Dr PR

Sail Rigging The diagram shows the parts of the common types of sails. The leech is the after or outboard edge of a sail. It is normally free (unattached). The luff is the forward part of fore-and-aft sails. The luff is often attached to a mast or stay. Some authors refer to the luff as the "fore leech" and the leech as the "after leech." The square sail, gaff sail and yard topsail are four sided sails with a head and a foot. The head is laced to a spar or boom. Triangular sails (foresails and staysails) have the luff attached to stays, although this side is sometimes called a head on staysails. Sometimes the side of the sail that attaches to the stay is called the stay. The foot is usually free or unattached; although gaff sails often have the foot laced to a boom. Sails that have the foot free are called loose-footed. The peak (or peek)is the highest part of a sail, although the highest parts of a square sail are just called the head. Halliards that are used to raise the sail are attached to the peak. The clew is the lower corners of a square sail, and the aft corners of fore-and-aft sails. The sheets are attached to the clews to control the loose parts of the sail. The tack is the corner of a fore-and-aft sail opposite the clew along the foot. It is usually positioned close to a mast or bowsprit. Tack lines or downhauls are attached to the tack to pull down on the sail to tighten it or lower it. Roach and gore are two terms you will come across in discussions of sails. Roach is a curved edge to a sail. It allows the sail to curve outward. The leech of gaff sails and triangular sails, may have an outward roach curve to increase the area of the sail. The foot of square sails and gaff sails may be curved outward or "bellied." However, the foot of square sails may be roached upward to create an arc that rises over stays or other rigging. I am not sure all authors agree that the upward curve of a square sail foot is a roach, and they may have another term for it. Gore is a term applied to sails that are wider at the foot than at the top, as in the square sail illustration above. Gore is accomplished by adding triangular cloths to the outer edges to expand the foot of the sail. Flying Jib or Outer Jib The flying jib or outer jib is the foremost of the foresails, although not all vessels carried one. If the sail is "flying" (not attached to a stay) it is supported only by the halliard at the peak and the downhaul at the tack. Often the outer jib is laced on the forward or luff side to a stay with many hanks (loops of small rope). The stay may be called the flying jib stay, the topgallant mast stay, the royal stay, or outer jib stay, depending upon how the ship is rigged. If the vessel has a flying jib boom the stay is attached at the forward end of the flying jib boom, otherwise it is at the forward end of the jib boom as shown in the drawing. Many modern schooners have a single long bowsprit with the stays attached at more or less even spacing along the spar. The flying jib halliard is rigged with a gun tackle attached to the fore topmast and the peak of the sail. It hoists the forward side of the sail up the stay. The lower end of the halliard is often fastened to a pinrail, either at the base of the mast or on a bulwark. The flying jib inhaul is attached to the peak and leads down through a few hanks on the head rope to a single block attached to the jib boom at the stay. From there it runs back to the bow. It is used to pull the sail down when reefing. Port and starboard flying jib sheets are attached to the clew. The sheets and inhaul are attached to pins or cleats in the bow. When the vessel changes course or the wind shifts the windward sheet is loosened, the clew is pulled over the jib stay, and the leeward (downwind) sheet is tightened to control the loose corner of the sail. The flying jib sail can be small or large, depending upon the vessel. It can be positioned anywhere along the supporting stay, and a smaller sail may be hauled high to the topmast so it flies above the other foresails. The sail tack is hooked to the boom near the stay. If the stay leads to the end of the jib boom or flying jib boom, the tack may fasten to a traveller (free moving ring around the boom) and the inhaul through a block on the traveller and back to the bow. The inhaul pulls the traveller aft to so the sail can be furled. An outhaul runs through a sheve in the fore end of the jib boom and back to the bow. The outhaul pulls the traveller to the end of the boom to set the sail. However, depending upon how the stay is rigged, the stay may run through a sheve on the traveller and out to a sheve at the end of the boom. From there it leads back to the bow. With this rig there is no separate outhaul. The stay is loosened to allow the inhaul to pull the traveller aft, and the stay is pulled taut to haul the traveller back forward to the end of the boom. Jib The jib is another of the foresails. The forward edge is attached to a jib stay that normally leads down from the foremast top to a point at the end of the jib boom or to attachments just aft of the bowsprit cap as shown in the drawing. The jib halliard attaches at the peak through a gun tackle attached to the fore top. The fall leads down to the deck. The halliard hauls the sail up the say. The tack is hooked to the jib boom near the stay. If the jib stay leads to the end of the jib boom, the tack may fasten to a traveller as described for the flying jib or outer jib. The jib inhaul fastens to the jib peak and runs through a few hanks on the head rope to a block on the bowsprit bees (or a sheave at the end of the jib boom or traveller), and back to a belaying point in the bow. The inhaul pulls the sail down along the stay for reefing. When the vessel changes course or the wind shifts the windward jib sheet is loosened, the clew is pulled over the fore stay, and the leeward (downwind) sheet is tightened to control the loose corner of the sail. Some larger vessels have an inner jib, outer jib or fore topmast staysail rigged between the flying jib and jib. As many as five triangular fore sails were flown on the largest fore-and-aft rigged vessels. This sail may be four sided, with a short head stick at the peak. The short top edge is lashed to the head stick. The head stick has holes at the ends. A short head rope attaches at each end to an end of the head stick, and has a thimble or eye spliced in the middle. The halliard tackle attaches to the thimble. Fore Staysail The fore staysail is the aftermost of the fore sails. The leading (luff) edge is laced around the forestay. The fore staysail halliard attaches at the peak through a gun tackle attached to the fore top. The fall leads down to a point on deck near the base of the mast. The tack is hooked to a point in the bow near the forestay. The fore staysail inhaul is attached to the peak of the sail and leads down through a few hanks on the head rope to a single block attached to a point near the base of the forestay and runs back to a belaying point in the bow. It is used to haul the sail down for reefing. The clew has port and starboard fore staysail sheets attached. The sheets are attached to pinrails or cleats on the bulwarks. When the vessel changes course or the wind shifts the windward sheet is loosened, the clew is pulled around the foremast, and the leeward (downwind) sheet is tightened to control the loose corner of the sail. On some vessels there is only one fore staysail sheet. It is attached to a traveller riding on a "horse" or bar running transverse (port to starboard) slightly above the deck in front of the fore mast. As the ship changes course, or the wind direction shifts, the clew of the sail blows to the downwind side. This sail may have a head stick as described for the jib. Topsail The topsail is bent to the topsail yard. The topsail sheets (port and starboard) are attached to the clews of the sail and run through single blocks attached near the ends of the fore course yard. From there the sheets lead to single blocks fastened to the fore mast top and from there down to points on deck near the base of the fore mast. The sheets pull the clews down to stretch the sail between the topsail yard and the fore course yard. The standing parts of the port and starboard topsail clew lines are fastened to the strop eye of single blocks that are fastened to the topsail yard near the center. The running part of the clew line runs through a second single block attached to the clew of the sail, and from there back through the first single block at the topsail yard. Then the falls lead down to the deck near the base of the fore mast. The clew lines hauled up the clews of the sail when it was being reefed. They could also be used to haul down the topsail yard to the fore course yard when the topsail yard halliard was loosened. The port and starboard topsail buntlines were used on some vessels. They were attached to the foot of the sail and ran up through eyes on the topsail yard, and from there to single blocks attached to the topmast above the yard. From there the buntlines ran down to the deck near the base of the foremast. The buntlines were used to haul up the foot of the sail when it was being reefed. Fore Course The fore course was a loose footed square sail flown below the fore course yard. It was not normally flown on topsail schooners, and was deployed to increase speed when running with the wind from astern. When not in use the sail and rigging were stowed below. However, on some schooners the course was more or less permanently rigged and reefed to the fore course yard as it would be on a square rigger. The fore course head is bent to the fore course yard. The fore course sheets (port and starboard) runs through a single block attached to the clews of the sail. The standing parts lead to ring bolts on the outboard side of the bulwarks. The running parts of the sheets lead through sheaves set into the bulwarks aft of the fore mast and tied off to cleats on the inboard sides of the bulwarks. The sheets pull the sail down from the fore course yard. A separate short boom attached to the bulwark was used sometimes to pull the windward clew of the sail outboard to catch more wind. The standing parts of the port and starboard fore course clew lines are fastened to the strop eye of single blocks that are attached to the fore course yard near the center. The running parts of the clew lines run through a second single block attached to the clew of the sail, and from there back through the first single block at the fore course yard. Then the falls lead down to the deck near the base of the fore mast. The clew lines hauled up the clews of the sail when it was being reefed. The port and starboard fore course buntlines were attached to the foot of the sail and ran up through single blocks attached to the fore course yard, and from there to single blocks attached to the fore top cap above the yard. From there the buntlines ran down to the deck near the base of the foremast. The buntlines were used to haul up the foot of the sail when it was being reefed. Foresail The fore sail head was bent to the fore gaff. The luff was attached to the fore mast with rope loops or lacing, or with hoops that were free to ride up and down on the mast. The throat of the sail was fastened to a ring bolt on the jaws of the gaff and the peak was fastened to the end of the gaff. The sail was raised and lowered with the fore gaff peak halliard and fore gaff throat halliard. If the sail was “loose-footed” without a boom the fore sail tack was attached to the double block of a luff tackle. The single block was fastened to the deck and the fall was tied to a pin, cleat or bitt at the base of the mast. If the sail had a boom it was rigged as described for the main sail. The port and starboard fore sail sheets had gun tackles with the running blocks hooked to the sail clews. The standing blocks were hooked to ring bolts on deck near the bulwarks, and the falls were tied to cleats or pins on the bulwarks. When the vessel changed course, or the wind shifted, the windward sheet was slacked (or unhooked), the sail clew was pulled around the mast to the leeward side, and the lee sheet was pulled tight to stretch the sail. Some vessels had a single sheet attached to a traveller on a horse as described for the fore staysail. The sail may have had a fore sail brail if it was loose footed. The brail is attached to the clew and leads up through a single block on a pendant attached to the gaff jaws. From there the fall runs down to the deck. The brail is used to haul up the clew to clear the main stay. The clew is pulled over the main stay and the lee sheet is hooked to the clew and drawn tight as the brail is slacked to extend the sail again on the lee side. The brail was also used to loosely furl the sail close to the mast. Main Sail The head of the main sail was bent to the main gaff. The luff was attached to the main mast with hoops that were free to ride up and down on the mast or rope loops or lacing. The throat of the sail was fastened to a ring bolt in the jaws of the gaff and the peak was fastened to the end of the gaff. The sail was raised and lowered with the main gaff peak halliard and main gaff throat halliard. The foot of the sail usually was bent to the main boom, although some vessels had a loose footed sail secured only at the clew and tack. The tack was attached to a ring bolt in the boom jaws. The main outhaul was attached to the clew and ran through a sheave set into the boom near the end (or possibly a single block attached near the end of the boom). The outhaul lead forward to a luff tackle with the double block hooked to a ring bolt at the boom jaws. The fall was tied to a cleat on the boom. The main outhaul pulled the foot of the sail tight along the main boom. Main Topmast Staysail Some ships carried a main topmast staysail while others used a fore gaff topsail. The gaff topsails were rigged like the main gaff topsails described below. The main topmast staysail luff or head was loosely tied to the main topmast stay so the sail could ride up and down on the stay. The main topmast staysail halliard attached to the peak and lead through a single block attached to the main topmast at the stay. From there it lead down to a luff tackle attached to the deck near the base of the main mast. The fall was tied to a pin or cleat on the bulwark. The halliard pulled the peak of the sail up the stay to spread the sail. The main topmast staysail sheet attached to the clew and ran through a single block fastened to the main top cap. From there it lead down to a luff tackle attached to the deck near the base of the main mast. The fall was tied to a pin or cleat on the bulwark. The sheet pulled the sail clew down to spread the sail. It was loosened when the sail was reefed. The main topmast staysail downhaul was attached to the peak and lead down through a single block attached to the fore mast top cap. From there it lead down to the deck. The downhaul was used to pull the peak of the sail down the stay to reef the staysail. Fore Gaff Topsail A ship may have a fore gaff topsail instead of the main topmast staysail. It was rigged like the main gaff topsail. Main Gaff Topsail There are three common configurations for this sail (but seven or eight possible configurations). Standing Gaff Topsail The standing gaff topsail luff is fastened to the top mast with hoops. The sail usually has a cut to clear the main mast top. The main gaff topsail halliard from the peak runs through a single block tied to the mast top or a sheave set into the mast and down to a tackle hooked to a ring bolt on deck. The halliard pulled the peak of sail up the topmast to spread the sail. The main gaff topsail sheet runs from the clew through a single block at the end of the main gaff or a sheave set into the end of the gaff. From there it runs to a single block attached to the gaff jaws and down to the deck. It is used to spread the foot of the sail along the gaff. The main gaff topsail tack line leads down to a tackle hooked to a ring bolt on deck. The tack line pulls down on the tack to stretch the sail. A brail (not shown) is sometimes attached to the tack of the flying gaff topsail, run through a single block at the peak and back to the deck. It is used to raise the tack over the gaff peak halliards when changing course, and then the tack is drawn down again. In this case there would be port and starboard tacks. The lee tack would be pulled taut to stretch the sail while the windward tack would be loose and ride over the peak halliard. In some cases a brail was attached to the center of the sail luff or the lowest mast hoop. From there it ran down through a single block at the tack, out through cringles on the foot of the sail to a single block at the clew, up through cringles on the leech of the sail to a single block at the peak, and the fall lead down to the deck. This allowed the sail to be furled (drawn into a bunch) quickly from the deck. A gaff topsail clew line (not shown) may be attached to the gaff jaws, run through the clew cringle, back to a single block on the jaws and down to the deck. It is used to reef the sail by loosening the sheet and drawing in the clew. Flying Gaff Topsail A triangular flying gaff topsail (not shown) has the same rigging as the standing gaff topsail, but the luff is not attached to the mast. Yard Gaff Topsail A yard gaff topsail has the same sheet and tack as the other topsails. However, it is a four sided sail with the head laced to a topsail yard. The main gaff topsail halliard attaches to the topsail yard about or below the center of the yard. The line runs through a single block or sheave at the top of the mast and down to a tackle hooked to a ring bolt on deck. The halliard hauls the topsail yard to the top of the mast. The shape of the sail varies with nationality and period. Originally the yard was more or less horizontal, and this was common on European vessels. But the American ships usually had the yard vertical as shown in the drawing. This raised the sail higher to catch more of a breeze above the water. The luff edge was not attached to the mast. The flying gaff topsail and yard topsail could be rigged on deck and raised with the halliard, and then lowered again using the tack. This avoided having to send crew aloft to reef the sail at the top. There are several variations of the yard topsail. A Cornish yard topsail had the lower end of the topsail yard attached to the gaff boom near the jaws. A jackyard topsail had the topsail yard at the head of the sail and another jackyard laced to the foot of the sail. The sheet attached to the jackyard and ran to the deck as with the other topsails. The topsail yard and jackyard allowed the sail to be much larger than a simple standing gaff topsail or flying gaff topsail. Studding Sails Studding sails were flown to increase speed when the vessel was running with the wind. They may be raised on one or both sides of the topsail. When they were not flown the sail, yards, booms and tackle were stowed below. Some ships kept the studding sail booms on the fore course yard all the time. When the sails were to be flown the studding sail booms were extended through boom irons on the fore course yard and the inboard ends were tied to the fore course yard. On some ships the studding sail booms were positioned forward and above the fore course yard. Merchant ships often had the studding sail boom below the fore course yard, A few had the studding sail boom behind and above the fore course yard. The sail is bent (fastened) to the studding sail yard with short lengths of yarn called “kittles” or “earrings.” The studding sail halliard attaches to the studding sail yard about 1/3 of the way from the inboard end. The halliard passes through a small single “jewell block” attached to the end of the topsail yard and then to another single block that is fastened near the top of the fore topmast. From there the halliard leads down to a point on deck. The halliard hauls the studding sail yard up to the topsail yard to spread the sail. The studding sail tack attaches to the tack corner on the sail. It runs through a single block fastened to the outboard end of the studding sail boom and from there to a single block “whip.” The standing end of the whip line through the block was attached to a point on the deck and the fall was secured to a pin or cleat. European ships often had the tack lead through a single block fastened to the mast near the topsail yard and then down to the deck. The tack pulled the sail down to the outboard end of the studding sail boom. The studding sail sheet is fastened to the studding sail boom at the inboard end and passes through a cringle at the clew of the sail. From there it runs down to a point on deck. It pulls the foot of the sail taut along the studding sail boom. A studding sail downhaul was sometimes used on larger ships, but probably not often on smaller vessels. It was fastened to the outboard end of the studding sail yard and lead down to a single block attached to the tack clew of the sail and from there to a point on deck. Sometimes it passed through a cringle at the center of the outer leech of the sail. It was used to pull down the studding sail yard as the halliard was loosened. The halliard, sheet, tack and downhaul were all rigged in different ways depending upon the ship. The halliards and sheets were often led through blocks or fairleads on the mast and then to the deck while the tack and downhauls were lead directly to the deck. Studding sails could also be rigged for topgallants when a ship carried these. The rigging was the same as shown here. Ringtail The ringtail (or driver) was rigged like a studding sail but was flown aft of the main sail to increase sail area. The yard and rigging were set up only when the ringtail was to be flown and were stowed below when it wasn’t used. The head of the ringtail is bent to the ringtail yard. The ringtail halliard is attached to the ringtail yard and runs through a single block fastened to the end of the main gaff. From there it leads down to a whip tackle with both ends of the whip line tied to cleats on the port side of the main boom. The halliard is used to haul up the ringtail yard to spread the sail. The ringtail boom is held to the end of the main boom with boom irons attached to the main boom. On some ships the ringtail boom rode on top of the main boom and on others it was positioned below the main boom. When the ringtail is to be set the boom is pushed out through the boom irons and the forward end is lashed to the main boom. The ringtail outhaul is attached to the clew and leads through a single block at the aft end of the ringtail boom. From there it runs forward to a whip tackle with both ends of the whip line tied to cleats on the starboard side of the main boom. The ringtail tack line is attached to the tack and to a whip block. The ends of the whip line are tied to cleats on the port side of the main boom. The tack line is used to pull the foot of the sail tight.

Running Rigging on Masts and Spars Running rigging is the ropes and cables that are used to control the spars and sails. It is frequently adjusted according to course changes and weather conditions to get the desired performance from the sails. Fore Course Yard (or Spreader) This yard may or may not have foot ropes to support the crew. It may also have been fitted with irons for studding sail booms. These yards may have carried a Jackstay, especially if the ship carried a fore course sail. If the vessel did not carry a fore course, and the spar didn't have any of the fore course rigging or foot ropes, the spar was called a "spreader." In some cases it was referred to as a "crossjack yard" as the lower yard on a square rigged mizzen mast was called. The yard was suspended from the fore top by a rope sling that was looped around the mast top. The yard was held to the mast with a two rope truss. The upper end of each truss rope was tied around the spar a bit outboard of the center of the spar, with a thimble spliced into the loop around the spar. The free end of each truss rope was then passed across through the thimble in the opposite truss rope and then lead down to the double block of a luff tackle. The single block of the tackle is hooked to a ring bolt on deck near the mast partners. The fall from the double block is secured to a pin, cleat or bitt near the mast. When the truss tackles were pulled tight the fore course yard was held tight to the mast and the yard was pulled down to tighten the sling. When the tackles were loosened the yard was free to move around the mast. In some cases a single truss rope was used and in later ships the truss ropes were lead up to tackle fastened to the mast top. Larger ships had chains or iron truss assemblies to support the spar after the mid 1800s. The port and starboard fore course yard lifts were attached to the yard near the outboard end. From there they lead through a single block fastened to the fore top cap and then down to the double block of a luff tackle. The single block of the tackle is hooked to a ring bolt on deck near the mast partners. The fall from the double block is secured to a pin, cleat or bitt near the mast. Lifts prevented the spar and sail from swinging as the ship rolled. The port and starboard fore course yard braces controlled the angle of the spar (rotating around the mast). They were rigged in several different ways. The simplest rig (1) had a single block of a whip tackle attached by a long line (brace pendant) to the outboard end of the yard. The standing line was attached to a ring bolt on the outboard side of the bulwarks somewhere aft of the main mast. The free end of this line ran through the whip block and then back down to pass through a sheave set into the bulwark and then inboard where it was fastened to a cleat or pin. This method created no interference with the swing of the fore gaff. A different fore course yard brace rig (2) had one end of the running line of the whip tackle attached to the main mast top, then leading through the whip tackle block attached to the end of the fore course yard and back to another single block fastened to the main mast top. From there the brace ran down and was secured to a pin, cleat or bitt at the deck. This method could limit the swing of the fore gaff by interfering with the fore peak halliard so it would be more common on staysail schooners that did not have a fore gaff sail. A third method (3) had the standing end of the whip line and a second single block attached to the foremost main mast shrouds. The free end of the whip line passed through the second single block and ran down to the deck or bulwark where it was fastened to a bitt, cleat or pin. This spread the braces a bit wider and allowed a greater swing of the fore gaff. This rig is common on some modern topsail schooners but was also used on 18th and 19th century ships. Topsail Yard The topsail yard was fitted with foot ropes to support the crew. It may or may not have had a jackstay along the top of the spar. The topsail yard halliard was attached to the center of the topsail yard. It passed around a sheave set into the fore topmast and then down to attach to the double block of a luff tackle. The single block of the tackle is hooked to a ring bolt on deck near the mast partners. The fall from the double block is secured to a pin, cleat or bitt near the mast. The halliard was used to raise and lower the topsail yard. The port and starboard topsail yard lifts were attached to the outboard ends of the topsail yard. They lead through single blocks attached to the fore topmast. From these blocks they run down to single block whips. The standing ends of the lines through the blocks are secured to ring bolts on deck and the falls are secured to pins, cleats or bitts near the mast. The lifts were used to adjust the angle of the yard and compensate for effects of the braces. It appears that some vessels had only the topsail yard halliard, others had only the topsail yard lifts, and some schooners had both. The yard could be hoisted using only the lifts. The lifts and halliard sometimes ran through fairleads on the fore top crosstrees. One end of the port and starboard topsail yard braces attach to the outboard ends of the topsail yard and the other ends are fastened to the single block of whip tackles. The standing lines were attached to ring bolts on the main mast top. After passing through the whip blocks the lines run back to single blocks attached to the main mast top and then down to points (pin, cleat or bitt) on deck near the main mast. A double block could replace the two single blocks at the main mast top. Gaff and Boom Rigging The fore and main gaffs were rigged the same way. The peak halliards raised the gaff boom and set the angle for the top of the gaff sail. There are many ways to rig the peak halliards; one common method is shown. The halliard used a single block fastened to the middle of the gaff booms and a double block attached to the mast tops. The halliard was fastened to the end of the gaff boom and the standing part ran to the double block. From there the running part leads around the sheave of the single block and back to the double block. The free end or fall leads down to the starboard pin rail. This is just one of many ways to rig peak halliards. With larger ships and heavier gaffs had more blocks and ropes (up to five blocks and eleven falls, standing and running parts. With heavy gaffs the falls had some type of tackle on deck. The throat halliards had a luff tackle with the single block attached to the boom jaws and the double block attached to the mast top below the crosstrees. The fall leads down to the port pin rail. With heavier gaff booms the fall would attach to some type of tackle on deck. An alternate method used a runner tackle with the upper single block attached to the top. The standing end attached to the boom jaws and the luff tackle was on deck. The throat halliard is used to help hoist the sail and gaff boom. Some ships (not all) had port and starboard boom vangs attached to the ends of the gaff booms. The vangs are used to control the swing of the booms. They had a whip tackle with the standing end attached to a ring bolt on deck near the bulwarks and the fall tied to a cleat on the bulwark. The main boom had a flag halliard that ran through a small single block attached to the aft end of the boom. The ends of the halliard were attached to cleats on the starboard side of the main boom. The boom often had foot ropes on the aft end to support crew working aft of the transom. The main boom jaws rested on a mast cheeks (boom rest). The main boom topping lifts (port and starboard) were fastened to the end of the boom. The standing part lead through the upper single block of a whip-on-whip tackle that was attached to the main top with a long line (pendant). The running part of the upper whip was attached to the single block of the lower whip. The standing part was attached to a ring bolt in the deck close to the bulwark and the fall was tied to a cleat on the bulwark or a pin in the pin rail. With heavier booms a runner tackle could be used instead of the whip-on-whip. The topping lifts supported the end of the boom. On some ships a single main boom topping lift standing part attached to the mast top and lead through a sheave set into the end of the boom. From there it lead back along the boom to a luff tackle attached to a ring bolt in the boom jaws, with the fall tied to a cleat on the boom. The port and starboard boom sheets controlled the outboard swing of the boom and the main sail. This usually consisted of two double block gun tackles attached to the deck port and starboard and to the boom with the falls leading to cleats on the bulwarks. The falls could attach to runner blocks and lead forward to cleats. Some schooners had a boom for the fore sail. These booms were rigged like the main boom, but the booms were shorter so they could swing free without hitting the main mast. On some vessels a single double block gun tackle served as the boom sheet with the lower block attached to a ring that rode on a horizontal bar (horse) just above the deck. This lower block could slide from side to side along the horse to the lee side as the ship tacked.

This looks like the Mantua Albatros kit. I am building one of these. The binnacle is definitely backwards! It isn't the only problem with the Mantua drawings! The tiller should probably extend to a small clearance between it and the binnacle. 10 cm or so.

Jaeger, Your questions are right to the point - at least they show the difficulty in putting a label on any sail/rigging configuration. That is why I have repeatedly said there is no "right" way to rig a ship, or at least there are as many right ways as there were ships. As an aside, in biological taxonomy there are "lumpers" and "splitters" when it comes to putting names on living creatures. Splitters tend to create new names for every possible variation and lumpers usually overlook minor variations when naming species. Personally, I am a lumper. What I find is weird is that some taxonomists split hairs in naming new species, varieties, etc., using trivial differences in color, size, shape and so on, while they overlook similar differences of no greater significance within our own species! And in the end nature doesn't give a damn about our nomenclature. A critter is whatever it is, and it may change to be different tomorrow. I see the same sort of irrational hair splitting in trying to place names on ship's rigs, and schooners are a good example. The more or less agreed upon definition of a schooner is a vessel rigged fore-and-aft with the main mast equal to or higher than the fore mast. There actually are ships rigged this way! But some schooners have three, four, five, six and even seven masts, all rigged fore-and-aft. But the common acceptance of this definition holds that the fore-and-aft schooner rig has a gaff sail on all masts. The after most gaff sail has a lower boom (a spanker), but the other gaff sails may be "loose-footed" with no boom, or they may have booms. And then what do you have if you add a square topsail to the fore mast, as was very popular in the US in the late 1700s and early 1800s? Now it is a "topsail schooner." And some added topgallants and royals, or double topsails as in square rigged ships. Then some added a topsail to the main mast! But they retained the fore-and-aft fore gaff sail. Now what is it? Some call it a two topsail schooner. I have seen illustrations of a five masted topsail schooners rigged with topsails on the first and third masts, but not on the second, fourth and fifth masts. But each mast also carried a gaff sail. So what happens if you make a change to an accepted nautical definition, such as rigging a fore course to a topsail schooner? Is it a topsail schooner when the fore course is not used and then magically becomes a brigantine when the fore course is rigged? Or when both fore and main courses are raised on a two topsail schooner, is it suddenly a brig? It is still the same ship so it makes no sense to rename it every time the fore course is hoisted or lowered. And the fore topsail yard often is not attached to the mast so the yard can be lowered to the deck to"reef" the sail. When this happens is it no longer a topsail schooner, even if the fore course yard is still there? And what is it if the after gaff sail is loose-footed with no boom? It seems to me that the basic schooner definition, where the vessel has a primary rig of fore-and-aft sails, is the key factor. At least if every mast has a gaff sail. But even the "schooner" definition has it's ambiguities. The staysail schooner doesn't have a fore gaff sail, but has staysails rigged between the masts. So it is still a "schooner" because there are no square sails on either mast and you have to call it something. Schooner is the closest fit because it is a pure fore-and-aft rig with the main mast taller than the fore mast, and it has at least one gaff sail. But if you add one square sail to the foremast of a staysail schooner it suddenly becomes a brigantine. Or should the staysail schooner have been called a "neutered brigantine" in the first place? At one time it was called a hermaphrodite brig, but is now called a brigantine. And what happens when you add a topsail to the foremast of a ketch? Is it then a dwarf topsail schooner or a topsail ketch? Or what if the aft mast (mizzen) on a three or more masted fore-and-aft rigged vessel is shorter than the other masts? Is it a ketch instead of a schooner? The variations are practically endless! And the discussions are practically endless!! Being the lumper than I am, if a vessel has gaff sails on every mast, even if some masts have square sails, it is a schooner, and if the after mast is shorter than the rest it is a bastard schooner. But I expect ketch lovers will take exception to that!

I have been studying the rigging of schooners, especially topsail schooners, for several years as part of a project to build a topsail schooner model. Determining the “right” way to rig these ships has turned out to be difficult and confusing, because there are many “right” ways, possibly as many as there were ships! There are many texts describing the rigs of the larger square rigged men of war, but there is not as much about fore-and-aft rigs. I have compiled these notes to help me sort things out and thought they might be useful to others studying these ships. In the following diagrams the hull, bowsprit, masts and spars are black. Standing rigging is green, running rigging is red, and sails and sail rigging are blue. Loose ends (falls) of running rigging are marked with black circles. These ends are attached somewhere on or near the deck. Where they attach depends upon the particular ship, but a general rule applies. Lines that are attached to points on masts or run through blocks on spars near masts usually run down to the deck near the bottom of the mast. Lines leading from the ends of spars typically lead outboard to cleats or pin rails on the bulwarks or ring bolts on the deck. Lines coming from low points on masts or spars lead to forward attachments, and lines from higher points attach to pins or cleats farther aft. However halliards and other lines running from the forward sides of masts often lead down to fife rails forward of the mast. First I want to describe some of the hardware used for setting up and controlling the rigging. There are some terms that will be repeated many times. Deadeyes and Lashings Deadeyes and lashings were ways to pull the standing rigging tight and tie it off. They were normally left tied until it was necessary to set the strains on the lines again. Deadeyes were more or less circular wooden blocks with three holes. The lines to be kept taut were tied around a deadeye. Another deadeye was anchored to a secure position. Lanyards looped through the two deadeyes and were pulled tight to pull the deadeyes together. The correct method of rigging deadeyes is described in many sources. Lashings were another method of pulling lines taut. The ends of the lines to be pulled together were attached to hearts or thimbles spliced into the line. A lanyard was secured to one of the hearts/thimbles and the line was looped through the two hearts/thimbles several times. Then the lanyard was pulled tight and the free end was wrapped around the standing parts and tied around them. You could accomplish the same tasks with multiple sheave blocks (pulleys) but these are designed to reduce friction so the rope will pull easily through the block. This would allow the fastenings to come loose easily. Deadeyes, hearts, and thimbles do not have sheaves and the ropes generate a lot of friction as they rub on the fittings. This helps these assemblies remain tight, and hearts and thimbles are cheaper than blocks. Types of Tackle A tackle is a combination of ropes and blocks that is used to exert force on a desired position. They are often called “purchases.” A block may have one or more sheaves (pulleys) that ropes run through. In the drawing single blocks (one sheave) are marked "S" and double blocks (two sheaves) are marked "D". Larger blocks often have three or four sheaves. The more sheaves a line runs through the greater the mechanical advantage (force) that can be exerted by the tackle. But more rope must be pulled through with each additional sheave, requiring a longer rope and taking longer to pull on whatever the tackle is attached to. The simplest is called a whip. It is a single block that is attached to a line (runner) or object to be pulled on. A rope passes through the block with a standing end anchored to a secure position (ring bolt, chock, pin, etc.). The other loose end is the fall that is pulled on. Whips can be compounded to create a whip-upon-whip tackle. A gun tackle has two single blocks. One block is anchored to a secure position, either with a hook or just with a line attached to the block. The standing end of a line is attached to the second block and passed through the first block. The running part of this line then passes through the second block and the remainder loose end is the fall. Gun tackles are used on smaller cannon, but they were also be used for many other jobs. The same principle can be extended by replacing the single blocks with double blocks, and so on. The luff tackle is similar to the gun tackle with a single block anchored to a secure position. The second block is a double block (two sheaves). The standing end of a line is attached to the single block and leads through the double block. The running part of the line passes through the single block and back through the double block and the end is the fall. Luff tackles were used where more force or pull was needed to move heavier objects. They were also used in place of the gun tackle on the larger cannons. The same principle can be extended by replacing the single block with a double block, and the double block with a triple (treble) block, and so on. A runner tackle is a luff tackle with the double block attached to a line called a runner that then passes through a second single block (like a whip). The second single block (runner block) is itself attached to another line or pendant. An advantage of this configuration is that the fall of the runner block can be pulled through quickly to take up slack on the pendant and then tied off to a secure position. Then the fall of the luff tackle can be used to apply more force on the pendant. The runner block may also be used to redirect the direction of the force from the luff tackle by attaching the block to a secure position and then attaching the fall to an object to be moved. Standing Rigging Standing rigging serves to support masts and bowsprits. It is made of rope (fiber on older vessels, wire on newer ships). This rigging normally stays fixed in place after it is set up. However, it can stretch with time so it occasionally needs tightening. Shrouds The masts bear the weight of the masts, spars, sails and rigging, resisting the pull of gravity. Wood is a good material for this service – after all trees have evolved so the trunk carries the entire load. But tree trunks are flexible and sway in the wind, and that is not desirable on a ship. And sudden gusts can bend tree trunks to the breaking point – again not desirable for ships’ masts. Shrouds are heavy lines that support the masts and take the strain from the force of the wind. Shrouds transfer the force of the wind to the hull, where the strains are borne by the hull structure. Together the mast, shrouds and hull form a very sturdy triangle, one of the strongest basic engineering structures. This prevents the mast from bending. Shrouds loop around the mast at the cross trees in the mast top. There are several ways to accomplish this so a description of the method used on a particular ship should be consulted. The shrouds run down to channels outboard the bulwarks (older vessels), to chain plates attached to the bulwarks, or to ringbolts in the deck inside the bulwarks (more modern schooners). Shrouds usually attach to deadeyes. A matching deadeye on the channel is attached to a chain plate that passes through the channel and fastens to the side of the hull. The two deadeyes on a shroud are spaced 3-5 deadeye diameters apart and are laced together with lanyards. There are several methods of implementing deadeyes, channels and chain plates, and a description for the method for a particular ship should be consulted. The deadeyes on the shrouds are laced to matching deadeyes on the channel or bulwark. Consult a book about rigging for a detailed description of how this is done. The lanyards allow the tension of the shrouds to be adjusted, and they also stretch a bit and act as a shock absorber. Some ships have a Sheer Pole attached to the shrouds above the deadeyes. It served to prevent the deadeyes from twisting. The Sheer Pole was introduced in the early 1800s and was not found on earlier ships. Near the top a futtock stave was sometimes laced to the shrouds. From this point some ships had futtock shrouds that lead up to the mast top crosstrees. The futtock shrouds might be attached to the mast below the top instead of attached to the shrouds. Ratlines are smaller diameter ropes attached to the shrouds to form ladders to the tops. They had eyes spliced to each end and were laced to the forward and aft shrouds. The ratlines were attached to the inner shrouds with clove hitch knots. Ratlines were spaced about 13-16 inches (33-40 cm). However, not all schooners had ratlines. The number of shrouds varied according to the size of the schooner and the nationality. American topsail schooners had lighter rigs with fewer shrouds than their English counterparts, and very small schooners may not have had any shrouds. Smaller schooners often had no ratlines. The rigging was designed to be controlled from the deck. When the crew needed to get to the tops they were hauled up in a bosun’s chair, or climbed the mast hoops on the gaff sails. Consult the plans for a particular ship to learn the shroud and ratline configuration. Larger schooners usually had topmast shrouds but sometimes only on the fore mast. The largest vessels had topgallant masts above the topmast, and topgallant shrouds. Sometimes these upper shrouds had deadeyes like the lower shrouds, but some vessels used lashings of hearts and lanyards to adjust the tension of the shrouds. These upper shrouds may or may not have ratlines. Stays Stays serve the same purpose as the shrouds, to support the masts against the forces of wind on the sails. Some stays also serve as supports for sails. The mainstay is typically two lines, although smaller vessels may have only one. These heavy ropes are secured around the main mast top and lead forward and down to the deck in the vicinity of the fore mast. These lines take the force on the main mast from wind coming from ahead. Some ships (especially square riggers) have mainstays that pass close to either side of the fore mast and anchor to bitts at the bow (cable or riding bitts). On staysail schooners that do not have a gaff foresail on the fore mast a mainstay can serve to support a staysail. However, these lines running along the centerline of the ship interfere with the swing of the gaff foresail on a fore-and–aft rigged vessel like a schooner, especially if it has a lower boom. Loose-footed (boom less) foresails can be used with fixed mainstays by having port and starboard sheets that can be slacked and draped over the mainstay on the windward side with the leeward side taut to control the sail. Loose-footed foresails also have brails that allow the sail to be reefed prior to changing course, and then the sail is extended with the leeward sheet. It is common on schooners for the mainstays to lead down to a luff tackle hooked or attached to ring bolts in the deck near the bulwarks. To allow the fore sail to swing outboard, the windward side mainstay is tightened and the leeward side mainstay is slacked or unhooked. The forestay functions the same on the fore mast as the mainstay. It is a heavy rope (often doubled) anchored to a strong part of the ship’s structure. The forestay typically loops around the mast in the fore top and leads forward and down to a heart. It is lashed with lanyards to a second heart that is attached to the ship. The lanyards can be tightened to keep the forestay taut. In the diagram the forestay is shown leading to a point in the bow of the ship, attached to either the bowsprit or to knightheads or bollards. However on some ships the forestay leads to bee blocks on the bowsprit just behind the bowsprit cap (shown as the jib stay in the diagram). A second stay, called a preventer, was often rigged as insurance in case the stay broke. The fore staysail rides on the forestay. The jib stay supports the jib sail. It is looped around the fore mast at the top and may be rigged as shown in the diagram, or the forward lower end may be attached to the jib boom near the forward end, especially if the ship has a flying jib boom rigged. The jib stay and preventer lead back to the bow where they attach to ring bolts on the hull. The stays attach to hearts that are lashed with lanyards to another heart that is fastened to the ring bolt. This allows the stay to be tightened. On larger ships with a fore topgallant mast the jib stay may be rigged higher to the foretopmast top, above the topsail yard. In some cases the jib stay fastens to or passes through a traveler, a ring that loops around the jib boom loosely and can slide along the boom. Outhauls and inhauls allow the traveler to be moved along the boom to reposition the jib sail. It was hauled in (aft) to reef the sail, and hauled out (forward) to fly the sail. There are several ways to rig the traveler. Consult references on rigging for the details. The flying jib stay is attached to the fore topmast above the topsail yard. It passes through a sheave at the forward end of the jib boom, down to a sheave in the dolphin spanker or a finger on the side of the dolphin spanker, and then aft to a cleat or pin in the bow. On larger ships with a fore topgallant mast this stay may be called the fore topgallant stay or the fore royal stay. The forestay, jib stay and flying jib stays are attached to the fore mast at places that do not interfere with the raising or furling of the square sails. Each mast has port and starboard backstays. It is common for these to be attached near the tops of the top masts and to lead down to deadeyes at the channels, rigged the same as for the shrouds. These are far enough forward that they do not interfere with the swing of the foresail or mainsail. However, some schooners have backstays that lead farther aft to ringbolts in the deck. These backstays have luff tackles with the falls tied to cleats on the bulwarks or ring bolts in the deck. Like the mainstays the leeward backstays can be loosened or unhooked to allow the main boom to swing to leeward. The windward backstay is tightened to take the force of the wind on the sail. Bowsprit Rigging The bowsprit extended forward of the bow to provide support for the stays and rigging for the fore mast and head sails at the bow. On small vessels the bowsprit may be a single pole, and often it could be pulled back aboard to allow the ship to occupy a shorter berth at a pier. Larger schooners built in the late 1800s and after often had single piece fixed bowsprits. Medium sized schooners usually had a fixed bowsprit terminated in a cap, with a smaller jib boom attached to it and extending through the cap forward. Larger schooners often had a flying jib boom fastened to the top of the jib boom to extend the assembly ever farther forward to accommodate more sails at the bow. The bowsprit usually was anchored at the aft end by bitts on either side. On schooners with bulwarks it usually passed through a hole in the bulwarks at the bow, although on smaller vessels with bulwarks the bowsprit sometimes rested on the cap rail. The bowsprit was lashed to the gammoning knee at the bow with heavy rope or gammoning. The aft end of the jib boom rested on a cradle on the bowsprit. It was lashed to the bowsprit with gammoning called a crupper. The forward end fit snugly through a hole in the bowsprit cap. The jib boom crupper could be loosened to allow the boom to be hauled in so the ship would fit into a shorter berth. A short pole (sometimes two) called a dolphin striker (also called a martingale) attached to the bowsprit cap and extended downward close to the normal load waterline. The position and method of attachment of the dolphin striker to the bowsprit cap varied from ship to ship. The bobstay (sometimes two) supported the bowsprit and took the load from the sails attached to the bowsprit. It sometimes looped through a hole in the stem above the waterline, and sometimes fastened to a metal bracket on the stem. The forward end attached to a heart or deadeye. A second heart or deadeye was lashed to a collar around the bowsprit aft of the bowsprit cap. Lanyards between the hearts or deadeyes pulled the bobstay tight and allowed tension to be adjusted. Bobstays were heavy ropes on earlier ships, but the ropes were replaced with chains in the later 1800s. The bowsprit shrouds (port and starboard) often attached to the same collar near the bowsprit cap that the bobstay fastened to. The bowsprit shrouds lead back to a heart or deadeye. A second heart or deadeye was lashed to a ring bolt in the hull. Lanyards between the hearts or deadeyes allowed the shrouds to be tightened and allowed tension to be adjusted. The shrouds transferred lateral forces on the bowsprit to the hull. The martingale stay had an eye on the forward end that looped around the end of the jib boom and another eye that looped around the lower end of the dolphin striker. Two martingale back stays (port and starboard) attached to the bottom of the dolphin striker and lead back to hearts or deadeyes on the aft ends. Another heart or deadeye was attached to a ring bolt in the hull. Lanyards between the hearts or deadeyes pulled the back stays tight and allowed the tension to be adjusted. The martingale stay and back stays transferred the forces from the sails attached to the jib boom to the ship’s hull. The jib boom guys (port and starboard) attached to the forward end of the jib boom. They lead back to attachment points either on the hull or on the catheads. These also had the hearts or deadeyes with lanyards to adjust tension. They transferred lateral forces on the jib boom to the hull. The hull attachment points for the martingale back stays, bowsprit shrouds and jib boom guys should be forward or above the hawse opening for the anchor cable to avoid fouling the anchor while raising it and working with the anchor tackle on the cathead.

bolin, Typically the gaff topsail will have three lines for handling: The topsail halliard attaches to the peak (uppermost point) to haul the sail up. It ran through a sheave in the mast top or a single block attached to the mast top and from there down to the deck. The topsail tack attaches to the low point (tack) of the sail near the mast and pulls the sail down, opposing the halliard. It commonly had a tackle at the deck to help pull the sail tight. The topsail sheet attaches to the after point (sheet) of the sail. It runs through a sheave near the end of the gaff or a single block attached to the end of the gaff. From there it leads to a single block attached to the boom jaws, and then down to the deck. As kingfisher said, a brail could be attached to the tack and run through a block near the top of the mast, and then down to the deck. This line would be used to haul the tack up to clear the peak halliard rig on the gaff boom. A flying gaff topsail might also have a downhaul attached to the peak that ran down to the deck. This line was used to haul the sail down.to be furled. **** The staysail had a staysail halliard at the peak that led through a single block on the after mast and then down to the deck. The halliard hauled the sail up the stay. The tack of the sail was often hooked to and ring bolt on the forward mast (often at the mast top) . A staysail downhaul was also attached to the peak. It led forward to a single block on the forward mast near the tack and from there to the deck. It opposed the halliard and was used to haul the sail down the stay to be furled. The staysail sheet attached to the clew (lower aft corner) and led through a single block attached to the after mast and from there to the deck. It pulled the sail tight after it was raised. **** Some or all of these lines may have tackle of some sort at the deck. The larger the sail the more likely that a tackle of some sort would be used. And keep in mind that there was no "right" way to rig anything. Every ship owner, Captain and bosun had his own ideas about how their ships should be rigged, and rigging on a ship sometimes changed with time. A good reference is Wolfram zu Mondfekld's Historic Ship Models, although it is almost entirely oriented to square rigged ships and doesn't have much to say about schooners. Lennarth Petterson's Rigging Fore-and-Aft Graft has a section on topsail schooners, and most of this applies to straight fore-and-aft schooners. John Leather's The Gaff Rig Handbook gives a lot of detail for rigging modern fore-and-aft yachts and racing boats, but much of this isn't very useful for 19th century and earlier vessels. However, he does give the history of the development of different types of rigs, mainly focusing on British vessels. But the book doesn't have a useful index and finding information about a particular rigging detail is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Harold Underhill's Sailing Ship Rigs and Rigging has general sail plans for many types of ships and boats but not much about the actual rigging. But it does have a useful glossary. I also have Underhill's Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Oceanic Carrier. It is an excellent book with a tremendous amount of details. It is mostly for British clipper ships, but it has a section on schooners. Unfortunately the drawings seem to be scattered randomly through the book and are rarely anywhere near the text that refers to them. But it does have a list of drawings after the table of contents. Most of what he writes about are rigs of the last half of the 19th century and early 20th century. James Lee's The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War 1625 - 1860 is almost entirely about larger square riggers. However it does give a lot of details about parts of rigging that does apply to schooners. More importantly, it tells how to determine the dimensions of rigging, blocks and such based upon the mast diameter, and has lots of tables. But some caution is necessary because for-and-aft rigs are much lighter than square rigs, and mast diameters are usually smaller for schooners. I have found two books indispensable for translating the nautical jargon into meaningful explanations: The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor by Darcy Lever (1808) tells the novice officer or seaman how to rig a ship - every detail of how to put all the pieces of the rigging together. It is essentially an illustrated glossary of nautical terms and a how-to book. But there isn't a lot about fore-and-aft rigs. The Art of Rigging by George Biddlecombe (1925) is based upon David Steel's 1794 The Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship has an excellent glossary and many illustrations. Again, not much about schooners. I think you can find Steel's original book on line as a PDF file. Hope this helps.

Rachel, Good to see your post. Your Mantua kit is very different from the 1980s Mantua kit I am building!

Pat, Your idea sounds pretty good to me.

George Biddlecombe (The Art of Rigging, Echo Point Books and Media, Brattelborough, Vermont, 1925, reprint 2016) does mention mats (page 20) - a thick woven or plaited texture "fastened upon mast yards, &c., to prevent their chafing." On page 34 he describes "Thrumming" as interlacing short pieces of thrums or ropeyarn through matting. Darcy Lever (The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor, Thomas Gill printer, London, 1808, reprint 2000) describes how to make a wrought mat (sheet 11). He says 3" pieces of old rope are worked into the mat surface to make it softer, and these yarns are called "thrumbs." On sheet 12 he tells how to make a "wove mat." Perhaps there are other places in these books where the uses of these mats are described but I didn't search the entire books. My guess is that two mats were to be provided for initial fitting out in the shipyard. If any others were needed the ship's crew could make them.

Very nice!

Waiting for your build log!

Again I have to agree with Bob Cleek about that "topsail staysail ketch/hermaphrodite brig/brigantine" or whatever you want to call it ((the second picture in Thananasis' original post). I did find a reference to a "topsail ketch" in the Unusual Rigs chapter of Harold Underhill's Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship & Ocean Carrier, Brown Son and Ferguson, Ltd., Glasgow, 1972, page 229. Yes, Underhill was British, and we all know they actually think they invented the English language, but I have to be cautious what I say here because my wife was British. Yes dear, who is to say that the British terminology is less valid than any other? He mentions a "schooner-ketch" and says "Another name, and I think a more appropriate one, is topsail ketch." But, as Bob mentions, a ketch would have a gaff sail on the main (fore) mast. Underhill says "The [main] gaff and boom are proportionately longer than would be the case with the schooner because the mizzen mast is stepped much further aft." Picture 2 doesn't have a boom on the fore mast, so it isn't a true ketch. So maybe it was a ketch-brigantine? But whoever heard that term used? However, some sources just say a two masted vessel with the fore/main mast taller than the aft/mizzen is a ketch it the mizzen is stepped forward of the rudder. By that definition is is a ketch. On page 228 Underhill also discusses the staysail schooner with a topsail on the fore mast and asks "Is she a schooner or brigantine? Your guess is as good as mine, for to the best of my knowledge the rig has never been defined and really has no name." ... "Perhaps the best description would be "square-rigged staysail-schooner", anyway the reader can take his choice." He goes on for another half page discussing variants of this rig and what they might be called. And Bob gets a star for identifying the "fisherman's topsail." Underhill has 17 pages of "unusual rigs" and it all reinforces my belief that just about anything that was possible to rig has probably floated somewhere at some time. And even common rigs have different names in different places and different times. **** In Underhills Sailing Ship Rigs and Rigging, Brown, Son and Ferguson, Glasgow, 1969, page 4 he uses the term "Jackass-Rig" as any unusual combination of masts or sails. So in Thanasis' original post there are pictures of jackass-rig 1, jackass-rig 2, jackass-rig 3 and another jackass-rig 1. But he does mention the "hermaphrodite brig" with square rigged fore mast (no gaff sail) and fore-and-aft rigged main mast. The illustration shows staysails between the masts. He says the term hermaphrodite brig is no longer used and it is called a brigantine. He shows sail plans for hermaphrodite brigs Raven and Juan De La Vega on page 46 and 48. He also describes staysail schooners as "... all canvas, with the exception of the main, is set on fore-and-aft stays and saves the weight of spars aloft." The main sail is rigged to a boom, but may be gaff rigged or just a triangular "Bermuda rig." He shows a plan for the very unusual three masted staysail schooner John Williams V."

Mark, It was not uncommon for topsail schooners to carry a fore course - a square sail suspended from the lower yard. I have seen several examples in books about schooners, such as the French privateer Le Comtesse Emererian 1810, ex privateer Herald or HMS Pictou 1815, HMS Sea Lark and HMS Alban1817, US revenue Cutter Louisiana 1819, and slaver Mary Adeline 1852. Howard Chapelle's "The Baltimore Clipper" has numerous other examples, including drawings from Marestier taken off ships and published in 1824. A fore course doesn't seem to be common on modern topsail schooners, but some photos (below) of the modern French Navy Belle Poule show her flying a square course with a spar to the clew something like a spinnaker or a studding sail! Note that they also have a water sail on the main boom, so they are spreading a lot of canvas to catch the wind. Like about everything else I have seen about schooner rigging it seems to have been up to the owner's/captain's whim. While I agree that brigantines are supposed to have a taller main mast than a fore mast, what else would you call the second example? I'd call it a topsail ketch but I have never heard that name used!

This thread has yielded some very good information! Some of the more detailed and esoteric points really apply if you intend to create a museum quality model. For this you should read the requirements for models from the Smithsonian, the US Naval Academy Museum, etc. For archival purposes we can forget epoxy, CA, and many other glues. The wood pieces should be cut to minimize shrinkage, etc. Forget plastics, 3D printing, pot metal castings and other materials that have not withstood the test of time. And so on ... But most of us are not building museum quality models (we wish!). We are building for the fun of it and the satisfaction of having done our best. It looks like the majority of builds are from kits and we use whatever materials are supplied. I seriously doubt most kit makers carefully cut each piece the "right" way! When we do make modifications to the kits or kitbash we usually get our materials from a local hobby shop, or maybe order online. Again you get whatever the supplier sends. Frankly, as careful as I am about trying to get things "right" on kit builds, I really don't think my models should last forever! I think the worry about wood expansion is perhaps a bit exaggerated. It is a problem in buildings with no humidity control that are constructed of large diameter wooden beams. Cracks are common because of stresses accumulated over large dimensions. Even on my house I have seen cracks open between siding boards, about 1/8 inch in 8 feet (96 inches) or 0.0013%, when summer temperatures get up to >100F for several days and humidity drops below 20%. But our models are made up of pieces of very small dimensions so very large stresses don't accumulate. I looked at The Wood Database and found that some green woods do contract 8% to 12% tangentially when they are dried. However it states that after drying dimensional changes are small, typically about 0.1%. Given that number, six inches of planking would change by 0.006 inches (0.00023 mm). That is about the thickness of two sheets of #24 printer paper. I have seen cracks appear in hulls I have made where planks were nailed or glued to bulkheads with a light coat of lacquer on the exterior. However, as Bob said, this cracking is likely due to poor planking techniques as much as anything else. These were some of my first kit builds. I think for most of us any materials, glues, and methods that get the job done to our satisfaction will be good enough. And everyone has their own opinions about what is "good enough."

I agree with Bob. His naming is about as good as you can get for these rigs. The second rig is similar to a hermaphrodite brig (also called a brigantine), but doesn't appear to have a full square sail rig on the fore mast as brigs as brigantines are supposed to have. Also, every picture I have seen (and most definitions) of brigantines has had the main mast as tall as or taller than the fore mast. Ketches are two masted vessels with the mizzen (after) mast positioned ahead of the rudder/tiller and shorter than the main (fore) mast, as in the second rig, but the main mast is usually rigged fore and aft with a gaff sail, and no square topsail. Without the topsail on the main mast our second rig might be called a "staysail ketch" but I have never seen that term used. Topsail ketch? The third rig is strange. I'd call it a "mule" as it appears to be a cross between a schooner and a dhow or felucca. Let's hope it too is sterile and cannot reproduce! The sail rig on the Thames barge is called a spritsail.

I like to plank the hull first. Then I seal the inside with epoxy paint (or resin) to prevent cracks from appearing in the future. Also, I paint the inside of the hull black anywhere it might be visible through hatch gratings, companionways, etc. (assuming you aren't building an interior that you want to be visible).

Ron, I used your technique to scan several hundred blueprints on microfilm from the National Archives. The microfilm scanner at our library produced images that were far too coarse for scanning the full 35mm film frames, resulting in images too blurry to read the fine print. I optically enlarged the images and scanned each 35mm frame in six overlapping scans and pasted them together in Photoshop. Some of the largest blueprints (12' x 3') were photographed in six frames producing 36 scanned images. The original photo equipment generated some spherical distortion in the images on microfilm, and the microfilm scanner at the library added even more distortion. I had to do a lot of image straightening and stretching to get back the original rectangular shapes. But then they all went together pretty smoothly. The resulting images are really good. I can read the finest print, and can even see the tiny pencil dots the draftsman used to center circles and align lines of text!

Jeff, Looking back over my build there are several things I would do differently now! For me it is a learning project, and seeing things to do differently is a sign I must be learning! For the inverted photo you might try loading it into Microsoft mspaint (it comes with Windows) and see if it is inverted there. If so you can rotate it 180 degrees. Also you might try to save it in a different format (JPEG, PNG, BMP, etc.) I would avoid GIF files - they are easily sabotaged with viruses so many programs will not load them.

Bob, I appreciate the information you are providing, although I wonder if some of your "facts" aren't just "opinions." Please don't take that as a criticism - I am skeptical of most things most people say! There are a lot of "alternate facts" these days! Can you recommend a good source of information about woods and shrinkage/swelling with humidity and temperature changes? I have seen some numbers for the coefficient of thermal expansion of woods, but nothing on humidity effects. You gave an example wood swelling 1% with humidity. That seems pretty extreme to me. If my house (made of wood before plywood was used) swelled 1% it would increase in height about an inch and more than 4 inches in length! Of course it does expand and contract some, causing an occasional door to be hard to close, but my guess is it less than 0.1%, otherwise a lot of things would buckle. I stress the word "guess" because I have no way to conduct an experiment to measure expansion/contraction of the house accurately. Also, almost all of the boards are cut with the grain running lengthwise, including joists, wall studs, rafters and side planking, so I guess it would expand less lengthwise to the grain than crosswise to the grain.

Dan, I appreciate your persistence and attention to detail. I like the Baltimore clippers and will be following your thread.I am also working on a 1:48 Baltimore clipper and kit bashing it into a revenue cutter. The deck planking came out better than I expected and was a lot of fun! I am working on the rigging plans.

Jeff, Nice work! I had missed this build in the past. We are both working on similar ships. I am currently designing the rigging and sails for the ship. I am curious, how long is the model (hull)? Do the plans give dimensions for the actual ship?

I have to comment on Jersey City Frankies harsh criticism of Lennarth Petersson's Rigging Period Fore and Aft Craft, Naval Institute Press, 2015. I have been studying schooner rigging for several years now, and I have used Petersson's book. As far as schooner rigging goes it seems to be pretty accurate. I have found other references, drawings and photos of topsail schooners that show most of what is illustrated in the book. Frankie says the drawings are based upon an unnamed models. But Petersson tells where he found the models. The schooner model is a model if the Baltimore clipper Experiment that was built in 1808 in New York and sold to the Swedish Navy in 1812. The model is in the Naval Museum, Karlskrona, in Sweden. Petersson says it is not an exact copy of the Experiment. Frankie mentions an improperly rigged "Spanish burton" in the book. I can't find a single example of a Spanish burton. However, there is an example of a properly rigged ordinary burton tackle in the drawing of the main tackle and top on page 75. This configuration is much more common than the Spanish burton. I do agree completely with Frankie that there is a dearth of period information about the schooner rig. Most books just describe the practice of rigging large square-rigged warships. Very little seems to have been written about schooner rigs, and what does exist is usually for modern racing yachts and fishing schooners. I would be surprised if many, if any, schooners were rigged exactly as Petersson's drawings show. Looking at photos of modern topsail schooners I can find just about everything Petersson depicts on one ship or another, but no two modern schooners appear to be rigged the same way, with the possible exception of the French Navy's Etoile and Belle Poule. Petersson shows both halliards and lifts for the topsail yards. Some modern schooners have both, some use only a halliard, and some have only lifts. Here are two examples of schooner rigging Petersson shows that are unusual. He shows vangs on the fore and main gaffs. However very few books show vangs on schooner gaffs. And most photos of modern schooners do not have them. But Etoile and Belle Poule do have them. He shows bowlines on the course and topsail but I have tried in vain to find a single example of a topsail schooner with these lines. They are more typical of large square rigged ships. But these are legitimate rigging methods for some ships. The real problem is that it is possible that no two schooners were rigged exactly the same way. Owners and Captains often had their own ideas of what was "right" and that may have changed over time with experience on a particular ship. Often there were several ways to set up rigging to accomplish the same thing. But there were commonly accepted ways to do things. This is probably why there are few rigging plans for period sailing ships. They weren't needed. Everyone knew how to rig a ship.

Dave, It is octagonal. The normal way to create a spar is to start with a square cross-section timber. It is then tapered from the larger cross section in the middle to narrower square cross sections at the ends. This forms the basic shape of the spar. Then it is shaped to octagonal cross section, and the outer parts are trimmed again to sixteen surfaces, and then it is trimmed to make it round. This was/is the way to get cylindrical and conical pieces without having a lathe, using hand tools like planes and spokeshaves. Sometimes the middle section is left octagonal. Sometimes it isn't.

Here are a couple of comments related to these discussions. 1. I just had a great Christmas dinner that included barbecue ribs cooked up by my significant other's youngest son. He took home economics in school and learned to cook. He is a really good cook! So I guess I can thank his home ec teacher in part for the great ribs!. 2. I have several thousand blueprints for the Cleveland class cruisers on microfilm. I have scanned and digitized hundreds of them for making my USS Oklahoma City model. I scanned at the equivalent of about 9000 dpi on the film. This produced clear images of even the smallest lettering. Each drawing has a title box with the draftsman's initials and I soon learned to recognize the draftsman by looking at the lettering. And different people had different ways to create drawings. The scanned images are so good that I can see the tiny pencil dots that were used for centers of circles and to evenly space guide lines for the text. I love looking at these blueprints and learning how the ships were built. However, some of the lettering is very poorly done. One fellow made 3 and 5 almost identical, so if the microfilm image isn't really clear you can't tell these numbers apart. And some drawings have long sequences of comments documenting changes. These were made my multiple people and the lettering quality varies from good to horrible. Some of the draftsmen were better artists than others! **** Now I take exception to the comments that all CAD drawings are alike or not artistic. Like the paper drawings, it depends upon the draftsman. At least all of the text is legible! But different people make CAD drawings in different ways. I have worked with engineers who did sloppy work, on paper and in CAD. And I have worked with some fellows who truly were CAD artists, who took pride in their work and added all the little details that distinguish a nice blueprint from a bad one. Again, everyone has their own opinion. I have worked extensively with paper drafting and CAD. I appreciate nice work done either way.

Bob, Thanks for the information about wood shrinkage and expansion with humidity. I have long been aware of the problems with expansion/contraction of metal and plastic with temperature change, and the large differences of thermal coefficient of expansion for these materials. I hadn't given much thought to wood, except that it has a relatively low thermal coefficient of expansion and the problems this can cause in constructions with wood, plastic and metal. I have three plank on bulkhead hulls that date back to the 60s through 80s. All are single plank hulls. These have been in the western Oregon environment where we have humidity swings several times a year between 20% and 100% (normally 35% to 70%). Winters are especially damp. It can start raining in late October and not stop until May. Then we may have no rain from May to October. I would think this would make a good test of the effects of humidity swings on model hulls. The first two hulls (14" to 15" long, built in 1969) had planks glued (or nailed) to bulkheads with no glue between planks. As you noted, expansion/contraction was localized. Both of these hulls have pronounced cracks between some of the planks. The ordinary lacquer or enamel paint applied to the exterior was not sufficient to prevent gaps from appearing. The third hull (18" long, built in 1985) has no cracks after 35 years. The inside was painted with the epoxy paint as described in my earlier post (several coats until the wood absorbed no more). See the link to my Mantua Albatros build in the footer of this post. I think the reason it has not cracked is pretty simple. Every piece soaked up the epoxy so the bonds penetrate into the wood. Each plank is bonded tightly to the bulkheads, so the planks cannot move. Each plank is bonded tightly to its neighbors, making it difficult for gaps to appear. I would say 35 years in this environment without cracks is a pretty good test of the process. One thing that may have contributed to the stability of this hull is that it probably was built in the winter (not many good days for hiking) , with relatively high humidity. So the planks may have been expanded when they were glued together. For what it is worth, all three hulls were from kits, and the wood was whatever was thrown into the box. Back in the 60s to 80s I doubt if anyone gave any thought to how the grain ran in the wood. The plank dimensions of the 1980s kit varied quite a bit, especially in thickness! These were fairly small hulls. If I was building a 3-4 foot hull I would certainly give some thought to wood expansion and contraction.