Martingales

[Tubthumper 0]

Dear Cres.org

 

What is a martingale?

I've got an email from a cat designer talking about the rig having martingales, is some sort of really old school term for something simple??

 

Have at it.

[Grinna 2]

According to Wikipedia, a martingale is a heavy stay directly below the bowsprit, often the strongest on a ship, frequently made of chain. Between the bowsprit and the martingale ran a heavy pole to provide tension known colloquially as the dolphin striker.

 

I always thought that was a bobstay, but there ya go.

[chic014 0]

a.k.a bobstay

[PaulR 3]

I though a bobstay was just a stay in contrast to the martingale which had a dolphin striker in it.

 

The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea 1976 has:

 

BOBSTAY: a chain or heavy wire rigging running from the end of the bowsprit to the ships's stem or cutwater. Particular heavy rigging was required in this position since the foretopmast in sailing vessels was stayed to the bowsprit, exerting a strong upward pull when the sails were full of wind. The bowsprit was also secured by shrouds from either bow of the ship. Very few sailing vessels are fitted with bowsprits today and in consequence the bobstay is rarely seen as a piece of rigging; the only ships still to use it being the square rigged school ships which are operated by various nations for training purposes, and some yachts.

 

MARTINGALE,

(1) the stay which holds the jib-boom down against the pull exerted by the fore topgallant-mast stays in a square-rigged ship. It runs from the outer end of the jib-boom to the dolphin-striker. Martingale guys hold the dolphin-striker firm, being run from its end and secured on either bow of the ship.

 

(2) A rope or strap which runs from a point on the boom of a dinghy's mainsail to the foot of the mast, designed to prevent the boom from rising when it swings outwards and thus to present a flatter sail surface to the wind. It is normally fitted only in racing dinghies, and is usually known as a kicking-strap.

 

+++++

 

So the big differences are whether there is a jib-boom or a bowsprit ontop and to which foremast (top or gallant mast) section it is attached to.

 

These days the use of "prods" is becoming more common because of the development of gennakers and asymetrical spinnakers. Perhaps the difference between a bowsprit and a prod will develop over time and include the temporary and/or retractable nature of prods. Who knows

 

Most yachting things have all been tried before, but new materials make for new developments.

[John B 106]

A martingale or dolphin striker is the spreader which intersects the bobstay.

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