its luff is fastened to hanks which run up and down the topmast stay.
The bowsprit is stayed by the bobstay and the bowsprit shrouds; the bobstay, 18a, is the stay underneath the bowsprit which prevents it from lifting; on a vessel of ten tons it would be arranged as follows. A piece of wire rope is shackled on to the stem close to the water line; to this is attached a rope tackle with a single block at the lower end and a double block at its upper end, the double block being shackled on the cranse iron at the bowsprit end. This tackle is known as a luff-tackle purchase, for small yachts a tackle of two single blocks would suffice (a gun-tackle purchase). In either case the fall of the bobstay tackle leads from the double block, along the bowsprit, and is belayed on deck, generally on the bowsprit bitts. The cranse mentioned above is the iron cap or hoop, with eyes on to which all the bowsprit rigging is hooked—one eye underneath for the bobstay, one on each side for the shrouds, and one at the top for the topmast stay.
The bowsprit shrouds are also of wire rope. The method of fitting them will be made clear by referring to Fig. 57. At one end they are shackled on to the cranse iron; and to the other end are attached rope tackles, d. In small vessels the tackles are hooked to eyebolts on the outside of the vessel, the falls leading inboard through holes cut for them in the bulwarks; but a better plan is that adopted on the larger yachts, of having the whole tackle brought
