Cultural Artefact
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South Seas Companion
Cultural Artefact
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Yards |
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| Yards were long pieces of timber suspended upon the mast of a ship that allowed the sails to fill with wind. A yards was suspended across the mast at a right angle, or obliquely, depending on the kind of sail attached. |
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The order of the yards from the bottom to the top sections of a mast, were as follows: Main or lower yard The main yard, lower topsail yard and lower topgallant yard were usually fixed permanently in one position, while the upper topsail and royal yards were attached to the mast by an assembly of ropes called a parrel. The different kinds of parrels are illustrated in Plate VIII of William Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine. Falconer's Dictionary also provides detailed information about the different masts and yards used on eighteenth-century sea-going naval and merchant vessels. | |
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Published by South Seas, 1 February 2004 Comments, questions, corrections and additions: Paul.Turnbull@jcu.edu.au Prepared by: Paul Turnbull Updated: 28 June 2004 To cite this page use: http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-ss-biogs-P000369 |