Monday 1 September 2008

Right...

"The luff cringle is lashed down or, more likely, hooked to a 'ramshorn' at the forward end of the boom (the 'gooseneck'). The clew cringle is hauled down to the boom by means of a rope 'pennant' rove through a series of carefully sited blocks or sheaves either inside or outside the after part of the boom."

This is how to 'reef the main' (don't ask, I've forgotten already) from an introductory - introductory!! - guide to sailing (the admittedly very good "The Complete Day Skipper" by Tom Cunliffe, who sounds a nice old cove, if you're interested). I have never come across a subject more opaque and more laden with odd, impenetrable terms. And I'm a lawyer. 

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