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11. THE STANDING RIGGING

Standing Rigging Defined and Described—Methods adopted in Rigging the "Royal Albert"—Explan­ation of Details and Fittings involved and their Uses described.

Rigging is a word applied in a colloquial manner to the  whole system of ropes which support the masts, move the yards and spars, handle the sails, and so forth. To the uniniti­ated it seems that any tangle of cords on a model would do to represent this rigging, it all seems so very complicated and involved as to be beyond the powers of any ordinary person to comprehend. This, however, is a misconception because the whole of the rigging of a ship has been slowly evolved through centuries of experience, and by custom has become more or less standardised. For all purposes of a representative scale model such as the Royal Albert the adoption of the customary system of rigging in a simplified form is sufficient; it is quite different, however, when every detail has to be modelled with the greatest historical accuracy. Then it is that one finds there are hundreds of differences in detail, in method and arrangement, some of them national in character others associated with time or the chronological development of rigging. It is quite beyond the scope of this book to even touch upon the evolution of rigging or the distinguishing features of representative periods in shipcraft. Those who are—or may become interested—will find much information available, but the wheat has to be well sifted from a mass of chaff, and considerable discrimination exercised to determine what was the real practice on old-time ships of any particular period.

The whole of the rigging shown on the drawings of Royal Albert is based on the most reliable data available for a ship of the period; the drawings show practically every rope in use, but the photographs of Royal Albert depict the model with simplified rigging, many of the less important ropes being omitted.

Any such omissions are purely a matter for personal inclination; those represented on the model are sufficient to impart a seamanlike appearance and are substantially correct in arrangement and disposition. The others can be added on similar lines by the methods which will be described later. Similarly with the sails and the lesser ropes which are employed in conjunction with them, they can be added in toto or in part, or completely omitted as desired; alternatively the model can be built and rigged to the state shown in the photographs, and the lesser rigging added later on as time and circumstances dictate.

As an indication of the importance and variety of the rigging and the minutiae of the detail that can be represented, readers should consult a book entitled The Rigging of Ships in the Bays of the Spritsail Topmast, published at 25s. by the Marine Research Society of Salem, Mass., and most ably written by Mr. R. C. Anderson. This work comprises some 278 pages and over 360 illustrations, and is devoted entirely to the rigging of ships during the period 1600-1720. It is mentioned here to emphasize the amount of detail that can be represented and the many little differences that distinguish ship from ship, and some national characteristics of old-time ships and their rigging.

The novice need not be appalled by all this detail work on ship models; a really creditable result can be obtained by simple direct methods which—as the photographs of the completed model indicate—result in a pleasing example of ship modelling.

The term "standing" rigging is given specifically to all those ropes which can be considered as fixtures, those which support and steady the masts and so forth; but a definite line of demarkation is difficult to fix with absolute certainty; it is, however, of no importance from the point of view of the model maker.

The most important items of the standing rigging are the shrouds which support the masts sideways and backwards; and stays which support them forwards.

Tackles were fitted inside the shrouds and when in position did their share in assisting the shrouds. There are inde­pendent sets of shrouds devoted to each mast, the lower shrouds are led to the channels on the outside of the ship.

The topmast shrouds are fastened at their lower ends to the "tops" and the pull is transmitted to the lower mast and shrouds by the futtock shrouds. A similar disposition is made with the topgallant shrouds.

The shrouds consist of a group of ropes placed a little way apart and they incline backwards somewhat from the mast. They are usually joined together by light ropes called ratlines, which help to spread the strain uniformly, but are chiefly used to enable the crew to go aloft to attend to the sails and the handling of the ship.

The standing rigging as a whole has to be set up or tight­ened sufficiently, which is usually done with dead-eyes and a lanyard. Stays in general connect from the upper part of a mast to a forward part of the ship; lower stays to the hull, and upper stays to the tops or masthead.

Most of the standing rigging was made with a rope classi­fied as "cable-laid," and was, strictly speaking, composed of three hawser-laid ropes laid up together left-handed. For a good model the rigging should therefore be composed of left-handed laid cordage, but for the representative model a soft-plaited line is more easily handled. Small "laid" cords have a persistent tendency to twist and tangle, which can be restrained to some extent by rubbing them with beeswax.

The relative thickness of the standing rigging are given by R. C. Anderson as follows—

"Main stay one sixth the diameter of the mainmast; fore-stay four-fifths of the main stay; main topmast stay, one half the main stay; fore topmast and mizen stays, two fifths the diameter of the main stay; mizen topmast and topgallant stays, one fifth the diameter of the main stay.

"The main shrouds should be half the diameter of the main stay; fore shrouds, two fifths; and mizen shrouds, one quarter the diameter of the main stay; main topmast shrouds, one quarter; fore topmast shrouds, one fifth; and the top-gallant shrouds, one sixth of (he diameter of the main stay."

Fig. 146. Setting up the Standing Rigging on Royal Albert.

The positions of these shrouds and stays are clearly shown on various drawings and photographs particularly on plate No. 4 and in fig. 146 where the Royal Albert is shown with many of the shrouds and stays in position, and the mizen shrouds being set up to their channels.

Fig.  147. Determining Length of Lower Shrouds.

Some difference of opinion exists as to the best order of procedure for the rigging of an old-time ship model; some advocate an adherence to full-size practice and commence by rigging the bowsprit; others believe that the major part of the masts can be rigged before the bowsprit, and thus keep the model as compact as possible for the greatest length of time. Certainly it is an advantage to be free from the anxiety of collisions with the protruding bowsprit, and the author therefore adopted the latter procedure and commenced the rigging of Royal Albert by setting up the principal stays and shrouds to the masts, and rigging the bowsprit afterwards.

The sequence of operations on the standing rigging, as adopted when building Royal Albert, were as follows:—First step the masts, make and place the topmast shrouds and futtock stays, make and fix lower shrouds and main and mizen stays. Fix ratlines to lower shrouds. Rig and fix the bowsprit, gammoning and forestays; add the crowsfeet and sundry details.

When the masts have been stepped the length for the lower shrouds can be ascertained as shown in fig. 147, for which purpose a piece of round hardwood is held by wires a little above the line for the dead-eyes on the ends of the shrouds. Next loop the fore and after pairs of shrouds around the mast so that they pass through the large hole in the tops; and tie their lower ends around the wooden rod.

Cut off the surplus cord on one side only and proceed to fix a dead-eye to each shroud. This is most readily accom­plished by putting a trace of adhesive on the shroud and turning it around the outer edge of the dead-eye. The correct way is to form an eye on the shroud end, slip the long part through the eye and tighten this loop around the dead-eye. Prepare all the pairs of shrouds in this way and keep them in groups until they are wanted.

The topmast shrouds are,made on a system fully described in the author's companion book, Haw to Make Clipper Ship Models. Briefly, the method is to draw an outline of the shrouds on a narrow strip of card, wind the cord for the shrouds around it, following the pencil lines on the card. Then wind a cotton around the card in a direction at right angles to the fore shroud, to represent the ratlines. Raise the cords off the card by placing strips of thin wood under them at each end and brush the whole with dilute adhesive. When dry clip off the surplus ends, attach a dead-eye to each shroud end and put them in place as  shown   in   fig.  148.

The dead-eyes are connected by a cotton to represent the lanyard and this should pass three times through the upper and lower dead-eyes; they are drawn together by pulling on the ends of the lanyards and when tight enough the ends are turned around the other part, tied together, and the surplus cut off.

Fig. 148. Topmast Shrouds.and Dead-eyes with Futtock Shrouds.

The lower shrouds are then placed in position, the lanyards put through the dead-eyes and the whole adjusted nicely. The mizen stay is then placed and is adjusted with a lanyard as shown in fig. 149, and in detail on the working drawings plate No. 4.

Futtock shrouds are represented by the ends of the cords attached to the lower dead-eyes on the tops, and after they have been adjusted the lower ends are brought down to the futtock staff or a narrow strip of wood gummed to the lower shrouds.

Fig.  149.  Setting up the Mizen Stay.

Fig.  150. Making the Ratlines.

The ends of the futtock shrouds are gummed under this strip and between the shrouds, the surplus being sub­sequently cut off with sharp scissors. The work at about this stage is shown in fig. 150, which also indicates how the ratlines are made.

Fig. 151. Adjusting the Main Topmast Shrouds.

By this method a long cotton is used and is pressed against the previously gummed outer face of the shrouds. The cotton is looped at the turn and is very quickly and easily adjusted. After the gum is dry the surplus is cut off with scissors. The proper way is far more arduous and takes an immense time.

When the lower shrouds are fixed, adjust the topmast shrouds by passing the bundles of cords between the masts and drawing them up as shown in fig. 151, fixing them with adhesive and cutting off the surplus.

Details of the main shrouds, futtock shrouds and main topmast shrouds are clearly shown in fig. 152 and also a method of setting up the mainstay.    In this case a pendant from the masthead has an eye at the end, the mainstay has a similar eye, and the two are drawn together by a cotton lanyard.

Fig.  152. Rigging Details showing Mode of Setting up the Mainstay.

This in practice allows of a nice adjustment, and should anything go amiss it is an easy matter to replace the lanyard.

The rigging of the sprit mast is effected in a similar manner to the topmasts and the bulk of it can be carried out before the bowsprit is stepped, the work on these pieces being shown in fig. 153, which should convey an adequate idea of what has to be done. The bowsprit is then stepped and the gammonings drawn up tightly and secured by turning the ends around the main part and making them fast.

Fig. 153. Preliminary Rigging of Spritmast.

The various forestays are then fitted; they loop around the bowsprit and are set up with eyes and lanyards as before mentioned, and clearly shown on the drawings and in fig. 154, where the doubled end of the stay is shown in the act of being "seized"; that, is the two parts are being bound together withcotton. This illustration shows the bob-stays in place and the manner in which they are attached. Reference to the illustrations will reveal a number of triangular shaped groups of cords connected at one end to a mast or spar and at the other to a stay; these are known as crowsfeet and can be represented quite easily on Royal Albert by means of stout cotton fitted into place by sewing through the stay as .shown in fig. 155.

Fig.  154.  Seizing a Forestay.

A number of illustrations in the following chapter on "Running Rigging" give details which show both the standing and. running rigging. Readers should consult these illus­trations and also refer to the details of methods of attachment of ropes, use of blocks and tackles and the like, as practically speaking the detail work of rigging, the making of knots, splices, eyes and so forth are the same, no matter on what part of the model they may be required.

Limitations of space in this book prohibit instructions for the work on each rope, nor is it necessary to do so as readers will find in practice that it is far easier to follow the drawings than to attempt to place a rope according to written instructions.

Fig. 155. Making the Crowsfoot Attachment.

In the whole of the matter on "Rigging," simple non­technical language has been used as far as possible, in view of the purpose of this book. Those with a more intimate knowledge of ship craft and rigging might bear this in mind, and also the fact that simple direct methods are most applicable to the novice building his first model of an old-time ship.

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