20 gun pirate xebec - 1:250 scale

[zathros]

A lot of the ships used mast hoops to secure the sail to the mast. They went up fast and came down fast. The sail was usually tied to the hoops. Sometimes grommets were put in the sail, and the Hoop was like a Keychain Ring, in that it could open and be coiled around the grommet in the sail. That was much later. I think the period where your boat was used had ties on the sail, and those were tied to the Hoops. These were easily repaired in case of something breaking.

 

[ElMäx]

A lot of the ships used mast hoops to secure the sail to the mast. They went up fast and came down fast. The sail was usually tied to the hoops. Sometimes grommets were put in the sail, and the Hoop was like a Keychain Ring, in that it could open and be coiled around the grommet in the sail. That was much later. I think the period where your boat was used had ties on the sail, and those were tied to the Hoops. These were easily repaired in case of something breaking.

View attachment 234988View attachment 234989

Thanks. Yes, I thought about putting on the sails with some kind of hoop and also put on the running rigging without glueing it permanently. That way I could change the sails (billowed out, curled up, billowed out from different wind directions) interchangeable. That way I don't have to build multiple hulls But this will be quite a challenge on that scale.
Let's see what I can achieve.

I think the period where your boat was used had ties on the sail, and those were tied to the Hoops.

Please elaborate. I cannot create a picture of it in my head

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

This project is really coming together beautifully!

 

[mijob]

You are doing a great job and your plan with the sails is stunning for this ship.

 

[ElMäx]

I added more shrouds.

Here is a illustrating picture of the process.

I have the following problem with understanding the rigging and sail:
Xebecs and other ships of that size used shrouds to secure the mast to the sides and control tension and maybe even curvature of the mast. You can see these shrouds on old ship plans. These shrouds went up to the top of the mast. The hoop, on which the sail yard is attached, is put around the mast and can go up and down.
That means the hoop is INSIDE of the shrouds. On many pictures I found, paintings and fotos, the lateen sail is OUTSIDE of the shrouds.
How is that realized? The ties between hoop and yard must be long enough to cover that interference. The distance between shrouds and mast grows bigger the lower it gets. When they want to lower the yard, they have to swing the whole long yard inside of the shrouds? Or the shrouds are loosened for this moments because the shrouds may not be needed without the heavy yard and the wind in the sail?

 

[ElMäx]

I read much about lateen sails and rigging the last days. Regarding yards inside or outside the shrouds it seems like both is viable and authentic. The mizzen lateens you see on the early european "exploration" vessels of Columbus are inside of the shrouds. There are pictures of european ships with lateens on main mast and foremast also inside the shrouds. But when you take a look at a dhow, for example, you see they are always sailed with the sail billowing out huge and way outside of the shrouds.

I read about how the yard and the rigging is handled on a dhow (not that I understood everything of it), and what workforce and distribution of it is necessary for this and that this may not have been possible on "western" or european navy and merchant ships during the age of sail with their form of employment crew/work distribution. So they may left the yards inside of the shrouds and of course used more square rigs.

Here is a website with articles about lateen sails and dhows. On the second link you can find a citation from a book which describes the maneuver of changing the tack (changing the course and, while doing so, taking the wind from the other side). It requires to loosen the shrouds, hauling in one end of the gigantic yard and put it around the mast by hand.

The Lateen Sail Part 2 — Southern Woodenboat Sailing

In thinking about trade routes in the parallel universe of Indian Ocean sail cargo it is important to understand that in spite of the desert, the heat, humidity and the vast areas, there was an active trade of considerable size and variety centuries before the discovery of oil or the building of the

www.southernwoodenboatsailing.com

Freddie Mercury & The Lateen Rig — Southern Woodenboat Sailing

But Freddie Mercury is not why I came to Zanzibar. Early childhood memories of holidays at Lamu on the Kenyan coast are filled with images of powerful Dhows plying their trade along the East African coast.

www.southernwoodenboatsailing.com

Here is another link about dhows with many pictures and really informative article.

History and Construction of the Dhow

Text copyright Canbooks Pictures copyright held by their respective owners Picture by Marion Kaplan Used with permission …

nabataea.net

I started to build the yards for my xebec. For the foremast and mainmast two toothpicks slapped together with glue and thread. For the mizzen a single toothpick is long enough

EDIT:
Here are some more pictures and fotos I found on the net which I use as reference:

Xebecs

and regarding lateen sails in general

tacking with yard outside of shrouds

Lateen on foremast outside, on mizzen inside shrouds.

 

[zathros]

If you look at one pictures, (kind of a dumb statement) they show the ship coming about, it could be to change heading, or for jibing. The main thing is they are placing the sail from one side of the ship to the other. This is done by keeping tension on the front line, double masted or single, and loosing the "main sheet line" so that the mate can grab the sail at the bottom and put it on the other side of the ship. By releasing the "main sheet, but NEVER letting it go) the mate can gather up the bottom of the sail, and bring it to the other side, at the same time, the main sheet, which follows the Boom to the other side, usually there are two lines attached, one for each side Most of the Boats use a "Boom Vang"

This allows the boom to remain in a position, normally parallel to boat, or adjusted to capture the wind, in any event, it controls the height of the sail, and pivots with the sail. The sheet controls the boom going outwards or inwards to catch the wind, much the same as a Marconi rigged boat.The Halyard is really important on these boats compared to a modern Marconi rig. The Halyard can allow the Lateen to scoop up a lot of wind, and if the wind is low, it can scoop up quite a bit, it if high, the halyard is tightened up.. I sailed a Lateen rigged boat for many years. It was only 17' feet long, but they all follow the same principles. On the other hand, as the boat gets bigger, more lines are used, the principle remains the same, but more lines are used to flex the Yard arm and shape the sail. This has been my experience, for the 2 cents it's worth.