Nomenclature question...

[braol]

...so I'm working on my new wooden gaff 'boom' and reading through some old books about square-rigger standing and running rigging. I noticed that those ships had sheets and braces. The sheets (usually only on the courses) simply pulled the sail corners down and could provide a little trim. The braces, on the other hand, turned the yards about the horizontal plane. So my question is why do we call the sheet in our Bermudian sloops a sheet and not a brace?
I'm thinking that on old boomless, fore-and-aft rigged boats, the line connected directly to the clew would technically be a sheet...such as it is on a jib. It's just interesting that it carried on the name even after a boom was added. Just tradition I guess???

While I'm at it, what we call an outhaul and a downhaul is really a sheet...and a boom preventer is really a tack. Taking it one step further, a traveller is really just a sort of inboard boomkin on a track????

This is really fun!!!

 

[topcat0399]

LOL

A brace attaches to yard at the Top corner of the sail so its not a sheet.
A sheet attaches to a lower corner of a sail so its not a brace.
A gaff attaches a sail at the sails top so its not a boom.
A boom attaches a sail on the bottom so its not a gaff.
A yard crosses a mast so its not a boom.
A boom sticks out from something and swings at one end so its not a yard.
An out-haul pulls something along so its not a sheet.
A down-haul is opposed to something such as a halliard so its also not a sheet.
A preventer is a more modern contrivance so I don't believe you would find any on a square rigger.

Its all about the function of the line or device.

Then again I could be all wet.

 

[braol]

I think it's great that sailing words are a whole language unto themselves. I would argue that a sheet isn't really a sheet, as it attaches to the lower corner of the boom and not to the sail itself....maybe a whole other word is required???

I guess the gaff should maybe be called a gaff yard? An old 18th century book of mine refers to it as a derrick...but it is a bit unclear if they mean the tackle attached to the gaff or just the gaff itself. I also find it interesting that the vang on a gaff is attached to the head on the aft end of the gaff, whereas the vang on a Bermudian is attached to the boom. I remember this being all a source of confusion for me when I crewed on the Star of India back in San Diego.

Hey, any boat landings on Lake Petenwell that could accomodate the launching of a 27' fin-keeled boat??? That's just north of my parents' house on Lake Wisconsin. (Lake Wis. is way too shallow for any kind of sailboat, except maybe a swing-keeled day sailor.)

 

[cephius (Dave)]

Even on square rigged ships there were jibs and stay sails. The line attached to the clew used to control the angle of these sails were called sheets also.

The English speaking sailors of that time chose to call the line controlling the main sail on small fore/aft rigged boats the mainsheet. I'm happy to accept their authority for running rigging names.

 

[topcat0399]

Tried changing "sheet" to "pillow case" around here but hasn't caught on just yet.
Then again when I was in Germany in 1986 I changed "nein" to "eleven" just for fun and that's finally coming around I think...

The colorful lingo of the sea runs all through everyday English language. It is indeed marvelous. I have studied ships of all kinds since I was a small child, built and rigged hundreds of models, but have never had the opportunity to sail aboard something real and so wonderful as a square rigger. Someday when I grow up perhaps. Bucket List!

Anyway if you are serious about sailing Petenwell I can put together some links and maps for you if you like. We have a swing keel and good knowledge of the waters so we don't get into too much trouble anymore. Depth runs from inches to 40 feet. We never overnight in any of the county parks or the sole marina - always anchor out. We launch from a shallow rustic one horse ramp on the southwest side owned by the power company. There are a few boats your size in the marina and one of the parks so they must manage somehow - though I rarely see many of them move. Petenwell is more of a fishermans (thankfully) lake and we are usually the only sailboat and often the only boat out. The next lake south (Castle Rock) is a tourist buzzing beehive and all that comes with that...

 

[capta]

topcat0399 has got it exactly right.
Don't put too much faith in Wiki anything as those are opinions of contributors, not facts researched by professionals and put into a book or paper.

 

[braol]

Tried changing "sheet" to "pillow case" around here but hasn't caught on just yet.
Then again when I was in Germany in 1986 I changed "nein" to "eleven" just for fun and that's finally coming around I think......

That's great!

When we were in Rome for our honeymoon, we were entertained by the fact that they sold Dove brand soap in the stores....'dove' meaning 'where' in Italian. So my wife and I would ask each other 'Dove the Dove?" and so on... I find language to be a very interesting and stimulating thing.

Oh, don't ever try to hang anything from the 'ceiling' on a boat.....

 

[capta]

That's great!

When we were in Rome for our honeymoon, we were entertained by the fact that they sold Dove brand soap in the stores....'dove' meaning 'where' in Italian. So my wife and I would ask each other 'Dove the Dove?" and so on... I find language to be a very interesting and stimulating thing.
Oh, don't ever try to hang anything from the 'ceiling' on a boat.....

Some years back, General Motors attempted to sell the Chevy Nova in Latin countries without much success. 'No va' in Spanish literally means 'won't go'. I guess the marketing research team didn't do their due diligence.

 

[Chris Patterson]

Some years back, General Motors attempted to sell the Chevy Nova in Latin countries without much success. 'No va' in Spanish literally means 'won't go'. I guess the marketing research team didn't do their due diligence.

I forget, some gawdawful country I was in it meant 'fallen buzzard'..