"Brian Louisos" wrote in message
om...
Hi, I'm a complete newcomer to anything sailing related, maybe someone
can answer my question. On a large ship, say an 17-18th century 3
masted marine vessel, I've seen in pictures and movies, that the sails
will rotate relative to the ship to face the wind at the desired
angle. My question is what causes this rotation. I first thought that
it happened naturally, but no, there has to be a way to control it.
Are the entire masts themselves rotated? perhaps just the cross-beams
(sorry I don't know the proper term) are re-angled? Is their a typical
arrangement or do they vary? is this done with ropes, or maybe levers?
thanks for any help.
-bl

Go sailing yourself and find out - No experience necessary! www.jst.org.uk

The process is described as "bracing the yards". The cross-beams to which
the sails are attached are the "yards" and each has a rope known as a
"brace" attached to each end. These come down to the deck (via various
pulley blocks) and the ship's crew haul them tight on one side whilst paying
them out under control on the other. Marks on the brace being paid out tell
the crew when they have gone far enough. There's a certain amount of
practice required to get all the yards moving together by the same amount.
If you are lucky, you get to haul the brace of the smallest, highest yard
(the Royal). The Course yard (bottom one) is damned hard work. The yards
pivot about the mast (and can also, usually, be raised and lowered) - the
mast itself can not rotate as it has fixed ropes (stays and shrouds) holding
it upright.

Duncan