The sight of a sailing ship majestically dissecting sea waves is a truly bewitching sight. Now you can see it with your own eyes, except at the parade of sailing ships in Amsterdam, which takes place every five years. Centuries ago, watching a sailboat was commonplace among coastal residents. The more massive the ship, the greater the number of sails necessary for its fast and smooth sailing. The sailboat has a complex structure, and each mast on it has its own purpose. You can view the structure of a sailing ship from its most advanced parts.
A beam at the forefront of a sailboat
In the literal translation from Dutch, the bowsprit is a "slanted pole." The design is a forward bow of a sailing vessel. In other words, the bowsprit is a mast beam, which is a continuation of the bow of the ship and protrudes beyond the stem. It plays the role of the front mast and is mounted obliquely at an angle of 30-36 degrees. Initially, it consisted of one section. Subsequently, on large ships, it became composite: as a continuation of it, a casting machine was installed, and after it was followed by a bomb-casting machine. Like any mast, the rear base of the bowsprit is called a spur. The front end is called a nock, like a boom, hafel or ray.
Design purpose
The main goal of the bowsprit is to carry forward forward oblique triangular sails - jibs. Due to this design, the sailing area of the ship is increased, which contributes to better controllability and higher maneuverability. In addition, the bowsprit is partially used to mount the foremast. The functions do not end there, because It is also necessary for attaching and lifting the nasal anchor. Thus, the bowsprit of a ship is a multifunctional mast of a floating facility.
Front mast dimensions
For ships of different profiles, the bowsprit length was different. As a rule, on merchant ships, the front mast length was equal to three fifths of the length of the main mast. On ships designed for naval combat, its length was equal to eight-ninth of the length of the foremast. The diameter of the bow was comparable with the diameters of the fore-and-main mast of medium size. In this case, the bowsprit thickness decreased from the base to the nock almost twice.
Latin figure
Sometimes the bow of the ship was decorated with a latrine (or bow) figure, which was usually located above the bowsprit and depicted, most often, a mermaid, an attractive girl or the head of a lion. It is noteworthy that, on the other hand, restrooms for the crew were located on the same overhang.