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English: Stavros S Niarchos's main-topgallant yard refitted to the mast at sea after being brought down on deck for maintenance. Not all the lines are re-rigged yet; missing are the sheets for both the topgallant itself and the royal above it. The clewlines and buntlines are similarly not fitted, and the sail has not been bent on yet.
This is not the masthead "crow's nest" of the popular imagination – above the mainmast (for example) is the main-topmast, main-topgallant-mast and main-royal-mast, so that the top is actually about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up the mast as a whole. The main purpose of the top is to anchor the shrouds of the topmast that extends above it.
Later full-rigged ships split the topsail (and often the topgallant sail) for easier handling. They thus set two topsails (and possibly two topgallant sails) per mast. The lower topgallant sail is immediately above the upper topsail. The upper or only topgallant sail is set from the top of the topgallant mast. If there is a lower topgallant it ...
For staysails between the foremast and the mainmast (from bottom to top): main, main-topmast, main-topgallant, and main-royal (...staysail). Staysails between other masts are similarly named. The mizzen sail (or "spanker") is a gaff-rigged, fore-and-aft sail, mounted on the after side of the mizzenmast. It was used to help tack the vessel. [8] [9]
In nineteenth-century warships (where a large crew was available) this was generally by physically "sending down" the upper yards from the masts and storing them on deck—along with, in many cases, the upper sections of the mast itself. Merchant ships in the age of sail would also do this before sailing in the Southern Ocean.
Thus, the mizzen topgallant staysail can be found dangling from the stay leading from above the mizzen (third) mast's topgallant sail (i.e., from the mizzen topgallant yard) to at least one and usually two sails down from that on the main mast (the slope of the top edge of all staysail lines runs from a higher point nearer the stern to a lower ...
attaches to the hounds of the foremast, or comes on deck. mizzen-topmast stay goes to the hounds of the main-mast. top-gallant, royal, or any other masts have each a stay, named after their respective masts springstay is a kind of substitute nearly parallel to the principal stay, and intended to help the principal stay to support its mast ...
A traditional ship's mast, consisting of "lower" (i.e. Main-, Fore- or Mizzen-) mast, topmast and topgallant/royal mast. The topmast is highlighted in red. The masts of traditional sailing ships were not single spars, but were constructed of separate sections or masts, each with its own rigging. The topmast is one of these.