How did the caravel work?

A caravel is a three masted sailing ship using lateen rigged sails.
The sails allows the ship to be pushed by the wind, and the ship could change its direction of movement by setting the sails in particular configurations. Steering was done by a rudder.

It was a small ship with shallow draught, so it could sail in shallow waters where larger ships could not go. This made it particularly good as a coastal craft, and on rivers; though it could go on the open ocean too.