After reading this, we hope you will see that what starts out looking like a confusing bunch of ropes as in the image below, eventually begins to make sense.
Once the sails are bent on, as we saw in the previous newsletter, they need to be deployed and once deployed, kept in the right shape. That’s the role of running rigging. So broadly wire ropes and the fittings to use them, that do not move frequently, are called standing rigging; while the ropes and associated fittings that are moved frequently, are called running rigging.
We are very hands on with Antara and set up the rigging ourselves. Dilip helped with Mhadei and Tarini, design twins from the Van de Stadt family and Antara is a smaller version from the same designer.
ROPE MATERIAL
Most ropes used in the running rigging of modern boats, including ours, are manmade fibre ropes such as Dyneema or Spectra ropes. They often have a braided or double braided core covered with a polyester sheath to protect the inner core. These are much stronger and durable than the old natural fibre or polyester ropes. They also stretch very little even under big loads and are unaffected by UV rays or sea water. Unfortunately, as with most boat equipment in India, these are expensive and need to be imported.
WHEN IS A ROPE NOT A ROPE?
If on a boat, left and right is port and starboard, why would we call a rope a rope!? For a sailor, a rope is a spare bundle of rope kept inside as spare. All ropes either have a specific name or are referred to as lines, prefixed by their purpose. Even the ropes used to tie the boat alongside (as in along a pier) are called berthing lines or to moor/anchor the boat, mooring lines.
To make things simpler, most boats including Antara use colour coded lines. The system works as we find most of our guests fairly comfortable with the lines by the end of the first day. The standardization also helps in better communication amongst the crew while sailing, when things need to be done quickly and methodically.
The multitude of ropes of different colours on a sailboat can be quite confusing. To bring some method to the madness, sailors of yore grouped them based on their functions.
So ropes used to pull a sail up are called Halyards, those that control and help maintain the sail shape are called Sheets. These then are further named with the sail they are used with like the Main halyard, Genoa Sheet and so on. In the image below you can see the yellow main halyard running down the mast as well as the yellow berthing lines.
The rope used to ‘stretch out’ the base of mainsail on the boom is called the Outhaul while the rope used to pull the mainsail ‘down’ is called, well you guessed it right; the Downhaul!
Ropes that do not fit into any of these general categories have their own names like a pair of Runners that pull the mast back, the rope that helps furl the headsail, the Furler line, the ropes that help in reefing the mainsail sail, the Reefing lines.
Some have peculiar names like the ‘Lazy Jacks’, in the image below, that help keep the mainsail in place when it is lowered or the boom Topping lift to pull the boom up.
ROPING IN THE ROPES
A telescopic aluminium strut called the Vang or the kicker, with a block & tackle arrangement to change its length, connects the base of the mast to the boom. This helps in pulling the boom down to alter the shape of the mainsail fitted between the mast and the boom.
While the lines are not susceptible to damage by sunlight or water they do tend to get damaged or chaffed if rubbed against sharp surfaces - Antara has an anti skid surface that could have an abrasive effect on the lines. To prevent this and to ensure that they exert the correct force when pulled, they are led through a series of sheaves, blocks and fairleads fitted on the deck or on the mast.
Some of the ropes on Antara are marked in the image below:
Since the forces on the lines while sailing are considerable, definitely beyond what a human being can exert, the lines are pulled using winches. Once the lines are pulled to the required tension, they are held in place by stoppers which are bolted on the deck. Once the stopper is engaged, the line comes off the winch and it can now be used for pulling another line.
In the image below, I’m winching the runner while Dilip checks it’s tension; and the main sheet is on the winch to my left.
On Antara we have six 2-speed, self tailing winches operated by fitting and rotating a winch handle on top of them. These enable a single person to use them while selecting the gear ratio to suit his/ her strength.
If you want to look at the actual lines on Antara, sail with us or visit us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and our website