Fore and aft sails: downhaul lizards

[Bruma]

Hello everyone,

in my understanding, the dawnhaul of jib, outer jib, fore topmast stay and so on, pass through one or more lizards in order to avoid chafing. 

What I don't understand is where the lizards are attached. 

It makes sense to me to splice them to the relative stays, in order to let them free to run up and down when the sails are taken in or out. 

Is this correct? Another option could be to attach them to the sails rope on the luff.

Another question is: which side is preferred to let the dawnhaul fall free? Is there a rule? 

The question is referred to a clipper, since the method might have changed during centuries.

Thank you! 

[popeye2sea]

I do not think that you can use lizards because they would interfere with the running of the sail up or down the stay.  I believe that it would be sufficient to pass the downhauls through a few of the hanks.

 

As to which side the slack in the downhaul falls on, I think it just falls naturally on either side and has no effect on the sail whatsoever.  When the hauling end comes inboard there was a pattern that was followed whereby each successive sail from inboard to outboard alternated from port to starboard with the inner sails belayed closer to the middle of the range or pin rail, and each successive sail downhaul belaying further out.

 

Regards,

[BANYAN]

Hi Bruma, Underhill (Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier), page 142, writes that the downhauls were led through lizards seized to the hanks along the luff of the sail.  This then would have them fitted on the hanks rather than running on the stay;  the hanks then ran up and down the stay.  He illustrates this in figure 22 of the book (sorry due to copyright etc, can't reproduce here).

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Dr PR]

Bruma,

 

Harold Underhill's Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship & Ocean Carrier (Brown, Son and Ferguson, Ltd., Glasgow, 1972) is an excellent source of information about rigging of clipper ships. It is the best written and most complete book on ship rigging I have found. It has detailed descriptions of the masts, bowsprits, yards, booms, gaffs and every line of the rigging, plus a complete pinrail diagram for belaying every line of rigging for a full rigged ship. It says:

 

The down-haul is shackled to the head (peak) of the sail and led down the stay to a block at the foot (tack) , and from there to it's belaying point. The down-haul  It runs through one or more lizards that are siezed to the hanks at intervals. Not all authors define "lizard" the same, so Underhill says these are short ropes with eyes (thimbles) spliced into one end and the other end siezed to the hanks. The down-haul runs freely through the eyes in the lizard. Hanks are rings around the stay that the sails are siezed to, and allow the sail to ride up and down the stay..

 

The flying jib downhaul runs through a lead block on the port side of the bowsprit, outboard.

The outer jib downhaul runs through a lead block on the port side of the bowsprit, inboard.

The inner jib downhaul runs through a lead block on the starboard side of the bowsprit, inboard.

The fore topmast staysail downhaul runs through a lead block on the starboard side of the bowsprit, outboard.

 

Underhill shows these downhauls leading to a pin rail in the extreme bow of the ship.

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Dr PR

[Bruma]

Thank you every one for answering!

 

11 hours ago, BANYAN said:

Hi Bruma, Underhill (Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier), page 142, writes that the downhauls were led through lizards seized to the hanks along the luff of the sail.  This then would have them fitted on the hanks rather than running on the stay;  the hanks then ran up and down the stay.  He illustrates this in figure 22 of the book

 

Well, it turns out that I have the very same book! 

It is from that reading (and from the Campbell's sail plan) that my question came out.

Interestingly enough, at pag 142 I have, under the chapter "Downhaul": "... leads down the luff trough one or more lizards...", not mentioning the "seized to the hanks". 

Well, this is the answer I was looking for, thank you again!