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Running Rigging of the Fore Topgallant and Fore Royal Yard
After installing the royal yard, I continued with the running rigging of the fore topgallant yard.
On the model I have now arranged the fore topgallant lifts as well as the sheets of the fore royal sail exactly as described in the La Créole monograph and as shown on the original model in the Musée national de la Marine in Paris:
They do not run down to the deck but are belayed at the level of the top. The corresponding lines run downward toward the top and are then secured to cleats on the topmast shrouds.
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This practice is confirmed in the contemporary standard work Manuel de gréement by F. A. Costé (p. 184).
Especially for the royals, sheets, clewlines and lifts were consistently not led down to the deck but belayed directly in the tops.
For the topgallant sails the practice was more flexible: sheets and clewlines usually ended on deck. Costé describes the lifts as normally being led down as well, but explicitly notes that they were “at times” belayed aloft – a variant clearly visible on the original La Créole model and also mentioned in Boudriot’s monograph.
These observations apply specifically to the French Navy in the first third of the 19th century and should not be transferred uncritically to other periods.
I have implemented this arrangement accordingly on the model.
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Apart from the fore royal bowlines and a few minor details, the foremast is now essentially fully rigged. I have already begun preparing the running rigging of the mainmast, although I still need to clarify several belaying points.
More to come …