Many of you likely already know these things, but I thought I'd post a few definitions for those who don't.
First, I patterned the ship Princess Deirdre after the USS Constitution, with thanks to both the original designer and the sites that gave me the information I needed. The Constitution did have a stern post as I've described, able to create drag and pull the ship around on her stern. It was quite a surprise for more than a few British warships fighting her.
Sheets are actually the lines that control the sails rather than the sails themselves. I know when I first started reading stories and accounts of sailing ships, I thought sheets were synonymous with sails. Imagine my surprise when I found out differently. Sails were, and are, known as canvas.
Lateen rigging means the ship using it has triangular sails on a long yard set at an angle to the deck. This configuration gave greater maneuverability, but lacked the speed square rigged ships could attain in a good wind on open seas.
Square rigged ships had the type of sails most people associate with the old sailing vessels. They used rectangular sails, and were capable of reaching speeds in the open sea that no Lateen rigged ship could manage.
Okay, this finishes my info-dump. I do hope everyone enjoys this chapter of Maiden which has grown past my original intent to the point where it will take at least another few chapters to finish.
Also, thank you all for the kind comments and praise for the story, and especially thanks to those of you who found things that weren't quite right and told me about it. I value nice comments, but a good criticism is something that is priceless for a writer.
In closing, Deirdre is nowhere near finished with her rather epic journey into both womanhood and love. Not to mention danger. I haven't started plotting it out yet, but my evil subconscious is already plotting the next book in this one.
Comments
Ah, Yeah!
Spotted that right off, Sweetums. The 44 guns was a dead give away. Having crawled all over the decks of that ship, I could picture every bit of your scene without a lick of trouble.
Nancy
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
Sails
Whilst it's possible that square rigged vessels can be marginally faster downwind than fore and aft rigged ones (eg Bermudan or lateen) it's not generally the case or modern yachts wouldn't be rigged the way they are. Once a yacht comes slightly onto the wind (eg with the wind at 90/120 degrees to the direction of travel) the sails act like aerofoils and generate lift; that doesn't work with square riggers. In fact very fast sailing vessels (eg catamarans) spend most of their time close hauled because the apparent wind moves forward as their speed increases. An ice yacht is capable of speeds of over 90mph in a 20 mph wind.
The advantage of a square rigged ship is the ease with which the sail plan can be adjusted to suit different wind strengths. This is most important in very large sailing ships like those used in the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th century. It also made having an upwind position in battle (the so-called wind gauge) very important because it allowed for greater manoeuvrability for the windward vessel.
Robi