Fore Topsail Halliards and Backstays in 16th and Early 17th Century Ships

Abstract

The author seeks to refute the assertion by ‘several well-known authorities’ that the fore topsail halliards in Elizabethan ships were led aft, via purchase and crowfeet, to the mainstay and only then down to the deck. He postulates rather that the arrangement shown in contemporary pictures in fact represents a fore topmast backstay attached directly to the mainstay.

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Filed under: Tudors | English Channel
Subjects include: Ship Handling & Seamanship | Shipbuilding & Design