The full bow lasted, however, in boats of little importance and so the “Vlieboot” or “Vlietboot” was seen to follow the “Baertze”. It is the old type of the “Baertze” of which the topsides tumbled in appreciably.
Hence no new type of boat was characterized by this new denomination which was given in the second half of the XVIth century; it is the old form which, slightly modified, appears under another name. This is a fact which will be met with more than once further on. A comparison between the “Vlieboot”, (flyboat), the “Baertze”, etc., brings out the analogy between these vessels; the same holds good for the “Buss”. All these forms are derived from the “Cog”.
The “Flyboat” originated on the Zuider Zee. Its name seems to have come from the “Vlie” which was frequented by boats of this kind. These latter, as has been said, had reentering topsides, that is, convex in shape, hence it was more difficult to board them under these conditions and, consequently, their defense needed but a limited number of men; this was a matter of importance for merchant vessels.
Besides having a respectable cargo capacity, the “Flyboats” were also very handy. There is no doubt that they were the forerunners of the flutes, the merchant vessels par excellence of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, which England and France borrowed from us.
There is in existence a beautiful reproduction of the “Flyboat” dating from 1647. It shows a relatively large vessel; judging by the beakhead shown which was not carried by our small merchant vessels. The beak had been adopted first in the Mediterranean; it is not, therefore, of Dutch origin. None of the old Dutch types had it, whereas those of the Mediterranean and, even those of the times of the Phœnicians already had them. (See, among others, VAN YK, p. 103.)
Toward the end of the XVIth century the name of “Baertze” gave way to that of “Vlieboot” (flyboat), and at the beginning of the XVIIth century, arose the vessels called “Galioot” (galliot), “Noordvaerder”, “Kof” (kuff), “Smakschip” (smack), “Boeier” (tender), together with the flutes and square stern vessels. Still—and this cannot be too often repeated—the primitive forms do not disappear under these different names. The forms have been enlarged and a few exterior characteristics, as well as the rigging, have been modified. The different types just mentioned above have, therefore, as their main and fundamental character the old rounded bow. The vessels of the period under consideration could be divided into three principal groups: a) the square-stern ships; b) the flutes in the broadest acceptation of the word; and c) the “Kof en Smakschepen” (kuffs and smacks).
It is unnecessary to add that the vessels of groups b and c were round at the stern. Hence, the purest old Dutch types will be found in these two groups.
The XVIIth century is now reached, that century of glory and prosperity for our country, especially from the point of view of shipbuilding. However, before beginning on this period, let us look a little into what was the situation of shipbuilding abroad.
Let us begin with Spain, which was mixed up in our war for independence.