Mainmast
A main mast is one of the masts of a sailing ship .
Position compared to other masts
The mainmast is the same in sailing boats with one mast, in a two-masted schooner it is the aft (i.e. rear) and in ketch and yawl the front mast; in both cases this is the larger mast. For sailing ship types ( tall ships ) with three or more masts, it is always the second mast, which is not always the highest mast. The largest mast was the middle mast in large five-masters ( Potosi , Prussia , RC Rickmers ). Some multi-masters, such as the sailing training ship København , had four frame masts of the same height. The great American schooner Thomas W. Lawson had seven masts of equal height.
German and English terminology
In the deviating English terminology of ship masts, the main mast is called main mast (literally main mast ). This term appears, for example, as the designation of the third mast in four-masted ships . Sometimes it is also called the aft mast . It must be said here, however, that the English system is not very specific and can therefore differ from ship to ship.
Components of a main mast
The main mast of large, traditional sailing ships does not actually consist of a single piece of material, but is divided into up to four parts (from the bottom):
The top of the main mast is called the main top.
The sails that are driven on a frame rigged main mast are called:
The yards are called accordingly:
- Big (under) rah
- Grand Submarine
- Grand Upper Marsrah
- Grand Interbramrah
- Grand Oberbramrah
- Grand Royalrah
- Grand Skyrah
