A gyn is an improvised three legged lifting device used on

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

s. It provides more stability than a

derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and a ...

sheers Shear legs, also known as sheers, shears, or sheer legs, are a form of two-legged lifting device. Shear legs may be permanent, formed of a solid A-frame and supports, as commonly seen on land and the floating sheerleg, or temporary, as aboard a ...

, and requires no rigging for support. Without additional support, however, it can only be used for lifting things directly up and down. Gyns may also be used to support either end of a

ropeway Ropeway may refer to: Cable transport * Cableway, or cable transport, a broad class of transport modes that have cables * Aerial lift, a means of cable transport in which cabins, cars, gondolas, or open chairs are hauled above the ground by mean ...

. Two legs, called cheeks, are bound together as in the sheerlegs, with the third spar, called the prypole and is fixed under the cheek lashing to form the apex of the tripod. Alternately, a

tripod lashing A lashing is an arrangement of rope, wire, or webbing with linking device used to secure and fasten two or more items together in a somewhat rigid manner. Lashings are most commonly applied to timber poles, and are commonly associated with cargo, ...

may be used to form the tripod, with the heel of the center spar pointing in the opposite direction of the cheeks to ensure a solid apex when raised. Only four

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

are required; three as 'splay tackles' to prevent the legs of the tripod from spreading, with the fourth tackle as lifting purchase. A

timber hitch Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

, six figure-of-eight turns, and a finishing clove hitch lash the cheeks into a crutch but not too tight because the cheeks need some room to spread their heels. The cheeks of the gyn are now ready to spread and to be erected. The cheek splay tackle is hauled tight and then the two adjacent prypole splay tackles can be rigged and hauled as apex of the gyn is raised. At the sides, the gyn is unstable and it is crucial that the cargo is not swung out of the base triangle; consequently the gyn is only for lifting cargo vertically.

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

artillery gunners used apparatus such as 'Bell's gyn' designed by

John Bell (artillerist) John Bell (1 March 1747 – 1 June 1798) was an English artillerist. He was the eldest son of a hatter at Carlisle, Cumbria, where he was born. His father ruined himself in attempts to discover the longitude. In 1765 Bell joined the artillery. H ...

or the 'Gibraltar gyn' for lifting artillery pieces. Gyns have also been used on land as part of the equipment to help assist water being pumped out of water wells in the Sinai Peninsula.

External links

Illustrations of a gyn and a gyn ropeway are on page 5-24
of the Sea Cadet Corp
Seamanship Training Manual

References

{{reflist Sailing rigs and rigging Vertical transport devices

See also

External links

References