As describe in previous posts, there are two major types of rigging on a square rigged vessel – standing rigging and running rigging. In short, standing rigging, which was darkened through the use of tar, was fixed in place to hold the masts and other parts of the ship in place. The running rigging was natural (not tarred) to allow for freedom of movement. Within the running rigging, there are two further categories of rigging – that which was used to mount, adjust & move the yards and spars, and that which was used to hold and manipulate the sails.
It can be argued that for a ship model that will not have sails (such as I’m building with the Pegasus) one can omit the latter of the running rigging that holds and sails. However, I believe it is important to represent as much of this rigging as possible to not only maintain accuracy, but represent how a ship works for those interested in the learning aspect.
To that end, the bunt lines and leech lines both fall into the “hold and manipulate sails” portion of the running rigging. These lines attach to the sails and then run through the blocks along the yards. as it turns out, there are a few different representations of how this kind of rigging was handled when sails were not present. This is unsurprising when one understands that rigging styles are very dependent upon type of ship and time period. It’s further varied based on the needs and preferences of the Captain of each ship. Needless to say, much research was done leading into this area of rigging.
Buntlines
Buntlines hold up the middle of the sail and facilitate its attachment to the yards. The Fully Framed Model and David Steele’s Elements of Rigging agree that the buntlines start by being knotted and pulled up taught against the yard buntline blocks when a sail is not present. Then they feed through the yard blocks under the main top. Some references have them being pulled through the fore then aft blocks before belaying. Then, where they belay is definitely a varied opinion with some indicating either a “leg and fall block” or more standard block. After much research, I settled on the reference of James Lees’ The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War which indicates the buntlines running through two single blocks stropped together with both the main and fore versions belaying on the Foc’sle belfry rail.
Starting with the main lower yard, I used a .20mm line I’ve run through the outer buntline block, up through the inboard hole of the outer double block (the outer hole will be for the leechline) from aft to fore, then down to the stropped single blocks. After looping through the upper single block it travels back up to the outer hole of the next double block and down to the inner buntline block on the yard. Note: I’ve posted the same picture of the double blocks twice just to make it easier to follow the path.
The bottom of the two stropped blocks holds the falls where the inboard end feeds through the sheave of the belfry rail then belays to the rail and the outboard line belays to the rail next to it with a timber hitch. Care must be taken when stropping the two single blocks so they don’t twist too much otherwise it’s very difficult to prevent the lines from twisting as well. It’s also important to think ahead when determining where the double blocks will end up or you run the risk of interfering with future rigging in this area.
The fore lower mast buntlines follow a very similar arrangement – however, the lines run up through BOTH the fore and aft double blocks under the mast top to drop down and belay at the same rail. Also the actual blocks under the tops that are used are different because one of them is already taken by the spritsail’s rigging. With the fore, the buntline originates with the outer block as with the main then runs up through the outboard hole of the FOREMOST second double block, back to the matching aft double block then down to the stropped singles. After looping through it comes back up into the inner hole of the same set of blocks before heading back down to the inner buntline block. Similar arrangement at the bottom with both lines belaying to the rail.
Leechlines
Leechlines are small diameter lines that run through the leeches (or the back edge) of a sail to help it maintain tension. Similar to the buntlines, the leechlines have some deviation in terms of reference, so I made the assumption that they would follow the same pattern as the buntlines since they are similar in nature in most other ways. Only showing the fore here, but the leechline is knotted at the block (as with the bunts), runs up through the set of outer double blocks (fore then aft) and down to a single block that falls to belay on the rail. Once again the outer fall goes through the sheave before belaying with the inner line belaying on the railing next to it.
Worth noting above that I needed to feed the leechline inside the futtock shroud to avoid fouling. On the main yard the leech lines start at the block (just like the fore yard), run up through the outer hole of the outer double block under the mast tops (the hole we left empty while running the bunts), then down to belay on rail near the hatch as shown.
Once again, I can’t guarantee the complete accuracy of this arrangement given the limited and sometimes contradictory references. There is definitely an element of “best guess” when it comes to rigging, but this arrangement seems eminently practical and reasonable so I’m comfortable with it.
The Lehman Shipyard 