Nautical terms
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If one were to consider nautical terminology from all regions, and its evolution over time, one would have enough material for several substantial books. Instead, this is a modest presentation, attempting to explain some basic vocabulary. It is a bit like bird watching; if one knows nothing of the details, all birds look the same. During the age of sail anyone living near the coast had sufficient vocabulary to distinguish even subtle varieties of shipping. Hopefully this will make ship-watching more fun.
DISCLAIMER: this is such a vast subject that complete accuracy in a small space is impossible. The basic concepts are generally correct but details change depending on the circumstance. For example a fairlead in the 19th century would be called a shroud-truck in the 18th century.
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Spars
A SPAR is a pole of some sort used to support sails or rigging; it can be a MAST, YARD, BOOM, GAFF, CLUB, SPRIT etc..
Masts
The mast is the most important feature for the identification of sailing vessels. Through most of history up until the end of the nineteenth century vessels usually had one, two or three masts. There were vessels with more, but they were less common.
The MAINMAST is the tallest mast and every sailing vessel has
one. Forward of the mainmast is the FOREMAST and aft of the mainmast is
the MIZZENMAST. The mast, in this sense, is actually a collection of
spars stacked
one on top of the other. For example the lower part of the foremast is
called the foremast; the spar on top of that is the FORE-TOPMAST; on
top of that is the FORE-TOPGALLANT MAST; on top of that is the FORE-ROYAL-MAST;
and on top of that is the FORE-SKYSAIL-MAST, which is more likely to be the same
spar as the fore-royal-mast. Not all vessels have all of these higher
masts.
Yards
Yards
are athwartships horizontal spars which support square sails. They are
named after the sail that is BENT to them. A yard where the fore-topsail
would be bent is a fore-topsail yard. If there are two sails, and,
therefore, two yards on the same
mast, as was common in the late 19th century, they would be the upper or lower
whatever.
Boom & Gaff
A boom is the horizontal spar at the
bottom of a fore-and-aft sail that is not a staysail. The gaff is found at
the top of the same sail at about a 45 degree angle from horizontal. There
is also a jib-boom, which is actually an extension of the bowsprit.
Sprit
The most common form of sprit is the
bowsprit, which is a spar that extends from the bow to give a better angle for
the stays to support the masts. Another less common type of sprit functions like a
gaff, in that it supports the peak of a fore-and-aft sail but does not have the
sail bent to it.
Sails
Sails are either FORE-AND-AFT or SQUARE. Most bigger
vessels had a combination of each. Square sails are more suitable for
going DOWN WIND, while fore-and-aft sails are
better for going UP WIND. Large ocean carriers were
designed to travel with the dependable trade winds and therefore used mostly
square sails, while smaller costal traders needed to be versatile in order to
cope with fickle winds and therefore used mostly fore-and-aft sails.
The yard (and therefore, mast) to which a sail is attached determines the name of the sail. For example the square sail attached to the fore-topmast yard is called the fore-topsail. The partial exception to this is that the square sails and yards on the lower masts on the main and fore are called COURSES. So the sail on the foremast (the lowest of the stack of masts) is called a fore-course. If there is a square sail on the mizzen mast it is called a CROSS-JACK ( pronounced "crojek") as is the lower yard; however a sail on the mizzen-topmast yard is called a mizzen-topsail, as one would expect..
STAYSAILS are three or four sided fore-and-aft sails that are BENT to a STAY. They derive their name from the mast where their stay is attached. So, if a staysail is bent to the fore-topmast stay then the sail is called a fore-topmast staysail. The exception to this is with sails bent to stays attached to the JIB-BOOM, forward of the fore-topmast stay; these are called jibs.
STUDDINGSAILS,
(pronounced stuns'ls), are extra sails that are swayed aloft and set in light to
moderate winds when the vessel will be holding a steady course for a long time
(days). The studdingsail booms are housed on the yard and can be hauled in
or out as needed. There is a small yard attached to the top of the
studdingsail.
Vessel Types
The vessel types are determined by the combination of the masts and sails.
ONE MAST
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A SLOOP has only one mast and may have square sails along with the fore-and-aft sails.
TWO MASTS
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A SCHOONER has a foremast and a mainmast with fore-and-aft sails on both masts.
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A TOPSAIL SCHOONER has a foremast and a mainmast, with fore-and-aft sails on both masts and some square sails on the foremast.
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A KETCH has a mainmast and a mizzenmast.
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A YAWL has a mainmast and a mizzenmast, with the mizzen being a bit smaller than the ketch.
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A BRIG has a foremast and a mainmast with square sails on each.
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A BRIGANTINE has a foremast with square sails and a mainmast with fore-and-aft sails.
THREE MASTS
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A THREE-MASTED SCHOONER has fore, main and mizzen masts with fore-and-aft sails on each mast.
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A THREE-MASTED TOPSAIL SCHOONER has some square sails on the foremast along with the fore-and-aft sails.
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A BARKENTEEN has square sails on the foremast and fore-and-aft sails on the main and mizzen masts.
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A BARK has square sails on the fore and main masts and fore-and-aft sails on the mizzenmast unless it has four or more masts in which case only the aftermost mast is rigged for-and-aft.
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A SHIP has fore, main and mizzen masts with square sails on all the masts.
Rigging
Rigging
is divided into two basic groups, standing and running. Standing rigging
includes stays and shrouds, which are things that hold the masts and bowsprit in
place but are seldom adjusted. Running rigging is everything that is used
during the normal operation of the vessel and includes halyards, sheets, braces,
lifts, clues, tacks, buntlines, etc, etc. The list of running rigging is endless
so only the visually important lines are included here.
STANDING RIGGING
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STAYS support the mast fore-and-aft and frequently have staysails bent to them.
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SHROUDS support the mast athwartships and usually have RATLINES to make them easily climbable.
RUNNING RIGGING
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BRACES are attached to the YARDARMS and are used to move the yards in a horizontal plane.
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LIFTS are attached to the yardarms and can be used to COCKBILL the yards.
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HALYARDS haul yards, gaffs and staysails into position. Sometimes staysail and gaff halyards can be seen in prints but the others cannot.
ROPE VERSES LINE
I have often heard people say that a sailboat has lines, not ropes. Vessels DO have lines BUT "lines" refers to architectural drawings, not to rigging. Rope, on the other hand, is made by rope makers on a ropewalk and comes on spools or in coils and is called rope until it is given a specific task, at which point it gets a name. It may end up being a rope, such as a FOOTROPE or a BOLTROPE, or it may become a line, such as a BUNTLINE or LEACHLINE, but more likely it will be some other thing, such as a SHEET, CLUE, TACK, HALYARD etc. A sheet, for example, is not a sheet-line or sheet-rope but just "sheet" with a bunch of adjectives in front of it, as in starboard mizzen topgallant sheet.