Tapering of yards and yard arms

[DaveBaxt]

I have seen this term used a lot but finding it difficult to find out what a yard arm actually is. One explanation I have found is the tapered ends of the yards, however most information I can find clearly states that the yard is tapered throughout.( apart from the centre section )According to Mondfelds book. 'Historic ship models' there are clearly ends of the yard which have a change in section and wonder if this is the yard arm. Lees book refer to the length of the yard arm but does not show this change in section in the yard at the ends but a taoer throughout.

                 I am also interested in the position of the cleats and wonder if this is where the yard arm starts  and are used instead of the change in section. Sorry if this has been asked before but when putting in a search I am getting thousands of hits . Thank you again for peoples patience. Best regards Dave

[Oldsalt1950]

Dave, I'll give it a try to help you understand what exactly a "yardarm" is. The outer section of a yard we all assume is the yardarm, and we are correct, but to explain a bit better, think of a person standing erect with their arms outstretched. In such a case we can measure what we call arm span, the distance from fingertip to fingertip. In this measurement we have included the shoulders. A yard is broken down the same way, and in just about the same proportions. The center section , some times worked or figured from round to octagonal or slightly bellied would be the distance proportionally from shoulder to shoulder, after that the arm section begins. The arm section of a yard is more tapered or worked to a smaller circumference just like the bones in a human arm get smaller on the way to the wrist.

[John Fox III]

Greetings Dave,

Not sure exactly what era you might be thinking about, or the particular vessel in mind, but, at some point there could be sheaves near the yard ends, and in some cases that small portion of the "arm" might be a bit larger and square. I don't recall the specifics, but know I have seen that type of yardarm in my vast reading and plan inspecting.

 

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[allanyed]

David,

The following from Steel may help, although it is some years after Endeavour.  https://maritime.org/doc/steel/mastplate5.htm  Yard arm is not a term he used, but the details of construction may be useful.  Page 40 of this treatise gives proportional dimensions of all yards as well,  although Lees gives the same information for a lot of different time periods.  https://maritime.org/doc/steel/

Allan

Edited May 24, 2022 by allanyed

[DaveBaxt]

Ok thanks guys for your quick response but unfortunately I am still not getting it other than what I previously stated. Here is a couple of photos which I have taken of Mondfelds book 'Historic ship Models' 

I am not sure if the dates are correct for the above yards but we can see that at an earlier date there is what is clearly a section with a reduced diameter which is the yard arm (3) but at a later date there is a cleat instead of this yard arm. I am therefore assuming for the period I am concerned with ie 1758/61 when working out the length of the yard arm from Lees book ,The masting and rigging of warships' it is the length between the yard arm cleats and the end  of the yard. Thank you once again for your help and please forgive me if I am not be too clear in what I am asking. Best regards Dave

Edited May 24, 2022 by DaveBaxt