| Fish Boat from the Chusan Island |
Hundreds of China vessels' types are known nowadays. Forms of sails are differed in accordance with different regions. However there were only two types of rigging on these ships and they differed from each other. The one was a 'pole' rigging - Fuchjou junks, and the other with a sprint sail. The second type of rigging was very simple. Canvases for a sprint sail were sewn horizontally and sometimes they were provided with a lining. A simple pole was used instead of a mast. The bamboo sprit held the angle of the sail and braces coming from every canvas of the sail managed it. Such a rigging was often used on small ships navigating in harbors and rivers and nearly on all fish boats from the Chusan Island. However this rigging on fish boats was more detailed Horizontal sail sheets were parallel with each other and they had a slight back narrowing. An inner lining embraced the sail and the outer double lining through certain sections was sown to the inner lining. From the side of a mast the outer lining was provided with hoops and this allowed for the sail to move freely up and down the mast. Very often these sails had also 1 - 2 studding sails made in a same method.
The mast was not too thick and it had a back rake. The sprit was made of bamboo and sometimes it consisted of two pieces installed into one another. When there was no such an opportunity they were joined by a piece of a hard wood installed into hollow stem. The lower end of the sprit rested upon a sling and the upper end went into a small ear of the sail's angle. A vegetable cringle-sling in the upper part of the sprit was a stopper and did not allow the sprit to penetrate further into an ear. Tackles from two blocks formed a halyard. The sprit sling was differed from an European double rope ring. It was simply a rope rounding the mast and passing through a hole of the lower end of the sprit. A halyard fastened on the mast was often used as a sling.
The sheet with the help of braces with several blocks was fastened to every sail cloth and so every studding sail had its own brace block. With the help of a sheet rope these blocks were joined together by some other blocks. It should be noted that the mast of a boat had neither a stay nor shrouds.
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