VICTORINE

19th Century Hudson River Sloop built by J. F. Welsie in 1848 at Piermont.

The Hudson River sloops could carry a large sail area because of the relatively smooth water on which they sailed; they needed it for the relatively light winds. The early sloops carried a square-rigged topsail, but since this required at least three extra crewmen to handle, and since wages were a strong factor even in those days, it was dispensed with in favor of a triangular topsail which only required one additional crew member. In fact, it was this same cost-of-labor consideration which caused the sloops gradually to give way to the schooners in the late 1800’s. Many sloops were re-rigged as schooners between 1870 and 1890. The schooners were, perhaps, an edge faster when reaching or running than were the sloops; but hard on the wind, there were no sailing boats built during the period which could hold a candle to these great white-winged beauties.

The Hudson River sloop rigging was fairly simple, consisting of three heavy shrouds athwartship to the mast hounds, with no spreaders, and tightened by rigging through dead eyes on the lower shroud ends, and an extended frame timber. The sloops carried a forestay to the masthead and a second forestay from the same point on the bowsprit to the head of the top mast. There were no backstays or runners; the weight of the boom, sail, and gaff surely must have been more than sufficient, considering also that the shrouds were run nearly plumb from a slightly raked mast, giving considerable backstaying effect.

The main sheet was a multiple-part block-and-tackle, rigged from the traveler at the taffrail to one point above on the boom. Consider having 3,000 or so feet of one-inch main sheet and perhaps six-part tackle, and you can realize what a tremendous mass of gear came sweeping across during a jibe. It is no wonder that a “North River Jibe” was a fearful maneuver!

The early sloops used two double-part jib sheets, belayed to pins on the rail near the shrouds. Later sloops used a jib club or boom and had a heavy timber traveler athwartship just ahead of the mast to which the jib was sheeted. The gaff was hoisted and peaked up by two halyards through anywhere from six- to twelve-part tackle and, with so much line and the weight of the heavy canvas, a deck hand must have needed tremendous brute strength! The topsail was hoisted by a single halyard, tacked down to the mast near the jaws of the gaff and sheeted to the peak of the gaff. It was hoisted and dropped many times during a voyage as the wind direction changed. All of the mainsails had at least three reefing points, and when the mariners reefed down, they would fasten down the tack and clew, sway out on the clew, and leave the rest of the sail loose to lie gathered by the lazy jacks, of which there were usually two sets.

The sloops were nearly always steered by a long heavy tiller set on the rudder head. They must have had a heavy weather helm, as did most of the old gaff riggers, so a helmsman had considerable work to do when hard on the wind.

The old sloops were built in many yards in many towns along the Hudson. Nyack, Piermont, Mount Pleasant, Peekskill, Hudson, and Cold Spring are only a few of the towns mentioned in books of the period. The sloops were built of local wood of almost every kind known to the Valley. It is said that the old carpenters went into the woods and picked out the trees which already had the bends and shapes they needed for stems, knees, and frames. This eliminated much of the need for bending and shaping that would have been necessary if all straight timber had been used. The interior cabins of the packet or passenger sloops were luxuriously paneled in fine woods, and the floors of white pine were meticulously holystoned clean and white. Most of the sloops were gaily painted, and the sloops of Nyack were particularly noted for their many-colored hulls.

1/64 SCALE

3 SHEET PLAN

  

PTP-06

PRICE:  $ 36.25

ProductID:

PTP-06

 

VICTORINE

Price:

36.25

Quantity:

 

 

 

 

                                                BACK TO HOME PAGE