On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 18:59:22 +0100, Yvon
wrote:

Wayne.B a écrit :

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 15:28:10 +0100, Yvon
wrote:
What is a spinnaker gallow ?

I found that in the following sentence :
Spinnaker gallow is permitted with a single halyard.

=========================================

Are you sure they didn't mean to say "boom gallow" ?

A boom gallow as you may know is rack for the boom to rest in when the
main sail is lowered. I have never heard of a spinnaker gallow and
can not imagine a function for one.

Thanks.
It might be a spinnaker pole gallow, used on some of these boats
(Aphrodite 101) to store the pole alongside the boom.

Possibly, but in English the term is usually plural, as in "boom
gallows", the gallows being the device from which people were once
strangled after the conclusion of criminal proceedings.

A "boom gallows" is also known as a "boom crutch" and is usually the
place to safely lash the main boom when in harbour or during extreme
weather.

It is conceivable that a "spinnaker gallows" means the deck level
place where the spinnaker pole is secured, frequently with one end in
a small "hood" and the other snapped into a deck fitting. The
"gallows" in this case would be any part of those fittings that kept
the pole clear of the deck itself, so that it didn't foul lines or
trap water.

As a spinnaker pole can be consider a "spar" and "gallows" were used
to secure spars in sailing vessels in a similar place on deck, this is
logical. See The Oxford Book of Ships and the Sea for this
description.

Some people lash the spinnaker and/or the whisker pole to the front of
the mast on a sloop. If you had only one halyard here, that would be
difficult to handle; perhaps this the origin of your term.

R.