IMPROVEMENTS IN REEFING SAILS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
LAMPORT, of Workington, in the County of Cumberland, Ship Builder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of
December (One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one), in the fifteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Charles Lamport, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles
Lamport, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Lamport, my exors, adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the
Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her said
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN REEFING SAILS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Charles Lamport, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,

page_text: as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles. Lamport, hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed; that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object to effect the reefing and unreefing of the
sails of ships from the deck, whereby the following advantages, among others,
are obtained; namely, increased celerity and safety in manoeuvring, reef
tackles are dispensed with, and the reef can be taken in and shaken out with-
out altering the position of the sail as regards the vessel's course; and the
manner in which this is effected is as follows:-First, I attach the sail to the
yard by a tube or tubes of galvanized wrought iron or other metal in the way
represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings annexed. The tubes
t, t, are fastened to the yard by lugs or projections a, a, which are passed
through holes in the sail, and then through slots in hoops b, b, (Figure 2,) which
encircle the yard B, the tubes being secured by pins on the inside of the hoops.
To allow the ready insertion of these pins, and to prevent injury to the sails, the
yard is slightly hollowed at c, c. In the centre, opposite the mast, the tubes are
parted to the extent of a few inches; that is, to about as far as the pulleys e, e;
and at each side they are extended a little beyond the head of the sail, in order to
keep the said sail stretched when reefed. Thus the sail is attached between the
yard and the tubes, and the head rope of the sail bears equally and con-
tinuously along the whole extent of both. Next I pass a small chain through
the tubes, which chain runs downwards over a small pulley d (Figures 1 and
2), at the outer end at the cleat of the yard, and under the centre pulleys e, e,
which are firmly fixed to the yard by stout hoops, and secured by a plate con-
necting the two centre pins. The removal of these centre pins allows the
chain to clear the yard when the sail is detached, so that, in fact, the chain
tubes, chain, and all connected therewith may at any time be removed at once
without separation and without trouble. The outer end of each chain is
attached to the reef cringle in the leach rope by a common shackle, as at p, p,
(Figure 3). A series of eye-bolts may be substituted for the tubes, or the
chain may be merely carried over pulleys attached to the yard; but I prefer
the tubes, as easier to work, and less liable to derangement. The inner ends,
after passing under the pulleys e, e, are connected together by a single rope or
chain carried, over a pulley or through an eye bolt in the masthead down to
the deck. At convenient distances along the tubes holes are made on the

page_text: upper and lower sides, as at f and g, Figure 1, to allow of reef points or small
cords being passed into the tube from below, while the holes above will
enable them to be fastened by a simple knot or otherwise to the chain. The
other ends of the cords are sewed to the sail as far down as the depth of the
reef at h, h, h, &c., Figure 3, after passing through small thimbles at i, i, i, i,
attached to the sail at convenient distances apart, in order to keep the sail.
when reefed, in straight even plaits. These thimbles may either allow the
cords to pass through the sail backwards and forwards, as at i, i, i, or may be
kept altogether on one side, as shewn at j. j.j. I am by these means enabled
to dispense with the common "jackstay," and can bend and unbend the sail in
much less time than the ordinary method. To reef the sail the only thing to
be done is to secure the chain or rope K to a bolt or belay pin on deck, and
then lower the yard. As the yard descends the chains are drawn through the
tubes, and the cords or reef points along with them, until the reef is gathered
up in regular even plaits or folds tight and firm against the yards and tubes.
To shake out the reef all that is required is to cast off the rope K on deck,
and hoist the yard again. When the reef is taken in the common caring may
be passed, and the ordinary reef points tied, if thought desirable, without
difficulty or danger to the men. In fine weather the chain may be detached
from the cringle, and secured to the yard. To take in a second reef another
set of tubes must be fixed on the aft side of the sail, with a chain and points
extending as low down as required.
A modification of the preceding arrangement may be made by attaching a
second foot rope at any convenient distance from the foot of the sail, and lacing
a small cord through thimbles let' into the sail at m, m, (Figure 3,) the ends
of which may be carried to the deck, either at the cleats of the yard along the
"sheets," or direct from the middle of the sail. By lowering the topsail yard,
and hauling on the said small cords, the sail will be gathered up in a bundle
at the foot. It may occasionally be found expedient to use a portion only of
the mode of reefing and unreefing first before described; that is to say, the reef
may be first gathered up by my method, and then the earing may be passed,
and the common reef points tied, as at present. I assume that it would in
most cases be deemed preferable to effect the reefing and unreefing from deck,
but it will be understood that I do not limit myself in this respect.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed. I declare that what I claim as my
Invention is the mode of recfing and unreefing the sails of ships by means of
chains or cords worked from the deck or elsewhere, as before described; that
is to say, in so far as regards the attaching of the sails to the yards by means

page_text: of tubes or other analogous means (instead of tying or seizing as usual), the
lowering of the yards, and thereby effecting, with the aid of chains or cords
passed through the said tubes, the reefing and unreefing; and also the employ-
ment in certain cases of an additional rope or ropes across the foot of the top-
sail, and gathering up or folding together any portion of the foot of the topsail
by way of reef by means of cords, chains, or other ties leading to and acces-
sible from the deck.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Lamport, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, One thousand eight