The Ship

In the pictures below, place the mouse over the part of the ship you are interested in to see more information. If you are using Firefox, this will work better in Internet Explorer (IE6).

Overview of the Ship

Place mouse over part of picture that interests you Tristay wire - from the topmast to the mizzen mast Jib Topsail Jib Sail Staysail Bowsprit Life-raft Shrouds (to climb up mast) which are fixed to the stays. Stays are the wires supporting the mast. Bow Stern Port side of ship Chainplates. These secure the wire stays to the hull of the ship. Dinghies. The ship carries two dinghies which can be lowered using a derrick. Danbuoy. In an emergency this holds a lifebelt, light and flag in the event of MOB (man overboard). Deckhouse Scupper - allows water to drain off deck. Ladder. Useful for all sorts of things! Cockpit. This is where the ship is steered from. Not visible, but propellor and rudder. Mizzen boom - holds the bottom of the mizzen sail. Mizzen sail. Mizzen Gaff - this holds the top of the mizzen sail. Mizzen mast Radio and GPS aerials Main boom - holds bottom of mainsail. Main sail Main Gaff - holds the top of the mainsail. Main Gaff Topsail Main mast Topmast Pendennis Castle The Falmouth MRCC (Maritime Rescue and Co-ordination Centre) Anchor winch The Yard - a square-sail can be hoisted below this, and the raffees above. Raffees are smaller triangular sails held between the topmast and the yard. Forestay Bobstay Yard brace. There is more description of the ropework on the next diagram. Yard brace. There is more description of the ropework on the next diagram.

Sails and Sheets

Terminology: Ropes that pull a sail up the mast are called Halliards, and ropes that pull out the corner of a sail are called Sheets. A sail is called a Sail.

Parts of the Sail

The corners and edges all have names, and these are shown on the Headsails picture below.

Headsails (below)

The three headsails (fore to aft these are the Staysail, Jib Sail, and Jib Topsail) are rigged in basically the same way. This picture shows how the Jib sail is rigged. The Staysail in this picture is just about to be hoisted, and the Jib Topsail is not present but would be the forward-most sail (left-most in this picture). All the other sails are ignored in this diagram.

Hover the mouse over the Jib sail to see how it is rigged. This corner is the HEAD This corner is the TACK. It is fixed (unlike the other corners) to a shackle on the Bowsprit. This corner is the CLEW this edge is the FOOT this edge is the LEECH this edge is the LUFF. The Luff must be tight, for the sail to have the best aerodynamic shape, and to prevent it ripping in strong winds. The blue rope is the Jib SHEET. The sheet pulls out the corner (clew) of the sail. The red rope is the Jib HALLIARD. The Halliards pull up the head of the sail. Downhaul. This simply pulls down the head of the sail without needing to walk out onto the Bowsprit. THis sail is the JIB. The bottom end of the HALLIARD is tied off to a pin on the mast. Jib Topsail Halliard (The Job Topsail is not present in this picture). Staysail - about to be hoisted.

 

Main and Mizzen Sails (below)

The Main and Mizzen are almost identical in their setup. The diagram below shows how the Main is rigged.

Hover the mouse over the Mainsail rigging to see how it works. The Mizzen sail is rigged almost identically to the Main. For the headsails, see picture above. MAIN GAFF PEAK HALLIARD. This pulls up the peak (top) end of the Gaff. MAIN GAFF. The top end is the peak, and hte bottom end, on hte mast, is the Throat, because it has a fork that fits around the mast. The Mainsail hangs from the Gaff. MAIN GAFF PEAK HALLIARD. The ropes shown red here will pull up the Peak (top) of the Gaff. MAIN GAFF THROAT HALLIARD (shown in green). This pulls the Throat end of the Gaff up the Mast, and with it the Mainsail. MAIN GAFF THROAT HALLIARD (shown in green). This pulls the Throat end of the Gaff up the Mast, and so with it the Mainsail. TOPPING LIFT. When the sail is not hoisted, this stops the boom falling on your head. TOPPING LIFT (shown in white). When the sail is not hoisted, this stops the boom falling on your head. BOOM. A heavy timber spar, this holds the bottom of the sail. BOOM. A heavy timber spar, this holds the bottom of the sail. MAINSAIL. MAINSAIL. MAINSAIL.

 

Port Bow This picture shows the Yard more clearly. This is the horizontal spar fixed half-way up the Main mast. This can be used to hoist a square-sail, which hangs down from the yard, and two raffees, which are triangular sails above the yard. We didn't think to hoist these sails when we were taking photos, so we'll have to get another picture later...
Sail room Cuddy1 Cuddy 2
The sail room, and beyond, the fore peak.
The cuddy, looking forward.
The cuddy, looking aft to messroom.