Virtual Voyages

To learn what climatic impacts could be contributing to longer voyages, the team constructed virtual voyages, in which a computer program sailed a ship with the same build and cargo as one of the historical galleons along the historical route, but used climate data measured during the last 50 years to define the winds and storms the virtual ships encountered.

Careful examination of the climate patterns that slowed the ships down or speeded them up showed that the primary explanation for slow voyages was the strength of the southwest winds the ships encountered when arriving in Manila. Traveling eastward to Mexico, the ships rode on the westerly winds. Returning west, the ships would sail with the northeast trade winds.