"We have not had that term before," suggested Sam Spottwood.
"The two terms 'standing' and 'running' rigging explain themselves," replied the principal. "The former is that which is immovable, except with the vessel: the latter is that by which the sails are set and trimmed, and the various movements of all kinds are effected.
"The other spars of the schooner will be the gaffs and booms, two of each kind, which take their names from the masts to which they are attached. Sometimes there is no boom to the foresail, in which case it is called the lug-foresail. The rope from the mainmast-head to the end of the boom, to support its weight when the sail is not set, is called the topping-lift.
"Now we are ready to look at the sails, and the rigging necessary to work them," continued the principal, as he pointed to the outlines of the sails on the drawing. "The jib is a three-cornered sail, while the fore and main sails are more nearly square. There are certain names of the parts of the sails which you must learn. The head of the sails is the part attached to the gaffs, while the foot is fastened to the boom. The leach, as a general term, is the outside of the sail. The outer, or after, leach of the mainsail is therefore that part of the sail which reaches from the after end of the gaff to the same part of the boom. The inner leach is next to the mast. This is also called the luff.
"The corners of the sails are called the clews; and you remember that the clewlines of a topsail were to hoist up the corners of the sail. The after corner of the sail at the foot, is also called the tack. On the corners of the courses of a ship, there are ropes for holding the sail in position, which change their names. When the ship is on the wind, the forward one is the tack, and the after one the sheet. When the ship goes about, these ropes change their names, to conform to the general system; which is, that a sheet is the after rope by which the sail is held when full.
"The jib has the same parts as the other sails, though of course it has only three clews; and the same is true of a gaff-topsail. Now, what do you call the line by which we hoist the jib?"
"The jib-halyards," replied Chick Penny, who had got the idea of the system very clearly in his mind.
"The word 'halyards' applies to all sails. What is the rope with which the foresail is hoisted?"
"The fore-halyards," answered Con Bunker.
"And so on. Coming back to the jib, what is the rope attached to the lower corner?"