[Calvin Locke]

I scanned the Wikipedia article on the Vasa. Her intended firepower was equated to the larger, and 700-ton heavier USS Constitution.

So, fitting all that firepower on a fairly small platform, what did they expect?

[ozzymandus]

State of the art technology always involves a certain amount of risk. Think of WW1 airplanes. As primitive as they seem now, they were the best in the world at the time, and were extremely dangerous to fly, just because the technology was new and untried.