What Are All Those Ropes For? Holding Masts Up and Sails in Place

Standing rigging holds the masts and spars in position and does not move in normal operation, being set up under tension and adjusted rarely. It is what prevents a mast falling over, since a mast is a long column loaded from the side by the sails and is entirely dependent on being stayed. Running rigging moves constantly and controls the sails, raising and lowering them, setting their angle to the wind and adjusting their shape. The distinction governs materials, since standing rigging must not stretch and is traditionally heavier and tarred and is now steel or synthetic fibre chosen for stiffness, while running rigging must run through blocks and be handled, so it is softer and more flexible.

A handful of names cover most of what is visible:

• •Shrouds, running from the mast to the sides, which resist sideways forces
• •Stays, running forward and aft, which resist fore and aft forces
• •Ratlines, the horizontal lines across the shrouds that form a ladder aloft
• •Halyards, which raise sails and spars
• •Sheets, which control the angle of a sail to the wind
• •Braces, which swing square-rigged yards around
• •Reefing lines, which reduce sail area in strong wind

The number of lines follows from what a sailing ship has to do rather than from any love of complexity. Each sail needs a line to raise it, at least one to control its angle, and usually several to control its shape and to furl it, so a ship carrying twenty sails carries well over a hundred lines. Each must be reachable from the deck, which requires leading it through blocks to a fixed position where it is made fast, and each must be identifiable in darkness and confusion, which is why positions are fixed by convention and learned by touch. The whole layout is therefore a compromise between what the sails need and what a crew can operate, and it stabilised into a standard arrangement that a sailor could transfer between ships.

The material determined a great deal about how ships were run. Natural fibre rope stretches, shrinks when wet, rots and loses strength steadily, so standing rigging had to be set up with adjustable tensioners and checked constantly, and the tarring that protected it had to be renewed. Chafe where a rope passes over anything was the constant enemy, addressed by wrapping the rope in smaller line at the points of contact, which is why the rigging of a traditional vessel is covered in protective work. Every line had to be spliced, whipped at the ends to stop it unlaying and inspected. That maintenance occupied a substantial share of a crew's time at sea, and the skills involved are the substance of traditional seamanship rather than a decorative craft.

The arrangement of masts and sails defines a vessel's type and each type is a different compromise. Square rig carries sails set across the vessel on horizontal yards, which is efficient with the wind behind and poor at sailing towards it, and it requires a large crew working aloft, which suited long ocean passages on predictable winds. Fore and aft rig carries sails aligned with the vessel, which sails much closer to the wind, is handled from the deck and needs far fewer people, which suited coastal work and eventually displaced square rig for nearly everything. Combinations existed in large numbers, with names distinguishing how many masts carry which kind, and the vocabulary is elaborate because the distinctions mattered commercially.

Standing rigging holds the masts up and does not move, while running rigging controls the sails and moves constantly, which is why one is stiff and the other flexible. Shrouds resist sideways force and stays resist fore and aft force. Square rig suits following winds and needs a large crew aloft, while fore and aft rig sails closer to the wind and is handled from the deck.