Staghound 1850 by rwiederrich - 1/96 - Extreme Clipper

[rwiederrich]

Sorry my friend, but there are only 4 yards per mast in this painting.

Only 2 sails on the fore mast...one on the main and one on the mizzen.

Some tricky re-rigging of her topsail to reduce its overall exposure, by clewing up her reef tackle.  This trick exposes the sail to extreme stress on the reef points on the edge of the sails and doesn't provide proper support along the length of the head of the sail at the yards jackstays.  Looks like 2 sails but is only one.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

I hope everyone is understanding the process of furling and reefing the topsail ?

The reef tackle is located on the side of the sail..bout midway.  These lines are pulled in and the sail is then partially furled up to the yard.  The head of the sail fall forward and is blocked by the mid reefing of the lower part of the sail.  As seen on the foremast, mainmast, mizzen topsails

This process was the precursor of the process of cutting the sail....the process that the Forbes and Howes double topsail designs accomplished.  

So prior to these advances....the single topsail was clewed up by the reef tackle to the yard, the sail is bent to.....permitting the top half of the sail to fall forward and reduce its effectiveness.

Then the crew furled the rest of the sail to the yard.

 

Rob

[Rick310]

Agree Rob,

Her topsail yards have been lowered to the lowest reef points, her reef tackles are pulled in tight and the billowing part of the topsail will be furled on top of the yard.  The crew is in the process of furling the topsails.  To furl the topsail, the yard has to be lowered first, therefore the billowing sails.

What a great picture!!!

Rick

[ClipperFan]

1 hour ago, rwiederrich said:

Sorry my friend, but there are only 4 yards per mast in this painting.

Only 2 sails on the fore mast...one on the main and one on the mizzen.

Some tricky re-rigging of her topsail to reduce its overall exposure, by clewing up her reef tackle.  This trick exposes the sail to extreme stress on the reef points on the edge of the sails and doesn't provide proper support along the length of the head of the sail at the yards jackstays.  Looks like 2 sails but is only one.

 

Rob

Rob,

So that means all 3 skysail yards have already been sent down. Huge billowing portions are in reality upper halves of large single topsails. I could have sworn those were two seperate sails with the t'gallant yardarm hidden on top of the already reefed topsail below. 

This heightens dramatic impact of this scene, as you said this type of action really stresses out sails. 

Correct me again if I'm wrong. Isn't usual reefing procedure to pull up the sail from the bottom and reef it at several different reef points as conditions require?

[rwiederrich]

1 hour ago, ClipperFan said:

Correct me again if I'm wrong. Isn't usual reefing procedure to pull up the sail from the bottom and reef it at several different reef points as conditions require?

If you are simply furling the sail.....but these fellows are not furling just yet.  They need to get the large topsails unproductive.  And that means, pulling up the reef tackle and the sail, half way and, dropping the yard to impede its ability.  (This is done simultaneously). This causes the top half of the sail to fall over the bottom half.  Reducing its size. This action is done quickly, so strong gusts don't rip down the masting that is overloaded.  Once the sails size is reduced(hence) its force...then the entire sail was pulled up and furled to the yard.  It was a dangerous and arduous adventure, and it took a lot of men. This problem is exactly why they invented the *double* topsails.

 

Rob

Edited Wednesday at 07:55 PM by rwiederrich

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Another detail I've just noticed in the dramatic artwork (as my attention was drawn elsewhere in the painting) ...  The sails that have already been furled have the mouse ears clewed to the mast in 'Navy fashion' ... very interesting.  Commercial ships often have the 'ears' positioned near the ends of the yards.  But ships can be rigged however the Captain prefers, so this one might have been a Navy man.

[Rick310]

Rich, to raise the topsail for furllng, would necessarily mean having to loosen the chain sheets of the topsail first before the sail could be raised.  Much simpler and faster to lower the topsail yard first so the reef points could be drawn up to the yard by the reef tackle and then furl the sail.

Rick

[rwiederrich]

Regardless of what action came first…… this rendering shows the precarious situation the crew was forced to be in, when they had to rapidly shorten the huge topsail.  The action and motion of the act is dramatically captured in this Buttersworth painting.  
 

Im now more convinced ,than ever,  this is the sail presentation I’m going to model my Staghound in.  
 

Rob

[ClipperFan]

6 hours ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

  Another detail I've just noticed in the dramatic artwork (as my attention was drawn elsewhere in the painting) ...  The sails that have already been furled have the mouse ears clewed to the mast in 'Navy fashion' ... very interesting.  Commercial ships often have the 'ears' positioned near the ends of the yards.  But ships can be rigged however the Captain prefers, so this one might have been a Navy man.

@Snug Harbor Johnny

your comment about the captain of the Stag Hound being a Navy man due to the inner dog ears of tightly furled sails in the Buttersworth piece raised my curiosity. I learned that Cape Cod captain Josiah Richardson was her first commander. I haven't discovered who her following captains were yet to see if one actually had a Navy background. Captain Josiah Richardson was a lifelong sailor but didn't participate in the Navy. From the little I've read, he was a genuinely nice guy and selfless talent. This is a nice biography on him from Autumn 1995 Sea History magazine. If anyone can find a color reproduction of the beautiful Charles R Patterson Stag Hound portrait, I'd love to see it!

[ClipperFan]

Rob,

Here's my mostly finished fore fo'c'stle bulkhead fascia. Getting the arches cleanly sketched free hand is frustrating. I should really use french curves before these could be considered ready for publication. When you consider how radically different this concept is to the standard open faced "stuffed" windlass underneath, I suspect this idea will generate quite a few discussions. Yet, this look is how I and Rob see Donald McKay's treatment for any of his clippers with a low main rail forecastle deck height. That includes obviously Stag Hound, Flying Cloud, Flying Fish and many others. Considering that, before he jumped into the California Clipper ships, McKay had extensive experience building Atlantic Packet ships, it probably shouldn't come as a surprise that he knew how to create living areas in challenging spaces. 

This completely alternative concept is based on evaluating facts described by Duncan McLean and our discussions on windlass placement. Once it's accepted that an 1850 Emerson-Walters complex iron geared design was the "patented" version mentioned by McLean it sets up an investigation. Where do you mount such a heavier device? Top-heavy items are anathema to sailing ships. Just ask the crew of the Vasa. That necessitates relocating it below. Another advantage of such a choice is protecting the device from the elements. In addition, by dropping down just 3 feet, it now creates a lofty 8 foot high accomodation for one watch of the crew.

According to McLean's Flying Fish description, this area was not only of a generous height, but it was well lit and ventilated too. So, there would have had to been windows in that ship's even lower 4.5 foot high forecastle bulkhead. And, again others have disagreed with this interpretation but it makes sense to me. Twin waterclosets are before the companions. Placing these just forward of the ladders to below just makes pragmatic sense. It meets all criteria of the Boston Daily Atlas description. Besides which, in Stag Hound down below is exactly where twin WCs are placed for use of the captain and all ranking officers.

While these windows are on full display, I imagine there were probably protective storm shutters for bad weather.

Companions are in the forecastle wings. I see these as having twin folding doors which both open simultaneously and have a sliding hatch above. Twin ladders could be mounted in front of the two molded areas so as not to block window views. Since there are no photos of these wonderful ships, almost all of this has to be conceptual. We are all doing our best to realize the most authentic appearance of Stag Hound based upon the best evidence we can uncover.