MS Armed Virginia Sloop model

[Ed Mostowicz]

Is there any historical precedent for rigging a ship of this type without ratlines? I know ... how do you get to the topsail yard without them.

 

Ed.

[Dr PR]

There were two common ways to get up the mast without rat line. One was to climb the mast hoops - only works when the gaff sail is raised. The other was a bosun's chair - basically a plank in a harness at the bottom of a halyard run through a block at the mast top (or just tie a line around a sailor and haul him up with the halyard).

 

Capelle's books show smaller vessels (less than 40 tons) without ratlines. Larger vessels (40-90 tons) may or may not have them - usually masts with square sails had ratlines, fore-and-aft sail mast did not. The largest vessels (100+ tons) usually had rat lines.

 

The advantage of the fore-and-aft gaff sails is that all the lines can be worked from the deck, and they can be reefed from the deck. Ratlines not needed. But square sails almost always required sailors to go aloft, especially to reef or furl the sails. Ratlines allowed many men to go aloft in a short time.

 

The exception with square sails is that smaller sails (topsails and topgallants on schooners, royals and skysails on large square riggers) could be rigged to the spars on deck and the rigged spar and sail lofted into place quickly. This still might require a man aloft to secure things. But these spars/sails could also be lowered to the deck quickly. So a lot of men aloft weren't needed, nor were ratlines high aloft.

[Ed Mostowicz]

Thank you, Phil. I work it out to be just over 40 tons with one small topsail, so I'm going to leave the ratlines off for now and see what the guys at the next club meeting have to say.

 

Ed.