The Rise of the European Emperor

The upper-edge gaff sail is the highest technological achievement of sail power, but it is a bit untimely. It was the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the upper edge gaff sail was at its peak.

By this time, steam engine technology had already matured, and even steam turbines had appeared. At the beginning of the 20th century, the upper edge gaff sail was mainly used on flying shears. After all, the sail power does not need to carry coal, which is more economical and saves cargo space. In addition, the speed of the clipper ship was not slower than that of ordinary steam-engine merchant ships in the early 20th century...

However, a series of accidents that occurred later cast a shadow on the sailboat. Coupled with the emergence of more advanced and efficient diesel engines, the clipper driven by the upper-edge gaff sail finally retired from the stage of history.

So, what kind of accident? It turns out that 10 schooners (scissors with gaff sails) built in the early 20th century of 6-masted and over 6-masted sails have sunk several, including the hapless "Wyoming" mentioned earlier 10,000-ton clipper ship...

Then, people were taken by the high accident rate, and finally gave up the clipper boat with the upper edge gaff sail. But Marin had read the history and knew that it really couldn't be blamed for the bad topsails. Rather, the multi-masted gaff sails don't go with the clippers...

Why do you say that? Because Marin believes that the clipper is too "skinny". Its high aspect ratio of 6 to 1 or even higher makes the hull of the clipper extremely "thin". And a boat that is too thin brings the danger that it is easy to roll over.

The upper edge gaff sail is a longitudinal sail, and most of it is borrowed from the side wind. But the wind from the side, while pushing the boat forward, will also push the sailboat to the side...

It would be better if the wind was small, but in a big storm, a "skinny" clipper with up to 6 upper-edge gaff sails would naturally roll over very easily...

Also, the six-masted clipper of this Skona was bad luck. why? Because just after they exited the stage of history, a technology called "fin stabilization" appeared and was put into use...

What is a fin stabilizer? It is to install artificial "shark fins" on the underwater part of the hull, so that the hull can ensure better balance. Modern warships are actually "thin" as much as clippers, or even worse. For example, the "052D" destroyer is 157 meters long and 19 meters wide, with an aspect ratio of 26, and its speed is twice as fast as that of the clipper. But why don't modern warships capsize? Because they are all equipped with "artificial shark fins" - fins. Moreover, not only one pair, but many pairs...

In this way, even if the speed is as high as more than 30 knots, the modern warship is still as stable as the old driver...

And the six-masted flying clipper has withdrawn from the stage of history before the fin stabilization technology is mature and put into application, so it is a pity. If a few pairs of "shark fins" are installed,

It's not like 10 ships have sunk several...

Moreover, the upper edge gaff sail has not been eliminated, but has been retained by modern sailboats. However, modern sailboats are mostly small sailboats, single-masted, mainly used for sailing. The modern sailboats that Malin has seen in his previous life basically use upper-edge gaff sails, and then put a soft auxiliary sail in front of them, making the best use of the wind...

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So, how did the upper edge gaff sail come to be? Marin had read the history of navigation in his previous life, and it was introduced like this...

The book said that in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was extremely inconvenient to operate the Latin spinnaker when changing directions. In order to facilitate the turning of the sail, people directly cut off the front half (that is, the lower edge of the girder) of the obstructing Latin sail.

However, in this way, the Latin spinnaker lost half of the jib, and the area of ​​the jib was also reduced by half, and the ability to utilize the wind was greatly weakened.

So people began to think of a way to get a wind mast that can rotate around the mast at the mast level. The wind mast is perpendicular to the mast and is attached to the bottom of the mast with a metal collar. In this way, the sailor can pull the wind rod directly in the horizontal direction by hand or with a rope.

The remaining upper edge slant girder is also connected to the mast with a metal collar. However, unlike the wind-driven mast, the wind-driven mast is perpendicular to the mast, and there is an angle between the upper edge slanted girder and the mast. , also known as the upper edge skewer.

As for the sails, they are drawn between the wind rod at the bottom and the upper girder above. In this way, the shape of the sail surface becomes a rectangle with a right triangle on top. The area of ​​a square of the same height and width is twice that of a triangle, so the area of ​​this new upper-edge gutter sail is no smaller than that of the Latin sail with the lower-edge gutter retained. What's more, a right-angled triangular jib can be added on top of the upper edge slant girder to further increase the sail area and enhance the wind capacity.

Moreover, the manipulation of the sails is extremely simple. When the wind changes, the sailor only needs to rely on the winch rope to control the direction of the wind rod under the upper edge of the gaff sail, and let it rotate to the opposite direction with the mast as the axis. Even one or two sailors can easily steer a topside gaff sail in a very short time.

Unlike a horizontal sailboat, because the sails are lowered from the upper sails, every time the boat is sailed, the sailors need to climb up the sails of tens of meters to lower the sails and tie them firmly. It is also very troublesome to tuck the sails. Sailors need to climb up the masts dozens of meters high, first untie the lower end of the firmly tied horizontal sails, then tuck them up, tuck them up and tie them to the upper sails...

This kind of operation, when the weather is calm, is nothing. But if there is a sudden storm, it will be miserable.

Because storms at sea often carry heavy rain. If the sails are not stowed quickly, the boat can be overturned by a violent storm. However, to tuck a sailboat requires the sailor to climb up and untangle the lower end of the sail, and then tuck it up. It's okay to climb the mast in normal times, but it's very dangerous to climb the mast during a storm. Because the mast soaked with rain is slippery. If you are not careful, you may fall to your death on the spot when you fall from a mast that is tens of meters high...

Therefore, in the age of great sailing, there are many sailors who fell from the mast and died every year...

The upper edge gaff sail is different, because the upper edge gaff sail, like the Chinese rigid sail, rises from the bottom, just like raising the national flag. In the event of a storm, simply untangle the ropes under the mast and lower the gaff sail. Even the upper edge slanting girder can be lowered along with it...

The upper edge gaff sail is generally connected with the wind mast at the bottom (it can also be removed), and the edge near the end of the mast is connected with the mast through many copper rings that cover the mast.

When raising the sail, the sailor pulls the top of the upper edge gaff sail up by pulling the pulley. First, the top of the jib above the upper edge slant girder. After the upper jib is straightened, it drives the upper edge slant girder that covers the mast through the metal ring to rise together until the upper edge slant girder reaches the top, and the bottom The mainsail is pulled until it is basically straight (generally not too tight, because it is going for a ride). Then, tie the rope, fix it, and start to turn the wind rod to adjust the direction according to the wind direction...

What? You said how to keep the wind rod and the upper edge skewer on the same plane? It's very simple - just get a vertical upward rail on the wind rod. In addition to covering the mast with a metal ring, the upper slant girder also covers the guide rail that is parallel to the mast... In this way, it can fully ensure that the wind rod and the upper slant girder are on the same plane. Moreover, it does not affect the rise and fall of the upper edge slope girder...

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Worried about the ship running aground or hitting rocks in the Strait of Magellan, Marin decided to introduce the advanced and easy-to-maneuver gaff sail to Arben's fleet.

As for the sinking of the clipper with multiple gaff sails, Ma Lin felt that as long as he didn't commit suicide, he could install multiple gaff sails on the "thin" clipper...

Moreover, at present, there is no "thin" clipper in Marin's hands. There should be no danger in using a top girder sail on ships with a length to width ratio of 4 to 1 or less, and with no more than 3 masts.

What's more, even if the existence of the upper edge girder sail affects the lateral stability of the boat, it doesn't matter, at most, install a pair of simple anti-rolling fins for the hull underwater... Marin knows it, Encyclopedia in his previous life As mentioned above - for ships with a displacement of less than 1000 tons, it is enough to install a pair of anti-rolling fins...

But Marin currently has no ships with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, and even very few ships with a displacement of 500 tons. Therefore, when installing fins, there is no need to install any modern fins that conform to hydrodynamics. Just installing a pair of ordinary fins that are symmetrical on both sides is enough for balance.

Besides, Marin felt that as long as they didn't use clippers with upper-edge gaff sails, they might not be able to use fins. After all, fins are used to balance fast boats. Marin's existing boats are not fast, and they are too wide to use fins at all...