I don't think that's comparable at all. The America's cup boats have a bigger crew than the sailing crew of a trireme and a merchantman of that period had even fewer. That's with all the modern technology which makes a modern boat easier to sail.
>Absolutely there are things that take years to learn, and I'm sure the
>RAI filled most of those rolls--but a lot of the people in the islands
>have those skills. The ones who can turn a bunch of turnips into
>rowers are probably harder to replace, along with the ones who
>specifically know about the sailing details of the galleys.
And the ones who have the skill to take soundings in tricky waters. Plus all sorts of other jobs which as a non-sailor I'm ignorant of. Sure there's lots of muscle work but it's only when long distance voyages away from port became common that crews got big enough to have a high proportion of unskilled sailors. Even then the biggest crews were warships where most of the crew were needed to man the guns.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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