for fixing the sheets and necks. Tilia was filled with water to between the lower and upper seams. There was little outflow of water.

On Friday we met at 9am to roll Tilia down to the slipway at the rowing clubs. Here, 20 25-litre jerry cans were partially filled with fjord water. We had planned that these 20 cans filled with water would weigh 500 kg. Ballast, but it turned out to be just over 400 kg.

With Tilia standing on the trailer and the mast raised, the various jobs on board were reviewed so people knew what was expected and what commands would be used. It was in Swedish (Bjørn was the skipper), so it was hardly understood by the entire crew.

Due to unfamiliarity[1] with Tilia's stability under sail pressure and the presence of gusts in the cove, the sail was reefed down, which had a sail area of 15 m2.

After the Tilia was launched in the usual manner, the ballast was stowed between the deck beams over the middle 6 metres.

The crew boarded the boat.

The following took part in the voyages:

From Sweden: Bengtsson family, 3 people.
From Freja Byrding: 2 people. Freja Byrding is the copy of Skuldelev no. 3, which was built at Haderslev Museum and is now located in Hjelsminde.
From the Guild: 6 people, two of whom took turns doing the same job.

From the Guild 2 people.

The wind was NNE, probably around 5-7 m/s at a height of 1 metre above the water. The wind direction meant that Tilia could drift outwards to the west without assistance while the sail was hoisted. The voyage began, initially with some anxiety from the crew and accompanying boat crew (fear of the unknown), but soon it was realised that Tilia recovered well and the stability was good, so confidence increased.

It should be remembered that Bjørn, as skipper and responsible for the sheets, didn't push the boat at all and showed due and timely care.

The boat was sailed back and forth in Dyvig with the wind on the aft tack to half wind. Sometimes the boat came so close to land that the sail had to be recovered and the tugboat had to be mobilised.

Already during one of the first trips, a speed of 6.2 knots was achieved (briefly).

After a few hours of sailing, we pulled Tilia into the usual berth at the floating jetty in the boatyard. At the rounding of the bridgehead we got too close, so Jørn Anders had to jump onto one of the cross bridges to stop the boat. It didn't work, so he ended up in the water. (The first of two water passages).

After lunch, Tilia was boarded again and she was towed backwards into open water, where the sail was set again.

After some criss-cross sailing and after repairing the front rudder and agreeing on better communication between the two rudders and the skipper, we paddled out through Stegs Gaf, where the sail was again set for a few longer races out of Stegs Vig. These long runs provided an opportunity to fine-tune the rigging. At the end of the first run and before towing inwards, the mast was slanted more forwards so that the yard was further forward, which gave a better balance between sail and rudder.

On these long runs, we experienced sailing with half wind (maybe a little ahead for cross) and no drift, at least in relation to the ground (holding course).

We should have painted two figures on the freeboard of Tilia representing two sea marks that we hit on our way inwards through Stegs Gaf. The first was passed without drama, while the mooring chain on the last was caught by the stern rudder. Boel resolutely jumped into the water and got it free. (Water passage 2).

After a few small turns inside Dyvig, we docked at the floating jetty without drama this time.

Tilia lay unguarded at night (apart from my occasional sharp glance).

At 10am, the sailing continued exclusively in Dyvig. A further adjustment of the mast inclination was made along the way. A number of turns were made (from half wind starboard to half wind port and vice versa). The drift during one such reversal (turning with the wind) was measured at 50 metres.

No attempts were made to go over the forestay (turning against the wind) for reasons of safety and lack of experience. In fact, the need to be able to walk across the struts was hardly important in the Bronze Age. We must not forget that Bronze Age boats were primarily rowing boats, perhaps as suggested in this experiment with an auxiliary sail.

But it must have been wonderful to have such a sail set when sailing northwards up the east coast of Jutland in a westerly wind.

Around one o'clock we pulled Tilia to the rowing club's hauling point, where the tow rope was released and the paddlers had to push the boat the last bit up to the towing point. This didn't go so well, and Tilia hit some mooring posts before she finally got her feet under her keel again.

The usual hard work of getting Tilia onto the trailer went smoothly, the new roller system works well. Johannes pulled the trailer up to the Linde yard and into the boat hall. We had remembered to put the mast down.

This report is based on observations from the escort boat and tug and is also based on a preliminary report written by Boel and Bjørn and a few hundred photos that we have on CD.

It would be desirable if a further and more detailed report can take place later.

Wind direction and wind speed were measured in the accompanying boat at a height of 1-1.5 metres, rather unsatisfactory. An electronic wind measuring station should be mounted on the Tilia's masthead.

Position, time, vessel heading and speed were measured by a GPS on board Tilia. Tilia's course was measured and read on a compass on board.

The following week, or rather the following Thursday, Tilia was topped up with water in preparation for a sailing trip on Lake Nordborg. It turned out that the existing crack in the two side boards had propagated further forwards, so ‘the water was pouring out’. It was quickly sealed again and the sailing trip was completed with a largely sealed boat.

However, as a result, we had to cancel the planned sail trials for the next few weekends. A continuation of the sailing trials will not be possible until July 2007 due to the Frankfurt relocation.

But for now, Tilia needs to be repaired, i.e. the repair strips already sewn on need to be extended. (If we can identify where the cracking stops, we should probably drill a hole at the end of each crack to stop the notching action).

It was a series of rich and rewarding days with a lot of humour, but also with great professionalism depending on the skills of the participants. The Guild thanks Boel and Bjørn for the opportunity they gave us to participate in an archaeological experimental project for an expanded understanding of Tilia and Bronze Age sailing possibilities. We thank the crew from Freya Byrding for their professional participation.

Knud V. Valbjørn 

Nyhedsbrev 2006, nr. 1
Nyhedsbrev 2006, nr. 2
Nyhedsbrev 2006, nr. 3

Jensen, Jens Kusk, Haandbog i Praktisk Sømandsskab, 4. udgave 1924, Høst og Søns Forlag (1978)