¡Hola! Each month we take a moment to talk with you about the development process and progress from the past month, while also highlighting contributions from the Ahoy community.
This month we announce the date for our Kickstarter campaign, along with the reveal of our next ship…
We’re very happy to announce that Ahoy will be setting sail on Kickstarter on June 7th, 2025.
Make sure to sign up for updates on the Kickstarter preview page.
This is the culmination of months (years, really) of work. We’re incredibly excited to share with you what we’ve been cooking, and we can’t wait to present Ahoy to you in a way that we hope will see our voyage towards release continue long into the future.
Our excitement does come with a good helping of nerves as well. I don’t think we’d ever truly be 100% happy with what we’ve managed to prepare before we go to Kickstarter and present Ahoy to the world. I expect that is probably the feeling shared by every developer taking their work to any platform.
You spend so much time wondering what might have been possible if you did this differently… Or had some additional funds to spend on this, or that. It can be quite a stressful process, in truth. We just hope that people can see the project for it’s strengths and for the dedication the team has shown to this period in history and the commitment to accuracy that we hope will bring enthusiasts from far and wide.
Anyway, we hope the above gives you the smallest possible teaser of what is to come. I’m so proud of the team and what we’ve achieved as a home-grown, community funded project. I can’t even begin to imagine what we’ll be capable of with more funding and an even larger community behind us.
On another note – We did mention that we would be debuting the entire 500 question FAQ, along with the backer reward structure for the Kickstarter campaign. This was… Ambitious in the extreme. Unfortunately we’ve not yet finalised either of these things, and so you’ll have to forgive us for the additional delay here. Who knew writing detailed responses to over 500 questions would be so time consuming… (Everyone. Everyone knew this except me!) We’ll have them with you soon!
So… Those ships we promised… Ready for the next one? 😉
Quimera is our latest addition to Ahoy! She is based on the plans for a Spanish packet boat (or, ‘paquebot’) and is dressed as a corvette in the French style. She’s well armed with sixteen guns and capable of quite a roar!
Quimera is our reconstruction of Spanish ship San Gil. She was one of two packet boats ordered on January 14, 1777, to be built in Ferrol, based on plans by the French-born naval architect Gautier.
She represents our very first Spanish ship and closes the final national gap in our fleet. We now have at least one ship from every planned playable nation in Ahoy!
These designs were part of Spain’s push to modernize its auxiliary naval vessels, aimed at creating fast, versatile ships for communication and patrol across the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The ships were intended to be agile and seaworthy. With hulls that, according to the Ferrol departmental Board, had “all the regular proportions of sailing vessels.”
However, their proposed mast configuration was a point of contention.
The Board argued that the masts were too heavy and had too much rake, suggesting the addition of a mizzen mast. Effectively turning them into corvettes. Only the Chief Engineer, Juan Fuster, dissented. He believed the original rigging was perfectly acceptable. Despite the concerns, it was decided to follow Gautier’s original plans.
Yet the rigging debate didn’t end there. In June 1778, it was officially acknowledged that the ships’ hull dimensions could support a third mast. In January 1782, the packet boat San Gil was formally approved to be re-rigged as a corvette. By May of that year, it was confirmed the changes had not compromised the ship’s performance. Therefore, two new ships (Santa Catalina and Cazadora) were built to the same hull plans but finished outright as corvettes.
San Gil began her career voyaging as far as Russia in 1778 under Don Francisco Valcárcel. She stopped at major ports across northern Europe — Danzig, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Portsmouth — before returning to La Coruña.
In 1780, she joined José Solano’s fleet and crossed the Atlantic to Havana, under a young José María Chacón. By 1781, San Gil was conducting patrols near Cape San Antonio. During one mission, a storm scattered the fleet, forcing San Gil and the frigate Santa Clara to return alone to Havana.
In March 1783, San Gil departed for the French port of Guarico (in modern day Venezuela), only to return to Havana days later after taking on water. She would leave Havana again later that year, bound for Spain.
San Gil sailed to the South Atlantic, arriving in Montevideo by 1785. From there, she continued on to the Falkland Islands. Her commander, Lieutenant Pedro de Mesa y Castro, was appointed administrator of the Spanish Settlement of Puerto Soledad in the Falklands in 1786. The ship remained active in the region through 1787 and undertook exploratory missions along the coast of Patagonia.
By 1789, San Gil was operating with the corvette Santa Elena in support of Falklands service. She was eventually relieved by the corvettes San Pío and Santa Rosa in 1790. That same year, she returned to Cadiz carrying silver, wool, and other goods from Montevideo.
She later joined the Mediterranean fleet during the war with France. San Gil spent her final active years escorting convoys and operating off the coast of Sicily. She was stationed in Mahón in 1795 and continued regional duties before being decommissioned in 1804.
With Quimera, we haven’t just recreated a ship — we’ve brought back a vessel with a deep, complex service history across two oceans and decades of conflict. The gaps and inconsistencies in San Gil’s record are exactly what makes him so compelling.
Historical reconstruction isn’t just about the blueprints. It’s about bringing lost stories back to life. Now, Quimera sails again. A wonderful addition to Ahoy’s growing fleet, and a worthy standard-bearer for Spain.
If you would like to learn more about San Gil, we encourage you to look into the wonderful book: “Buques menores y fuerzas sutiles españolas 1700-1850“ by author Mr. Enrique García-Torralba Pérez. This book, along with the Spanish wiki Todoavante.es was instrumental in our research of Quimera.
We hope this Journal has provided enough sneaks to get your peek at what we’re up to for June and what is to come. There is another whole ship to announce, and the little teaser at the top of this Journal is nothing compared to what is to come.
This week and this Journal comes at what can only be described as one of the busiest months of my life, and so we will pause the community questions for this month. Please do keep sending in your questions though. If you have more questions for the team and would like them answers next month, please submit your questions below.
Submit your questions:
https://forms.gle/1w9MRgU3qrvTNkqn7
Until next time, good day!
Sincerely your most humble servant,
Tyler – Project Lead
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