How To Use Topsail In A Sentence
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The mizzen-topsail, which was a comparatively new sail and close reefed, split from head to foot in the bunt; the foretopsail went in one rent from clew to caring, and was blowing to tatters; one of the chain bobstays parted; the spritsailyard sprung in the slings, the martingale had slued away off to leeward; and owing to the long dry weather the lee rigging hung in large bights at every lurch.
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 11
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When she had approached near, I filled the main-topsail, and continued to yaw the ship, while she continued to come down, wearing occasionally to prevent her passing under our stern.
The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876
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Strong gales; bore away for the North Channel, carrying away the foretopsail and lost jib; hove the log several times and found the ship going through the water at the rate of 18 to 18 1/2 knots; lee rail under water and rigging slack.
The Old Merchant Marine; A chronicle of American ships and sailors
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All the miracle of sails; the steady foresail; the sensitive jibs; the press canvas delicate as bubbles; the reliable main; the bluff topsails; topgallants like eager horses; the impertinent skysails; the jaunty moonraker, were just canvas stretched on poles.
The Wind Bloweth
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The cutter lay like a log on the water, the reef-points rattling on the main-sail like a shower of small shot; and, every time he heard the sound, the man at the helm would raise his eyes aloft, and, fixing them steadily on the gaff-topsail for a minute or two, turn round and scan the horizon; and then, walking to the quarter, moisten his forefinger in his mouth, and hold it above his head.
A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden 2nd edition
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Fortunately, the jib only gybed, while the fore-topsail slatted a bit against the mast; and all the other sails remaining full and drawing, a slight shift of the helm sufficed to put the ship on her proper course.
The Island Treasure
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Southern hemisphere ships and non-Venn ships of the north were all fore-and-aft rigged, though many had square foretopsails; raffees had square foresails with triangular foretopsails.
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Her lower-topsails hung in limp emptiness from the yards, heavy with rain and flapping soggily when she rolled.
CHAPTER XXVIII
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But what gratified him most of all, I think, was the fact that before we had been aboard two days I had got Simpson, the sailmaker, at work upon an enormous jack-yard gaff-topsail for use in light winds, the only gaff-topsail that the schooner had hitherto possessed being a trumpery little jib-headed affair which she could carry in quite a strong breeze.
Turned Adrift
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They stood in the foot ropes of the main mast topsail yard.
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The captain gave his orders in a clear voice, and rope after rope was hauled taut, and the sails were furled, that is rolled up, except the fore-topsail, which was closely reefed.
Taking Tales Instructive and Entertaining Reading
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Munday the 14. of Iune, the wind blew so harde out of the North, that wee could not beare our topsailes with our forecourse which sailed South, the sunne was southward we had Port a Porte of vs, being in 41. degrees and 20 minuts.
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation
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By the end of the reign of the carrack, a third sail, the topgallant sail had appeared in some ships above the topsail in its topgallant mast.
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As it was, they cut away the remnants of the mizzen-lower-topsail with their sheath-knives, and they loosed the main-skysail out of its bolt-ropes.
CHAPTER XLVI
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The tall mast is the mainmast, the short mast is the mizzen; some ketches carry square sails on the main, some carry a topsail on the mizzen -- the distinctive mark of the ketch being that the mizzen is a pole-mast and stepped in front of the stern-post.
Golden Days for Boys and Girls, Vol. XIII, Nov. 28, 1891
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Her lower-topsails hung in limp emptiness from the yards, heavy with rain and flapping soggily when she rolled.
CHAPTER XXVIII
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Other ships on the high-seas in the late 1700's and up to the end of the 1800's were the sloop, a single masted ship that could carry a mainsail, topsail and foresail.
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It was not long before the wind swept across the waves with almost resistless force, when it was found necessary to strip the brig of all canvas, excepting a storm main-staysail and close-reefed fore-topsail; the yards were braced up, the helm lashed a-lee, and the brig was laid to.
Jack in the Forecastle or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale
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As they approached the coast of Western Australia the wind blew too heavily for the ship to make landfall and they had to heave to with close reefed topsails.
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The jibsails came down smoothly, then the topsails, until only the topgallants were still drawing.
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With shot and ball tearing his topsails and splintering the white oak planks and the tall pine masts, the captain of the beleaguered vessel had no choice by raising the white flag.
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The ship's motion altered as the main topsail backed, as the ship's speed checked and its corkscrew shudder ended.
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Other ships on the high-seas in the late 1700's and up to the end of the 1800's were the sloop, a single masted ship that could carry a mainsail, topsail and foresail.
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As we had been expecting, the wind now drew round from the westward, fresh, though not so much so as to prevent our showing a jib-headed gaff-topsail to it.
For Treasure Bound
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When we drew further from the shore, the wind increased, and the gaff-topsail was unbent, and a reef taken in the mainsail.
A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden 2nd edition
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Two blasts of the whistle fetches the watch out, and "Stand by topsail halyards," "In inner jib," sends one hand to one halyard, the midshipman of the watch to the other, and the rest on to foc'stle and to the jib downhaul.
The Worst Journey in the World Antarctic 1910-1913
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The carrying away of the crojack and the blowing away of the mizzen-lower-topsail gave me freedom to see and aim, and when the tiny messengers from my rifle began to spat through the canvas and to spat against the steel of the yard, the men strung along it desisted from passing the gaskets.
CHAPTER XLVI
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I could not be absolutely certain of her identity until her hull should heave up clear of the horizon, but that jaunty steeve of bowsprit and the hoist and spread of those topsails were all very strongly suggestive of the
A Middy in Command A Tale of the Slave Squadron
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If it freshens more, though, between this and eight bells, you can take in the topgallants if you like, and a reef in the topsails as well.
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Blow, sweet breeze," said D----, half to himself, half aloud; and casting his eyes, alternately from the flying jib and foresail to the swelling gaff-topsail, stooped down and looked under the boom at the land.
A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden 2nd edition
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And on one side, and one side only, the wall had fallen away till it was like the slope of the decks in a topsail breeze.
An Odyssey of the North
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We had been under lower-topsails and a reefed foresail all night.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
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Simultaneously, there was the shrieking of a parrel, up the main; and I knew that someone, or something, had let go the main-topsail haul-yards.
The Ghost Pirates
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A brown patch in the big main-topsail, and the bowsprit steeved more'n ordinary," said Joe.
Blackbeard: Buccaneer
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And I found the doctor busy with the plague at Bay Saint Billy, himself quartered aboard the _Greased Lightning_, a fore-and-after which he had chartered for the season: to whom I lied diligently and without shame concerning my sister's condition, and with such happy effect that we put to sea in the brewing of the great gale of that year, with our topsail and tommy-dancer spread to a sousing breeze.
Doctor Luke of the Labrador
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I got hold of the gaff-topsail yard and run it under his arms, and threw a rope over him, and sung out 'Hold on, Greenleaf! hold on, and we'll save you yet.'
Godey's Lady's Book, Vol. 42, January, 1851
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The foresail and fore-topsail, emptied of the wind by the manoeuvre, and with no one to bring in the sheet in time, were thundering into ribbons, the heavy boom threshing and splintering from rail to rail.
Chapter 17
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The fore-topsail would give her the necessary way, but spreading it before she was before the wind would lay her over on her beam ends.
Hornblower And The Hotspur
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Eagle has a pin for every line, but in a pinch, we could have gotten by with some lines doubled up, such as the buntlines on the royals, t'gallants, and topsails.
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She was a deep-waisted vessel, with three masts, the foremast and mainmast square-rigged, while the aftermast carried a long lateen-shaped sail called the mizen, with a square topsail and topgallantsail.
The Missing Ship The Log of the "Ouzel" Galley
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Almost at once news came of war being declared between England and France with Spain, so Bonnet hurried back to Topsail, and was granted permission to take back his sloop and sail her to St. Thomas's Island, to receive a commission as a privateer from the French Governor of that island.
The Pirates' Who's Who Giving Particulars Of The Lives and Deaths Of The Pirates And Buccaneers
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Jack thought they had weathered the worst of it, when the foresheet parted and the clew of the foresail, going through the lower foretopsail, split it in ribbons.
Teddy The Story of a Little Pickle
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Perhaps most of them would have been willing to acknowledge that it was rather "ticklish" business to lay out on a topsail yard at midnight in a gale of wind; and if their anxious mothers could have seen the boys at that moment, some of them might have fainted, and all wished them in a safer place.
Outward Bound Or, Young America Afloat
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Masted in three masted barque with topgallant, royal and double topsails, she had a wooden masting containing top masts and topgallant masts of a single piece and a bowsprit without jib-boom.
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Above the upper topsails are the topgallant sails and above these, the royals and the skysails.
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There's that bloomin 'compreesant come again!" exclaimed a hoarse voice; and, sure enough, a light similar to the one that had hung at the crossjack yard-arm now floated upon the end of the upper maintopsail-yard.
Stories by English Authors: the Sea
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She had a full set of sails including double topsails, single topgallant sails and nothing above the royal yards.
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Except for one wild southwester that broke the pin in the mizzen topsail yard and sent it into the rigging, all signs seemed in their favor.
A Furnace Afloat
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We're the terrier at the rat hole, sir," said Bush, coming back to Hornblower as soon as Hotspur had lain-no with her main-topsail to the mast.
Hornblower And The Hotspur
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Hands went scurrying aloft to get in the foretopsail and forecourse, and other hands went to the main braces.
Mr. Midshipman Easy
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The following morning the foretopmast was found to be chafed through, and in the afternoon the foretopsail was split.
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On the topgallant mast is the topgallant sail, on big vessels divided into two sails, like the topsail.
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A gale of wind occurred on the coast, and the crew were ordered aloft to reef the fore-topsail.
Jack in the Forecastle or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale
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Howland was a brave man; he had already showed both strength and prowess when, washed overboard in a "seel" of the ship, and carried fathoms deep in mid-ocean, he caught the topsail-halyards swept over with him and clung to them until he was rescued in spite of the raging wind and waves that repeatedly dragged him under; nor in the face of savage foe, or savage beast, or peril by land or sea, was John Howland ever known less than the foremost; but now in face of this angry woman he found naught to say, and blushing and stammering and half laughing fairly turned and ran away, springing up the stairs to the elevated deck cabins, in one of which Elder Brewster and his family had their lodging.
Standish of Standish A story of the Pilgrims
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The captain's prediction was verified; for the wind continued to increase, accompanied with fine drizzling rain, until about nine o'clock, when orders were given to take another reef in the mainsail, and double reef the fore-topsail.
Jack in the Forecastle or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale
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The three "middies" astride of that topsail-yard were, of course, castaways from the same ship, in the service of the same Government, though each was of a different nationality from the other two.
The Boy Slaves
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By saving money, by earning more, and by each of us foregoing a bicycle on his birthday, we had collected the purchase price of the Mist, a beamy twenty-eight-footer, sloop-rigged, with baby topsail and centerboard.
To Repel Boarders
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The "trades" were blowing very moderately as it happened, and the weather was as fine as heart could wish, with a nearly full moon into the bargain, so we were able to carry not only a jib-headed topsail, but also our spinnaker at the bowsprit-end; and under this canvas the little beauty made uncommonly short miles of it, tripping along like a rustic belle going to her first ball.
For Treasure Bound
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Within a minute the mainsail and gaff-topsail were hauled down, so that the ship might fall off, and the jib hauled down.
The South Pole; an account of the Norwegian antarctic expedition in the 'Fram', 1910 to 1912
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He stopped occasionally to study the weather, peered closely up at the topsails to make sure the yards were correctly trimmed.
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Thus a few minutes of the voyage were lost by backing the Elsinore's main-topsail and deadening her way while the service was read and O'Sullivan was slid overboard with the inevitable sack of coal at his feet.
CHAPTER XXI
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Or it was as if in a dead calm the main-topsail yard had fallen without warning from its slings on to the deck.
Hornblower In The West Indies
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Suddenly her main-topsail went, yard and all, in a terrific squall; she had to bear up under bare poles, and disappeared.
Falk, by Joseph Conrad
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Her topsail was the only canvas she had set, and she was so low in the water that I could not see her deck amidships at that distance.
Mr. Trunnell, Mate of the Ship "Pirate"
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Above the courses come the lower topsails, above them the upper topsails, above them the lower topgallant-sails, then the upper topgallant-sails, then the royals, and, on the mainmast, the skysail, though sometimes there are skysails to all masts, and over the main skysail comes a "scraper" or moon-raker.
Golden Days for Boys and Girls, Vol. XIII, Nov. 28, 1891
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The slave ships, on the other hand, “were generally small handy craft; fast, of course; usually schooner-rigged, and carrying flying topsails.”
Hanging Captain Gordon
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With the wind starting to blow harder, the fore and main topsails were handed and storm lashings secured.
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It is true, there was the old gaff-topsail still in the fore-peak, as well as a spare jib; but they had nothing to spread them out to the wind with, or affix them to.
Bob Strong's Holidays Adrift in the Channel
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The topsails of the ship in the distance could be seen.
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We had hauled the trysails and other fore and aft canvas, which was comparatively useless to a steamer when running before the wind at the time we had altered course towards the south, in quest of the ship in distress, the _Star of the North_ speeding along with only her fore - topsail and fore-topgallantsail set in addition to her fore-topmast staysail and mizzen staysail and jib.
The Ghost Ship A Mystery of the Sea
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Thus a few minutes of the voyage were lost by backing the Elsinore's main-topsail and deadening her way while the service was read and O'Sullivan was slid overboard with the inevitable sack of coal at his feet.
CHAPTER XXI
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You, my bucko, were knocked off the topsail rigging and into the half deck.
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It was near the close of the first watch when the fore-topsail getting loose on the lee yard arm, I went aloft to secure it.
Jack in the Forecastle or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale
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As they approached the coast of Western Australia the wind blew too heavily for the ship to make landfall and they had to heave to with close reefed topsails.
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The hurricane skidded over Cape Fear and veered up the coast before making landfall near Topsail Beach.
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In a few seconds we slipped our moorings, and jib, foresail, and gaff-topsail were hauled out to the wind, and the main tack dropped, sooner than I have written it.
A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden 2nd edition
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You know what it is to lay out on a topsail yard in the thick of it, bucking sleet and snow and frozen canvas till you're ready to just let go and cry like a baby.
SIWASH
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The slavers were generally small, handy craft; fast, of course; usually schooner-rigged, and carrying flying topsails and forecourse.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue
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If the close-reefed foretopsail is carried instead of the main, it can be easily filled.
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Well," said Jallanby, "she was a yawl about eighteen tons register; thirty tons yacht measurement; length forty-two feet; beam thirteen; draught seven and a half feet; square stern; coppered above the water-line; carried main, jib-headed mizen, fore-staysail, and jib, and in addition had a sliding gunter gaff-topsail, and ----
Ravensdene Court
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Item, if the fleet should happen to be scattered by weather, or other mishap, then so soon as one shall descry another, to hoise both topsails twice, if the weather will serve, and to strike them twice again; but if the weather serve not, then to hoise the maintopsail twice, and forthwith to strike it twice again.
Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Voyage to Newfoundland
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However, I plucked up courage, and remained on deck until half-past six, when the gaff-topsail was unbent and the top-mast struck; D----, the sailing-master, anticipating no good from the calm, and the dense fog, which had succeeded a fine wind and cheerful sunshine.
A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden 2nd edition
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A mizzen mast, near the stern carried a fore and aft sail; another sail was spread below the bowsprit, and smaller topsails were set above the mainsail and foresail.
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She shouted and watched with a grin as Gilmore loosed the British flag above the topsail and it flew into the sea behind them.
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Her fore and mizen topgallant masts had been carried away, the topgallant sails hung before the topsails, with the main topgallant masts standing, and all her sails set.
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The square sails on the mainmast are called, when eight are carried, the mainsail, lower and upper maintopsails, lower and upper maintopgallants, main-royal, main-skysail, and the moonsail.
All Afloat A Chronicle of Craft and Waterways
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I hurried over to the topsail (we were all assigned positions for situations such as these) and began to climb the rigging.
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There is a good deal of what I call a lubber's fuss, parson, kept up on board a ship that shall be nameless, but which bears, about three leagues distant, broad off in the ocean, and which is lying to under a close-reefed maintopsail, a foretopmast-staysail, and foresail -- I call my hand a true one in mixing a can -- take another pull at the halyards!
The Pilot
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We were not very long in getting our preventers rigged, after which we not only set our royal and flying-jib, but also shifted our gaff-topsail, hauling down Number 3, a jib-headed affair, and setting Number 2 in its place, a sail nearly twice as big as the other, with its lofty, tapering head laced to a yard very nearly as long as the topmast.
A Middy of the Slave Squadron A West African Story
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You will get the gist of the action, and not miss out on anything, even if you don't know about topsails and foremasts.
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You, my bucko, were knocked off the topsail rigging and into the half deck.
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Well," said Jallanby, "she was a yawl about eighteen tons register; thirty tons yacht measurement; length forty-two feet; beam thirteen; draught seven and a half feet; square stern; coppered above the water-line; carried main, jib-headed mizen, fore-staysail, and jib, and in addition had a sliding gunter gaff-topsail, and ----
Ravensdene Court
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The two then crept in under the half-deck; and, covering themselves up with the cutter's gaff-topsail, which had been placed within the cabin along with some spare canvas, dropped off into a sound slumber, forgetting their sad plight and their hunger alike, in sleep, the yacht meanwhile still floating along, down Channel, in a west-by-north direction with the ebb.
Bob Strong's Holidays Adrift in the Channel
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At 9: 30p.m. on July 25, 1850, a sleek Baltimore clipper with her topgallants and topsails set approached the treacherous Mendocino coast.
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The Challenger crew sighted their first iceberg on February 10, 1874, after weathering a storm of such ferocity that the ship was forced to run under treble-reefed topsails.
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She is generally under two topsails, fore and main topsails, fore and foretopmast staysails, sometimes topgallant sails and jib, but seldom any sail on the mizzen, except while in chase of a vessel.
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For before the sternmost ships of the squadron were clear of the Straits, the serenity of the sky was suddenly changed, and gave us all the presages of an impending storm; and immediately the wind shifted to the southward, and blew in such violent squalls that we were obliged to hand our topsails and reef our mainsail.
Anson's Voyage Round the World The Text Reduced
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But while we were looking, down came the gaff of her mainsail, and the gaff-topsail fell all adrift; a lucky shot had cut her peak halyards.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue
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The black ship came closer, its little scraplike sprit topsail drawing even with Birdwing's stern.
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This was doubtless the first of the south-east trade-winds; for by midnight it had so far freshened that, for the sake of our spars, it became necessary to take in our spinnaker and balloon-topsail, and to substitute for them the working jib and our jib-headed topsail.
For Treasure Bound
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We took in topsail and staysail, dropped the main peak, and as we got abreast of the principal wharf jibed the mainsail.
Charley's Coup
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The lower-topsail, its sheets parted by the fall of the crojack-yard, was tearing out of the bolt-ropes and ribboning away to leeward and making such an uproar that they might well expect its yard to carry away.
CHAPTER XLVI
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Her bowsprit carries two foresails, and her large mainsail is gaff rigged, with an upside-down triangle of topsail to fill the gap at the masthead.
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They also have on display the actual foretopsail that was rigged on the Victory during the battle.
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On the tenth of May, at about 5 P. M., all hands were called to reef topsails, and a forecastle man, who was hurrying aloft to assist his companions on the foreyard, fell from only a few rattlings above the sheerpole upon the deck, and injured himself so severely as to cause his death early the next morning.
Kathay: A Cruise in the China Seas
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Sure, you need to be able to tell the contemporary equivalent of a fore topgallant from a mizzen topsail, but that's what all those seminars and lectures are for.
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But he hurried to the helm, put it hard down, while Wilson, leaving the line, hauled at the main-topsail brace to bring the ship to the wind.
In Search of the Castaways
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He works in the topsails and makes fast friends with his companions and a veteran sailor, referred to as the Dansker.
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Of historical interest are the topgallant sails carried on the fore and main masts, the lateen topsails and topgallants on the mizzen and the topsail on the bonaventure mizzen mast at the stern.
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Elsinore, naked-sparred, under only lower-topsails, with spanker and crojack furled, was prepared for anything.
CHAPTER XXVIII
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If you intend to set them again after the topsail is reefed, clew the sail up.
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By saving money, by earning more, and by each of us foregoing a bicycle on his birthday, we had collected the purchase price of the Mist, a beamy twenty-eight-footer, sloop-rigged, with baby topsail and centerboard.
To Repel Boarders
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Hitherto the ship had been kept in her first position by backing and filling the mizen-topsail, but now she came to, and eventually _came round_: but
Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez, Vol. I
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The gale continued varying from N.E. to E.S. E. without increasing much, until the 31st, when it blew away our reefed foresail, and close-reefed main-topsail; fortunately, the sea did not rise in proportion to the strength of the gale, or we must have lost all our boats.
The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876
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Marking the twentieth anniversary of the original Pride of Baltimore to Baltimore West Cork, the topsail schooner, Pride of Baltimore 2 from Baltimore, Maryland, made an official visit to Baltimore, Ireland from 24th to 28th August.
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The foretopsail is smallish and easy to work on because we can stand in the working top on the foremast.
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Each square sail had its name: mainsail, topsail, topgallant sail, royal, skysail, and moonsail; each smaller as one looked upward.
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Captain Miles was just thinking of setting the spanker and bending a new fore-topsail, when, as if it had been all at once shut off from its source, the strong north-western wind in a moment ceased to blow.
The White Squall A Story of the Sargasso Sea
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The puff died away immediately, however, and no damage was done beyond the splitting of the foretopsail.
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Their master knew no peace of mind till, having passed the narrows, he found on some moor or common "plenty o 'sea-room," notwithstanding the danger that "plenty o 'sea-room" might induce the too artful Teddy to "turn topsails under," or in other words indulge in
The Dew of Their Youth
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There was also the Cutter, also single masted but she had a Gaff Mainsail, square topsail and Foresail.
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The topsails were soon clewed up and made fast, then the flying jib run down and furled.
Story of a Typhoon off the Coast of Japan
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Nothing else was notable on deck, save where the loose topsail had played some havoc with the rigging, and there hung, and swayed, and sang in the declining wind, a raffle of intorted cordage.
The Wrecker
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We took in topsail and staysail, dropped the main-peak, and as we got abreast of the principal wharf jibed the mainsail.
Charley's "Coup"
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He ran his eyes aloft to make sure that the preparations for goose-einging the fore-topsail were complete, and his gaze lingered for a while longer as he observed the motion of the spars relative to the wild sky.
Hornblower And The Hotspur
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The rig has at least three square sails: the course on the lower mast, the topsail on the topmast and the topgallant sail on the topgallant mast.
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She came along handsomely, with foam to the hawsepipe, thanks to the freshening breeze, and her main royal and topgallantsail clewing up as she approached, for our signal had been seen; then drove close alongside with her topsail aback and in a few minutes we were aboard, shaking hands with Captain Blow, and all others who extended a fist to us, and spinning our yarn in response to the eager questions put.
The Honour of the Flag
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It's fitting that the Hawaiian Chieftain sails San Francisco Bay regularly: A square-rigged topsail ketch, her rigging and hull shape are reminiscent of trading vessels that sailed along the West Coast in the 18th century.
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Her bowsprit carries two foresails, and her large mainsail is gaff rigged, with an upside-down triangle of topsail to fill the gap at the masthead.
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Down comes the jib and the man standing by the fore topsail halyard, which is on the weather side of the galley, is drenched by the crests of two big seas which come over the rail.
The Worst Journey in the World Antarctic 1910-1913
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With the wind starting to blow harder, the fore and main topsails were handed and storm lashings secured.
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Footropes still to be added to the foremast topsail, and some cordage here and there to be sorted out.
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All next day we lay hove to under a close-reefed main-topsail, which, being interpreted, means that the only sail set was the main-topsail, and that that was close reefed; moreover, that the ship was laid at right angles to the wind and the yards braced sharp up.
A First Year in Canterbury Settlement
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Her main topsail blew out suddenly and went streaming forth in the gale, a jib split to ribbons before their eyes, and spar after spar was carried away.
The Windy Hill
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We took in topsail and staysail, dropped the main peak, and as we got abreast of the principal wharf jibed the mainsail.
Charley's Coup
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The foresail and fore-topsail, emptied of the wind by the manoeuvre, and with no one to bring in the sheet in time, were thundering into ribbons, the heavy boom threshing and splintering from rail to rail.
Chapter 17
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This gives you a mainsail and jib-headed topsail in one, whilst it does away with the gaff altogether, whereby you obtain a much flatter standing sail; indeed, when this sail is properly cut (and it is not a difficult sail to shape), there is nothing to beat it in this respect.
For Treasure Bound
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Failure to amain, that is, to douse your topsail or dip your colours when you meet with a ship of war -- the marine equivalent for raising one's hat -- constituted a gross contempt of the king's service.
The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore
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So saying, I hurried away forward, letting go the trysail outhaul and the main-topsail halliards on my way; passing next to the fore-topsail halliards, which I also let run.
The Castaways
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The engines were steaming full speed astern, and by hoisting the topsail, the ship shot past it in safety.
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HAMPSTEAD | The Topsail Humane Society is bowing out of sheltering dogs in a Hampstead home because it's in a residential neighborhood.
News | WM | http://www.starnewsonline.com
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It was my "eight hours out" that night, and when I took the tiller at eight o'clock we were dashing along a good honest eight knots, under whole canvas and a jib-headed gaff-topsail.
For Treasure Bound
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Her bowsprit carries two foresails, and her large mainsail is gaff rigged, with an upside-down triangle of topsail to fill the gap at the masthead.
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In a short time the topgallant sails and mainsail were handed and preparations made to reef the fore topsail.
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Two lengths of the main-topsail halliards; he had to keep his head clear to prevent his fumbling fingers from entangling them.
Hornblower In The West Indies
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The pirate ship had furled their mainsail and within moments released a smaller topsail, but the distance between the two ships was too great despite the extra sail, and soon they dropped behind, losing heart for the chase.
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The return with Kaliakra was slow, having crippled her taking out the topsail masts.
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It increased to the strength of a hurricane towards one o'clock in the morning, when, the fore-topsail and mizzen staysail blowing away, the ship had to content herself with running under bare poles, careering through the water faster than ever.
The White Squall A Story of the Sargasso Sea
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He soon hailed the deck from the fore-topsail yard, and said he saw a boat broad off on the weather bow, with her sails spread "wing and wing," and steering directly for the brig.
Jack in the Forecastle or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale
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The Challenger crew sighted their first iceberg on February 10, 1874, after weathering a storm of such ferocity that the ship was forced to run under treble-reefed topsails.
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Having called all hands, we closereefed the topsails and trysail, furled the courses and jib, set the fore-topmast staysail, and brought her up nearly to her course, with the weather braces hauled in a little, to ease her.
Two years before the mast, and twenty-four years after: a personal narrative
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As quietly as was possible, I clewed up the topsails, lowered the flying jib and staysail, backed the jib over, and flattened the mainsail.
Chapter 26
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The slavers were generally small, handy craft; fast, of course; usually schooner-rigged, and carrying flying topsails and forecourse.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue
