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The yards
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The design of the
yards remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years. Small yards
were made of a single length of wood, while longer yards were assembled
and lashed together. One reason for this method of construction was
that timbers sufficiently long, straight and knot-free were difficult
to obtain and another was that they were less susceptible to breakage.
Between 1400 and 1550 yards assembled from square-section timbers were
introduced, initially lashed together with rope wooldings. Around the
same time yard arms began to appear; that is, the extreme ends of the
yard were stepped down to prevent the braces, lifts and clew earings of
the sails sliding inwards. Between 1450 and 1550 the yard
arms of large warships were sometimes fitted with sickle-shaped iron
hooks,
with which attempts could be made to cut down and tear the enemy's
rigging
during close combat. After 1530 wooldings disappeared, and in the late
16th
century wooden cleats were fitted on the front of the lower yards, and
sometimes
on the topsail yards, to prevent the tyes and truss parrels sliding
off.
The yard cleats were made either in one piece or in two halves with a
slot
in the centre. The overall length of the yard cleats was 0,1 to 0,13 X
the
yard length, and the thickness 0,25 X the yard diameter. With the
introduction
of the studding sail the lower and topsail yards were fitted with
studding
sail boom irons. At the same time the yard arms of the topsail yards
were
lengthened considerably. Until that time the yardarms of the spritsail
and
crossjack yards had been 0,05 X the yard length, while the remaining
yard
arms had been 0,04 X that length; they were often round in section. Now
all
the yard arms were eight-sided in section, and the yard arms of the
topsail
yards were extended to 0,08 X the yard length with the introduction of
reefs;
they were also fitted with a sheave for the reef tackle. Around 1730 an
octagonal
battening was introduced in the centre of the yard. In the 19th century
the
yard cleats were discontinued.
The yards are made in the same way as the masts
and topmasts; all the metal fittings are blackened.
The foot ropes
The foot ropes are strong ropes which led along the yard about 30ins
below it, and provided the crew with a foot rest when reefing the
sails. The foot ropes of the lower yards were about 3ins circumference.
Footropes came into use on the lower yards after 1640, on the topsail
yards after 1680, and on the remaining yards around 1700, with the
exception of the crossjack
yard, and also all the lateen yards and gaffs. A spliced eye in one end
was fitted over the yard arm with the other end made fast behind the
mast
cleat on the other side of the mast, so that the two ropes crossed over
at the mast. In the 18th century it became standard in some areas to
fix
the foot ropes at the centre of the yard, without crossing them over.
Small
foot ropes were also attached to the extreme ends of the yard, known as
the "Flemish horses". The foot ropes hung behind the yard, and were
held by vertical ropes known as stirrups.
The jackstay
1830 saw the introduction of ropes which ran along the yard through
a series of ring bolts, and were attached to the yard arms with an eye
splice and to the centre with a lanyard. These ropes, the jackstays,
were
those to which the sails were bent. Initially hemp ropes were used,
then
steel wire ropes, and from 1835-1840 metal rods.
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