SAIL TRAINING:
SQUARE RIGGERY by H. F. Morin Scott
Royalist was intended to be a highly efficient, modem training ship for young people of the Sea Cadet Corps, an offshoot of the Royal Naval Reserve, and was designed and built with this sole purpose in mind. There was no intention of building a replica of a vessel of earlier times. Ordered on August 4, 1970, she was completed on August 3, 1971, and went into service the following day. The material, design and construction of every item on board was examined and considered in detail, and every effort was made to ensure that everything was efficient, long-lasting and eminently practical. The success of this plan was first shown when the brig was awarded the Lloyds Register of Shipping Trophy as being the finest built to Lloyds Class + lOOAl during 1971, against some 200 other contestants from all over the world. Subsequently, her success has been demonstrated during the nineteen years of service, in which she has introduced nearly nineteen thousand boys and girls to the pleasures and hardships of sai ling offshore under square rig on one-week long cruises from March 1 to December 1 each year. She carries a crew of six professional seamen (Captain, Sailing Master, Boatswain, Engineer, Coxswain, and Cook), four watch officers (aged over 18) and twenty-two cadets (aged 13 1/2 to 18). The Boatswain is responsible for everything above decks, and the Coxswain for everything below (both under the Sailing Master) . The Engineer maintains all mechanical equipment, including two 110 BHP auxiliary engines and the generators. The Cook, as always, is the most important person on board. The four Watch Officers are usually Officers or Adult Instructors from the Sea Cadet Corps, sometimes made up with yachtsmen members of the Club which supports the brig, suitably called the Square Rigger Club. Watch Officers stand watch in harbor and at sea, and also take charge of a watch of cadets. The twenty-two cadets, who may be all boys or all girls (or occasionally a mixture) are divided into four watchesthe Forward and After Port Watches and Forward and After Starboard Watches, and for all major maneuvers, they work appropriately on ropes on the port or starboard side of the foremast or the mainmast, as befits their watch name. When at sea, one part of a watch is always "on watch," and the five or six cadets plus the Watch Officer are enough 30
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to provide helmsmen and lookouts and to make minor sail adjustments. Tacking or wearing (or gybing as "fore-andafters" say) generally requires all hands on deck, while setting or furling sail is either done by the watch on deck or with the assistance of one or more other watches, according to the amount of work involved and the wind strength. Cruises usually last six days commencing midday Saturday. The rest of Saturday is spent in harbor under concentrated instruction from the professional crew. During this time, each watch in tum will set and furl a topsai l, learn the correct way to climb the ratlines and receive instructions on how to work the heads, what to do in case of "man overboard" and even when, where, and how to be seasick as well as other matters. For the remainder of the week, the ship will sail as much as possible by day and night, usually managing to visit a French or¡ other port abroad, when the young crew usually get their first chance to "go foreign." The crews, aged 13 to 15, include a few older trainees who have usually sailed in the ship before and who can act most usefully as "Leading Seamen." In addition to learning to sai l the brig, all cadets receive instruction in firefighting , basic engineering, radio operation and ship maintenance and, of course, they have to keep the ship clean and do all the washing up as well. Before leavi ng the ship they are examined verbally on what they have learned and awarded proficiency badges in various grades which they can then wear on their uniform with pride. For the most part, Royalist cruises in the English Channel, but every two years she takes part in the Tall Ships Race, and in the intervening year she usual Iy makes a cruise around the British Isles in one week stages.
Tacking Ship In this and other maneuvers, Royalist, with her modem lines, hardly needs to be sailed around, and when junior officers or cadets are entrusted with the maneuver and giving all the orders, the helm is usually limited to 10 degrees. However, in strong winds with certain combinations of sail set, even Royalist can be difficult to tack. So we tend to always "sail the ship round" so that everyone gets to understand the whys and wherefores. Let's assume the brig is sailing on a course of due north, close hau led on the port tack (fig. 1) with the Captain in charge on deck. Wind about WNW. These orders are given:
#1-"Hands to bracing stations." All hands on deck and go to their all otted station in their own part of the ship. #2-"Stand by to tack ship (Ready about)." Hands remove coils of sheets and braces from belaying pins and reduce the number of turns on the pins. #3-"Port ten" (to helmsman). Helmsman replies "Port ten sir," and applies ten degrees of port rudder and reports, "Ten of port wheel on, sir." #4-"Helms a-lee" (to crew). This warns all the crew that the maneuver has started. Then, without pausing: -"Spanker to windward." After part of port watch haul on port spanker sheet and bring spanker boom to windward. -"Ease the jib sheet." For'd part of starboard watch eases jib sheet (fig. 2).
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All square riggers have a lot in common, but each rig is handled differently. And following the old saw "differentshipsdifferent long splices," every captain may well perform these same maneuvers slightly differently, and for this I make no excuses. Every captain is right, and the Lord help anyone who dares to dispute that fact on board.
Royalist normally only sets one jib when under square rig. Vessels with more than one jib would ease all jib sheets, and in some large vessels (over 1000 tons) it is even customary to lower SEA HISTORY 52, WINTER 1989-90