Cutty Sark mizzen pin rail belaying pins and mizzen halliards

[Bruma]

Hello everyone, 

Do you know what lines are supposed to be belayed on the pin rail of the mizzen mast? 

I’m referring to this one:

Looking at the Campbell’s plans I can only see the spanker outhaul, but it seems strange to have an entire pin rail on both sides just for one line. 

On the other hand, I can't figure out where to belay the mizzen halliards. 

Are they supposed to be belayed on the pin rail?

If not, do you know where to belay them? I can’t find useful information on Longridge and on Masting and rigging…

Thank you for your help! 

[Bruma]

Ok, sorry, I completely forgot the main braces! They are belayed to the mizzen pin rail.

Still, I can’t understand where to belay the mizzen halliard… They are asymmetrical, and  the only pin available are the one on the pin rail, can anyone confirm this assumption?

Thank you again!

[Dr PR]

One of the best - if not THE best - sources of information about clipper ship rigging is Harold A. Underhill's Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier (Brown, Son and Ferguson, Ltd., Glasgow, 1972). It has detailed descriptions and illustrations of all parts of the rigging, including complete rigging and belaying plans for a clipper ship. It is an excellent reference with a great index of about 1500 entries for just about everything he describes.

[Bruma]

Thank you Phil for taking the time to answer my question. 

I have Masting and rigging from Underhill, it is indeed a great resource, but it shows the general rules and, at least in this case, I think that cannot be applied to the Cutty Sark. 

Here is the plan from Underhill:

 

 

All the three halliard are clearly located, but on the Cutty Sark there are no pins in this location. Not in the Revell model, as you can see here from my model:

 

 

 

And, most notably, not in Campbell's plans, as can be seen from the image posted in the first post.

Only the standing part is indicated, with the eyebolt for the purchase line, but not the "free side" of the line and the respective pin.

 

The only pins available are the one on the shrouds (already busy) and the one on the pin rail.

 

 

Edited April 21 by Bruma

[popeye2sea]

To be honest, I don't see the problem. The photo of your model is a bit out of focus there but it looks like there are 8 pins in the shear pole and another 9 in the pin rail spanning the entire gang of shrouds and backstays.  That is exactly the call out in Underhill for all of the lines that belay here including the mizzen upper topsail, mizzen lower topgallant, mizzen upper topgallant, and mizzen royal halliards.

 

Your spanker outhauls should belay on the monkey rail at the base of the mizzen. There is no mizzen halliard. The crojack yard is fixed, as is the mizzen lower topsail.

 

Regards,

Henry

Edited April 21 by popeye2sea

[Dr PR]

Bruma,

 

There was no hard fast rule where any particular line free end (running end) was belayed. But there are some general suggestions for all lines.

 

1. If a line descends from a position near the mast it should belay close to the bottom of the mast (fife rail, pin collar, cleats, etc.).

 

2. If a line originates from a position near the end of a yard (yard arm) it should belay to a point on or near the bulwark (pin rail, cleat, etc.).

 

3. Lines coming from positions lower down in the rigging belay to positions forward on fife rails, pin rails, etc.

 

4. Lines from positions higher up in the rigging belay to points farther aft.

 

Of course, rules are made to be broken and it was common on ships with lots of sails (like clippers) for some lines originating higher up near the masts (for topgallants and royals) to be lead outboard through thimbles on the shrouds and then down to pinrails at the bulwarks.

 

5. There was one rule that must never be violated - all lines will be routed so they don't tangle with other lines or parts of the rigging.

 

One other thing - sometimes two lines were belayed to the same pin. For example, when a sail is fully set flying the bunt lines and clue lines are slack with no strain. They are both used at the same time when the sail is being pulled up for furling. Then when the sail is furled to the yard they are slack again. So these lines can be belayed on a single pin (port and starboard).

 

I wish I could be more specific for the Cutty Sark (I am pretty sure I built a plastic model of that ship when I was a kid). This is all complicated enough on a small vessel like the topsail schooner I am modelling. You are working on a ship with more sails than the laundry at a hospital on wash day! There are many more lines, and therefore, more opportunities for fouling the lines. Study the ways Campbell and Underhill routed the lines and do your best to rig your model in a similar way. When you are finished, if everything runs free without fouling you will have done it right!

Edited April 22 by Dr PR

[Bruma]

Thank you both for helping me out! 

It seems you agreed that the separated pin rail solution is the right one, I just wanted to be sure, thank again!

 

 

13 hours ago, popeye2sea said:

To be honest, I don't see the problem. The photo of your model is a bit out of focus there but it looks like there are 8 pins in the shear pole and another 9 in the pin rail spanning the entire gang of shrouds and backstays.  That is exactly the call out in Underhill for all of the lines that belay here including the mizzen upper topsail, mizzen lower topgallant, mizzen upper topgallant, and mizzen royal halliards.

 

Your spanker outhauls should belay on the monkey rail at the base of the mizzen. There is no mizzen halliard. The crojack yard is fixed, as is the mizzen lower topsail.

 

Regards,

Henry

 

Ok, my doubt was that Underhill doesn't mention the separated pin rail, but he shows the pins aligned with the deadeyes. 

The question was if it’s ok to use the separated pin rail. Thank you!