Posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on December 29, 2007 at 00:51:37 from 195.93.21.2 user ACB.
In Reply to: Re: WDMTGTS questions, one fairly esoteric/nautical posted by Peter Ceresole on December 28, 2007 at 20:28:34:
Dealing with the fairly esoteric/nautical one:
"2) In the ilustration "All but O.B.", John appears to be grasping, in his left hand, a line that leads up to a whip block, then down to the deck by the stbd shrouds. In the text he "got a hand to the end of a halyard". Can someone tell me if Goblin (i.e. Nancy Blackett or her ilk) has a whip arrangement on the main halyard? This would give good purchase on the halyard, lacking a halyard winch, but would make the lead rather cramped once the sail was up and the halyard needed sweating in --which we know John does have a bit of trouble with. The illustration "Meeting the sailing ship" shows it again, but the whip block is up far too high to be an accurate illustration of a halyard whip unless there are rigging details I just don't know of that were common on English Bermudan cutters of the '30s (entirely likely). Anyway, I can envision a way to make it work, but wondered if anyone had any personal experience with such a rig. Can anyone enlighten me?"
I hope that a Trust member will be along shortly to comment on how Nancy is rigged now, but I can confirm that a whip on the main and headsail halyards was the usual arrangement on Bermuda rigged boats in England in the 1930's and indeed much later - until halyard winches became commonplace. The arrangement is described in FB Cooke's well known books. I was not sailing in the 1930's, but my father was and this was his usual method.
I think the whip in the later picture with the block high up is on the topping lift, which is of course eased.