Topsail schooner belaying plan

[Dr PR]

I am building the Mantua Albatros Art 771 kit from the 1980s. I am trying to create a belaying plan for the ship. The main mast is simple, but the fore mast is quite complex. The Mantua plans show only the basic standing rigging, and show none of the running rigging.

 

I have eleven books that discuss sailing ship rigging, including the standards Steel, Lees, Biddlecombe, Lever, etc., but these describe full square-rigged ships and are mostly useless for deriving a schooner rigging and belaying plan. After detailed discussions of how to rig the lines on the masts, spars and sails they all finish by saying the line "runs to the deck."

 

I do have several books that talk specifically about schooner rigging (Petersson, Underhill, Leather, Hahn, Marquardt). Most of these also say to run the line "to the deck" or "to the rail." Again, no help.

 

Petersson's "Rigging Period Fore-and-Aft Craft" shows the belaying plan for a topsail schooner, and is the best reference I have found, but it doesn't describe the variations found on different ships. Underhill's "Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier" has far and away the best an most detailed discussion of ship rigging I have found, but it is mostly for full-rigged ships, with only a brief discussion of schooners. Marquardt's  "Global Schooner" has good detail about rigging but it also says the lines run "to the deck." Leather's "The Gaff Rig Handbook" is nearly useless, having no useful index and focusing mainly upon 20th century racing yachts.

 

So I have been left to my own devices to figure out how to belay the fore mast rigging. I am using two assumptions. First, lines coming down from purchases close to or on the mast lead down to ring bolts or fife rails at the base of the mast (or pins, cleats or spider bands on the mast), and lines running from the yard arms run down to the pin rails or cleats on the bulwarks or to ring bolts in the waterways near the bulwarks. Second, lines from lower purchases lead forward, and lines from higher positions lead aft. The idea is to avoid crossing lines.

 

Here is my working plan:

 

 

 

As you can see, there are 35 running rigging lines coming down from the foremast (not counting studding sails!). The base of the mast seems a bit crowded with 21 standing and running lines attached to ring bolts in the deck and pins in the fife rail. To achieve this I had to run the fore course bunt lines and clew lines outboard to the pin rails even though they lead from the lower top and the quarters of the fore course yard.

 

I would appreciate comments and corrections from those who understand belaying better than I do.

 

NOTE: I expect that as I start rigging the mast I will to have to reorder some of these positions to eliminate fouled lines.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Dr PR

[allanyed]

Phil,

You are not alone in not finding information on belaying points so kudos for researching this!!!    Unless you happen to be modeling a ship where the belaying points are the exact same as specific samples in books by Lees and Anderson for example, it is a difficult thing.

 

Not saying this incorrect, just new for me, but I cannot find any contemporary models of similar vessels with eye bolts in the deck except where there are lead blocks tied to them.  Can you share your source on this type of belay point for the standing parts of the lines that you list?   The

Pride of Baltimore II  has a cluster of cleats on the mast as well as belaying pins, but I am not sure if they have eye bolts as well. 

 

You might consider contacting the Pride of Baltimore II group (https://pride2.org/) or  Preble Hall and ask if they can be of some help to your belaying point search.  I have had good luck MOST of the time getting help from Preble Hall.   I would call rather than email but the choice is yours  ---   410-293-2108   They do not have researchers on their staff so getting answers can be daunting at times.  You can also contact the Naval History and  Heritage Command as they do have librarians and researchers on staff.   I don't recall if they give a phone number on their website so you may need to contact them by email which is probably listed on their website.

 

Allan

Edited November 4, 2021 by allanyed

[Dr PR]

Allan,

 

I think you are correct that rigging connections to ring bolts were always attachments for standing parts of tackle. All but one of the ring bolt connections I have shown are for tackle connections. However, I hastily placed the fore sail brail on a ring bolt - it should go to a belaying pin or cleat, and I will change this.

 

Whether or not a running rigging line (or some standing rigging lines for that matter) needs a tackle is a matter of conjecture. You really need to know how the line is used when the ship is underway. This was brought home to me in Harold Underhill's "Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean carrier." On page 139 he comments that lower bunt lines on some ships may have whips (single block) for extra purchase (mechanical advantage) while on other ships the line may run straight to a pin. "It is a matter of the work to be done." A straight run requires only a place (pin) to belay the end of the line. But a whip, gun tackle or luff tackle requires a firm attachment for the standing end (a ring bolt on deck, for example) and a pin for the running fall.

 

In another place Underhill notes that clew lines and bunt lines are under no strain when the sail is set, and are left slack so as not to foul or chafe against the sail. Because they are normally slack they lead down straight to the belaying point. Both may be tied off on the same pin since they are both used at the same time while reefing the sail.

 

But the sheet is always under strain when the sail is set, and it may be necessary to attach the running end to a tackle, such as a gun tackle (two single blocks) in order to get enough mechanical advantage to control the sail. Whether or not to use a tackle on a running rigging line depends upon the size of the sail (the work to be done) and the size of the crew. On merchant ships with small crews tackles were more common on running rigging, and in the later years when crews were smaller still other methods such as winches were used.

 

So to really get it right I need to know how to sail the real ship! Lever's "Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor" is helpful, but it only talks about full rigged square sail ships and says nothing about schooners.

 

My current model rigging plan uses luff tackles (single and double block) for the heaviest items like the fore course yard lifts and truss, topsail yard halliard, fore sail tack, fore and main tackles (burtons), throat halliards and peak halliards, running back stays, main outhaul and such. Gun tackles (two single blocks) are used for lighter loads like the foresail sheets, topsail yard lift, topsail sheet, staysail halliards and sheets. Whips are used for even lighter loads like vangs, main boom topping lift, topsail sheet, and topsail yard lift. These ideas came from a combination of Lees, Underhill, Petersson and Marquardt, based upon what seems to me to be the extent of the loads.

 

However, this is still preliminary. The schooner I am modelling is not a large vessel, just 70 feet between the perps, 74 feet on deck, and probably about 100 tons. It has only one topsail and no topgallant or royal. No square sails on the main mast. I suppose some of the luff tackles could be gun tackles, some gun tackles could be whips, and some lines with whips might be run straight to the belaying points.

 

Any suggestions?

Edited November 4, 2021 by Dr PR