AN IMPROVED MODE OF REEFING AND REDUCING TOPSAILS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Armand Gilbee, of No. 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF REEFING AND REDUCING TOPSAILS."-A communication from Isaaċ
Boss, of New York, U. S. of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Armand Gilber
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th April 1857.
J, WILLIAM ARMAND GILBEE, of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, London,'
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "Ar
IMPROVED MODE OF BEEFING AND REDUCING TOPSAILS," to be as follows, that is
to say:
The Invention communicated to me consists in the following arrangement:-
I make four eyelet holes in the reef, the first two being about two feet from
the centre of the sail on either side, the outer holes being about four feet
from the center. The lines reef from aft forward, having knots in the ends of
the lines, bringing the knots close to the holes; the lines then run up between
the head of the sail on a straight line, and the fore part of the yard, thence to
the mast head direct, with a block at the mast head reefing from forward aft,
and thence leading on deck or in the top, so continue with as many lines as
may be deemed necessary according to the size of the topsail. These lincs

page_text: should be made fast, according to the lifts of the yard, that is, when the yard
is down the close reef will be in its place. For reefing the second and first
reef, slack the lines of the closo reef, giving the second and first reef an oppor-
tunity to come to the yard.
|- SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Armand Gilbee in the Great Seal Patent Offico
on the 8th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ARMAND GILBEE, of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand, eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Ier
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Armand Gilbec, Her special license that I, the said William
Armand Gilbee, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Sir William Armand Gilbee, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, the
Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF REEPING AND REDUCING TOPSAILS," com-
municated to me by Isaac Boss, of New York, U. S. of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Armand Gilbee, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Armand Gilbee, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
The Invention communicated to me consists in the following methods or
arrangements for reefing and reducing topsails :-

page_text: First, in running lines from the reef, between the head of the topsail and
the fore part of the yard, and direct up to the head of the topmast.
Secondly, in arranging the reef tackle beneath the yard to run from the end
of the yard to the quarter deck.
Thirdly, in the peculiar mode of strengthening the sails by bands and
double ropes, as herein-after described.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a back view of the topsail, and
Figure 2 is a front view of the same.
The eyelet holes a, a, a, a, Figure 1, are made in the reef, the first two
being about two feet from the centre of the sail, on either side, and the outer
holes about four feet from the centre. The lines C reef from aft forward,
and the knots formed at their ends are brought close to the holes; the lines
then run up between the head of the sail in a straight line to the fore part of
the yard, thence to the mast head, direct into a block at the mast head reefing
from forward aft, and thence leading on deck or in the top. As many lines
may be employed in this manner as may be deemed necessary, according to
the size of the sail, that is, when the yard is down the close reef will be in
its place.
For reefing the first and second reefs, slack the lines of the first reef b, to
allow the second and first reefs to come to the yard. Another great advantago
in this rig is, that it relieves the reef tackle of at least three-fourths of the
ordinary strain, and requires the work of one-fourth less number of men than
by the old method of recfing topsails.
.
I strengthen the sails by running bands d, d, d, d, about a foot wide or
more from the close reef, making them about three or four feet apart, and
diverging from four or five feet as they approach the bottom of the sail. I
then take the bight of the line and place it close on the upper part of the holo
where the reef line goes through. I then bring the two ends down to the foot
of the sail, placing the two lines side by side, as represented in Figure 2.
The mode of fastening these lines is to pass a needle with twine through and
through; by this means the ropes neither draw the sail nor injure it in its set
in any way whatever. In like manner the other reefs can be arranged above,
as occasion may require. If requisite, a similar arrangement may be used on
the other side of the sail, so that by adopting this mode it can be made the
strongest part of the sail. This rig is equally applicable to ships of the navy
as well as to merchant ships. The gear for rigging is light, and does not
interfere with any other part of the sail, and saves a great deal of labour.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of

page_text: carrying the same into effect, what I claim as new, and desire to be secured
by the said Letters Patent, is,-
First, the running of lines from the reef between the head of the topsail
and the fore part of the yard, and thence direct to the topmast head, as herein-
before described, and referred to in the annexed Drawing.
Secondly, the arrangement of the reef tackle beneath the yard running
from the end of the yard to the quarter-deck, as herein-beforo described, and
represented in the accompanying Drawing.
Thirdly, the peculiar mode of strengthening the sails by bands and double
ropes, as herein-before described, and represented in the annexed Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Armand Gilbec, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
W. A. GILBEE. (L.S.)