Mast Loss in IRONS

[AP514]

I think the Bots and players are game'n the system ATM.........ANY Ship in IRONS for any lenght of time should be in SERIOUS TROUBLE.

 

ANY Ship doing more than say -2.0 knots should start to take Mast Damage.

[maturin]

In a storm, yeah.

 

But in moderate weather there's nothing inherently dangerous about having sails aback. Could happen for hours if you are hove to, or for many minutes if you are slow in stays. It's just really embarrassing when it happens accidentally, and probably a sign of other dangers.

[MikedaBike]

As muturin say hove to is when you deliberately put your ship in irons so to speak, although being deliberate it might not be irons, there are many reasons to do so in real life and i have yet to lose a mast in real life ever, although it came close on one occasions in scary weather crossing the Biscay. But hove to is a no damage situation, and a vital part of backing up a square rig ship to pass through the wind.

[AP514]

you guys are talking a modern day ship....not back in the day

[BungeeLemming]

you guys are talking a modern day ship....not back in the day

that really does not matter.

 

Box hauling is a technic where you deliberately make sternway. Its a method to go through the wind.

Not an elegant way but it was possible back in the days.

 

You wont overstrain the masts. ofc you should not try such a maneuver in a gust. Or in hefty winds.

In our Naval Action conditions however box hauling is perfecly doable.

[MikedaBike]

you guys are talking a modern day ship....not back in the day

Modern day ships developed from where?  (back in the day i believe) In my defence I did mention square rigs in my comment too.

Having the real life experience of sailing in many old gaff rigged wooden boats, techniques have not changed at all, the wind is doing the same thing to a wooden pole and rigging today as it was 200 years ago.  Coming from the Uk and it's very rich and extremely long sailing history, many folk are still using traditional materials, it is not an all plastic world yet thank god. In fact the last boat my father built, (gaff rigged ketch) we even selected the trees ourself in the forest, and had  them felled and then stored at home (seasoned for several years) where they were worked with both modern tools and old (adze give great blisters) to become main, mizzen and top masts. All very nautical and rather wonderful thinking back on it.

Sorry got lost in the memories there, point being backing, sails is fine and dandy and no greater strain on anything. Honest it is a perfectly usable sailing techniques 200 yrs ago and to this day.

[Prater]

I like reading threads like these where people with actual experience tell us how it really is/was.  I originally thought like AP did and thought the whole purposefully backing your sails was a gamey thing I was doing.  Now the whole purposefully backing you sails directly into the wind to purposefully sail backwards, now I assume when I do that it is gamey, unless I am mistaken.

[maturin]

Now the whole purposefully backing you sails directly into the wind to purposefully sail backwards, now I assume when I do that it is gamey, unless I am mistaken.

Gamey in that it would be an extreme and unusual maneuver in real life, which could put your rudder at risk. But still, very much possible.

 

In the mid-19th century there was a ship that lost its rudder and sailed 800 miles backwards to the Azores so the captain could get his compound fracture taken care of.

 

 

 

you guys are talking a modern day ship....not back in the day

There are plenty of replica ships that use pretty much the same manila cordage and hemp standing rigging as they did back then. And I know that Lady Washington has been boxhauled, for instance.

[Crankey]

The danger of losing masts is primarily when sailing with sails set and your ship travelling at a decent speed then your hull comes to an abrupt halt.

 

Run aground, Hit Rocks, Collision with another vessel (Obviously a 1st rate running into a Lynx is unlikely even to notice)

 

being 'All aback' wouldn't necessarily mean you lost spars and mast sections, though never say never ! especially if the ship had received mast damaged prior to carrying out a manourve which puts particular strain on the damaged rigging.