Very great care must be taken in setting up rigging so that an equal strain is brought on all its parts.
Yachts of from 5 to 15 tons usually have two shrouds a side ; those from 20 or 80 tons three shrouds a side ; and those above 80 tons four shrouds a side.
When wire rigging was first introduced, great objection was taken to it, on account of its rigidity ; and it was declared that the elasticity afforded by the lanyards would not compensate for the lost elasticity of the hemp shrouds. Various plans were suggested to supply the deficient elastic quality of wire rigging, such as spiral spring lanyards, and screw lanyards with india, rubber buffers.* The fact is, however, that the ticity sought to be given to the wire rigging is not required, and indeed would be a great source of danger. Mr. W. John, in his elaborate report to Lloyd's Committee in 1877 on the dismasting of ships, shows the very considerable ticity that wire rope has, and the general. elasticity of wire shrouds and hemp lanyards combined. From his report we learn that the stretch wire rope is capable of before breaking is very considerable, and that not half of that stretch and strength would be exhausted when the mast had arrived at its breaking point, due to bending. * Thus so far there is little danger that a yacht's spars will be lost in consequence of the wire rigging giving out ; and, as in ships it is found that if a mast is so lost, it is generally through some defective ironwork or careless fitting of the rigging.
It has been contended that a yacht's main rigging should be elastic, because, if she were sailing in squalls or under the influence of successive shocks of wind force, if the rigging did not give to some extent, it would be like attempting to drive a railway train by a succession of blows from a sledge hammer. In stating the case thus ludicrously the fact is entirely overlooked that a vessel's heeling facility affords much greater relief to such shocks than could the elastic property of any rigging, unless indeed the latter were to be so stretchable as to be perfectly useless for stays. In fact, Mr. John clearly shows in his report that, so far as safety goes, the rigging cannot be set up too rigidly, and the less it stretches the better. It was found that in very heavy weather with a ship rolling and pitching heavily, three-fourths of the ultimate strength of the mast and rigging might be tried at any one moment, and that a succession of such trials would inevitably end in disaster. On this subject Mr. John says : " The margin of strength found to exist in the masts and rigging, to meet the heavy strains arising from heavy weather, is so small that every inducement should be offered to builders and owners to increase the support afforded to the masts, and especially when it is known that so much good can be done in this direction, without adding to the top weight, by simply reducing the elasticity of the shrouds. Wire rigging set up by screws unquestionably
affords the most suitable and efficient support to iron masts ; and it is to be hoped that the practice of adopting them, which has been growing up lately, will extend, and become far more general than heretofore. Where hemp lanyards are adopted the drift between the dead eyes should be reduced to a minimum, and they should be most carefully kept set up. Bobstays, it is considered, should be increased in size, and all eye bolts, pins, and shackles connected with them should be fitted with the greatest care and of a strength at least equal to that of the bobstay." This was written especially in relation to iron masts, but it is applicable to wood masts, and only in a slightly modified degree, as, although wood masts can be bent to a greater extent than iron or steel masts without breaking, yet will a wood mast reach its breaking point before the elasticity and strength of the wire rigging are exhausted, as previously stated.
So far as the requirements of match sailing go, there can be no doubt that the more rigid the rigging can be kept the better are the results. The old-fashioned theory is that the rigging should be very elastic, and that the masts should have plenty of play. This curious fallacy has been maintained by still more curious arguments and theories ; and we have known some sailing masters slack up the rigging to give it the required elasticity. It is obvious that the mast would have to supply the elasticity under such circumstances, as the strain would not come upon the rigging until the mast had been very considerably bent—perhaps almost to the breaking point. We need not dwell upon the bad effects of slack rigging* and a yielding mast further than to say, that anything which tends to render the applica tion of the propelling force intermittent, or to absorb any portion of it and reduce its effect, must in some measure detrimentally influence the speed of a vessel ; and if rigid rigging is necessary for the good performance of sailing ships, it is equally necessary for the attainment of the highest results in competitive yacht sailing.