|
Flemish Horse (rigging)
A Flemish horse is a footrope on a square rigged sailing ship that is found at the extreme outer end of the yard. The main footrope runs along the whole length of the yard, but because of its length the angle upwards to where it is attached is quite shallow, and thus it is too high to stand on for some distance inwards. Sailors on this part of the yard stand on the Flemish horse instead, which being shorter hangs down more and hence is low enough to stand on. The Flemish horse, being at the outer end of the yard, often made of thinner rope and attached only at its ends, is somewhat unstable compared with the main footrope. This, together with the requirement to step off the main footrope in order to get onto it means that a place on the Flemish horse is generally reserved for the more experienced sailors working on a yard. The origin of the term is not clear. There is some evidence that at one time all footropes were known as "horses" (e.g., in German, the footrope is to this day ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Footrope
Each yard on a square or gaff rigged sailing ship is equipped with a footrope for sailors to stand on while setting or stowing the sails. Formerly, the footrope was the rope sewn along the lower edge of a square sail, and the rope below the yards was called the horse or Flemish horse. These terms will be encountered when reading the classic 18th and 19th century sailing manuals, and may still be used today when referring to older ships. Although square sails are mostly worked from the deck, in order to be properly stowed (and released from this stowage) they must be folded by hand and tied to the yard with gaskets. This requires sailors to go aloft, during which time they stand on the footropes. The ropes are made of either fibre or wire, and are almost always protected from wear by being wormed, parcelled and served, so that the visible outer coating is of tarred thin line. They are attached to the yard via the jackstays or "handrails" to which the sails are also fastened, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Square Rigged
Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called ''yards'' and their tips, outside the lifts, are called the ''yardarms.'' A ship mainly rigged so is called a square-rigger. The square rig is aerodynamically the most efficient running rig (i.e., sailing downwind), and stayed popular on ocean-going sailing ships until the end of the Age of Sail. The last commercial sailing ships, windjammers, were usually square-rigged four-masted barques. History The oldest archaeological evidence of use of a square-rig on a vessel is an image on a clay disk from Mesopotamia from 5000 BC. Single sail square rigs were used by the ancient Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Celts. Later the Scandinavians, the Germanic peoples, and the Slavs adopted the single square-rigged sail, with it be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yardarm
A yard is a spar on a mast from which sails are set. It may be constructed of timber or steel or from more modern materials such as aluminium or carbon fibre. Although some types of fore and aft rigs have yards, the term is usually used to describe the horizontal spars used on square rigged sails. In addition, for some decades after square sails were generally dispensed with, some yards were retained for deploying wireless (radio) aerials and signal flags. Parts of the yard ; Bunt : The short section of the yard between the ''slings'' that attach it to the mast. ; Quarters : The port and starboard quarters form the bulk of the yard, extending from the slings to the fittings for the lifts and braces. ; Yardarms : The outermost tips of the yard: outboard from the attachments for the lifts. Note that these terms refer to stretches of the same spar, not to separate component parts. Controlling the yard The yard can rotate around the mast to allow the direction of the vesse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics, and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish. The official capital of Flanders is the City of Brussels, although the Brussels-Capital Region that includes it has an independent regional government. The powers of the government of Flanders consist, among others, of economic affairs in the Flemish Region and the community aspects of Flanders life in Brussels, such as Flemish culture and education. Geographically, Flanders is mainly flat, and has a small section of coast on the North Sea. It borders the French department of Nord to the south-west near the coast, the Dutch provinces of Zeeland, North Brabant an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of . Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven. Belgium is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flemish Horse
The Flemish Horse, nl, Vlaams Paard, italic=no, french: Cheval Flamand, italic=no, is a Belgian breed of draught horse. It became extinct in the nineteenth century when it was merged with the Brabant to create the Belgian Draught. From about 1993 it was recreated from some stock kept by Amish people in the United States. A breed association, Het Vlaams Paard, was formed in 1999. In 2005 the breed was officially approved by the Flemish government, and the breed association authorised to manage the stud-book. History Flemish horses became famous in Mediaeval times. They were among the gifts sent by Charlemagne to the Abbasid caliph Haroun ar-Rashid in 807. It is an endangered breed. In 2013 total numbers were about 100 head, with about 35 brood mares and 5 stallions. Characteristics The Vlaams Paard, like several other draught breeds with Belgian Draught The Belgian Draught, french: Trait belge, italic=no, nl, Belgisch Trekpaard, italic=no, is a Belgian breed of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
