Reef line length...

[Jsk]

Was there any sort of standard length for reef lines? Frankly, I don't have a good feel for how long they should be. I understand that the lines further up the sail would be longer than those lower down because they needed to encompass a greater amount of reefed sail. But having never reefed a sail I really don't know how long the lines should be.

 

If all else fails I'll just go with what looks right according to other models I've seen.

 

TIA

--jeff

[popeye2sea]

Falconers Dictionary of the Marine notes that reef points are nearly double the circumference of the yard. That is the total length of the reef point, half lying before the sail and the other half aft.

 

Regards,

 

Henry

[Jsk]

Perfect. Thank you!

[Bob Cleek]

 

12 hours ago, Jsk said:

I understand that the lines further up the sail would be longer than those lower down because they needed to encompass a greater amount of reefed sail.

You might want to reconsider the above.  In practice, it appears that reef points on any given sail would all be of the same length in any event.

 

The "rule of thumb" from Falconer's above sounds right, but here again the maxim, "Different ships, different long splices." applies. The reef points need to be long enough to conveniently encircle the mass of gathered canvas in the sail to be secured. Therefore, the size of the sail is the determining factor. In different periods, the common square sail sizes varied. In later times, particularly with merchant vessels, the size of the sails was reduced to permit easier handling and, thus, smaller crews, which meant more profit in the operation of the vessel. Obviously, a longer square sail will require longer reef points than a sail that's half as long. Naval vessels would furl sails very tightly such that the sail gathered and tied on the spar would not exceed the diameter of the spar. On the other hand, a merchant vessel would characteristically be less fastidiously maintained, and sails might be furled less tightly, if not just making a sloppy job of it sufficient only to get the canvas under control and out of the way and so might have longer reef points. 

 

Not to make you crazy or anything, but depending upon the scale you're working in and the level of detail you are depicting, note also that reef "points" were so called because they were "pointed" by working a taper into their ends. There were general standards for the length of the reef points. (Note the term "reef points" references the pointed shape of these lines. It does not have anything to do with the gromets worked into the sail through which reef points are passed, as is modernly a commonly heard misuse of the term.) A bit of research in the appropriate sources for the period of your model will answer your questions much more specifically. For example, see "Steele's" for both the Admiralty and merchant marine practice circa 1794: https://maritime.org/doc/steel/large/pg148.php  There you will also see the number of gaskets that are required for each rate of ship (by the number of guns) to tie the completely furled sail to the yard. Illustrations are also provided. 

 

For example, excerpts from Steele's:

 

GASKETS. Braided cordage used to confine the sail to the yard, when furled, &c. ARM-GASKETS; those gaskets used at the extremities of yards. BUNT-GASKETS are those used in the middle of yards. QUARTER-GASKETS; those used between the middle and extremities of the yards.

 

GASKETS are made with three-yarn foxes. Those for large ships consist of nine foxes, and those for smaller of seven. Place four foxes together, but lay them of unequal lengths; mark the middle of the whole length, and plait four foxes together, for eight or nine inches; then double it and plait the eight parts together for five inches, and work in the odd fox. The whole is then plaited together for eighteen inches in length; then leave out one fox, and so keep lessening, one fox at a time, till you come to five. If the foxes work out too fast, others must supply their places, till the whole length is worked, which is from five to seven fathoms long. To secure the ends, make a bight, by turning upwards one of the foxes, and plait the others through the bight, then haul tight upon that laid up.

(Obviously, few modelers will actually plait their reef points as described by Steele, but an understanding of the full-scale practice better enables the modeler to depict such detail as they may wish secure in the knowledge of what it's supposed to look like.)

 

POINTS, short pieces of braided cordage, plaited together as gaskets are; beginning in the middle with nine foxes, and tapering to five at the ends, and from one fathom and a half to one fathom in length. They are used to reef the courses and topsails.

 

ROPEBANDS differ from gaskets only in their length, being from seven to nine feet long.

 

POINTING. Tapering the end of a rope, or splice, and working over the reduced part a small close netting, with an even number of knittles twisted from the same, to prevent the end untwisting, and to go more easily through a block or hole.

 

REEF. That portion of a sail contained between the head or foot, and a row of eyelet-holes parallel thereto, which portion is taken up to reduce the surface of the sail when the wind increases. Sails, according to their sizes, have from one to four reefs. A BAG-REEF is the fourth, or lower, reef of a topsail. A BALANCE-REEF crosses boom-mainsails diagonally, from the nock to the end of the upper reef-band on the after-leech.

 

 

When modeling, the best approach is to experiment with a sample of the sail material you'll be using and simply measure how much line it takes to tie the reef lines and let that be your guide for the length of reef lines and gaskets. Many will reduce the model's sail size in order to more easily depict a tightly secured sail on the spar, in which case a similarly sized sail sample will yield the proper length of reef line or gasket needed.

Edited April 24 by Bob Cleek

[Jsk]

Thanks, Bob.

 

I suspect there is no term in the entire maritime lexicon that has a single, simple meaning. I think I'll forego actually pointing the reef points since I'm working at 1/72 scale.

 

On 4/24/2024 at 4:40 AM, Bob Cleek said:

(Note the term "reef points" references the pointed shape of these lines. It does not have anything to do with the gromets worked into the sail through which reef points are passed, as is modernly a commonly heard misuse of the term.)

Thank you for this^^ I was confused about this because most of what I've seen on-line do indeed misuse the term.

 

--jeff

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  'Searched gaskets, presumably as they were used in 19th c. square riggers, and found:

 

In sailing, gaskets are lengths of rope or fabric used for reefing a sail, or hold a stowed sail in place. In modern use, the term is usually restricted to square-rigged ships, the equivalent items on yachts being referred to by the more prosaic "sail ties".

On most ships, gaskets are made of rope. They are attached to the top of the yard and, left loose, would hang behind the sail. Gaskets should never be left dangling, however, so when the sail is set they are brought around underneath the yard and up the back of it and then tied to the jackstay (metal rod) where they originated.