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14-01-2021, 07:22 PM
(This post was last modified: 14-01-2021, 07:25 PM by Tigerfish.)
I am a Military and Aviation enthusiast, but I also love to see and explore old ships. Am I the only one that has noticed that all our beautiful old ships like the Victory, the Great Britain and the Cutty Sark, which once carried full rigged cross trees on their masts now stand with their masts as totally bare stumps. What used to be impressive now looks very sad. Why? Is it yet another health and safety worry, or is it finance?
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TF
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I did read on the news that in 2017 they took some of the masts weight off the Victory as apparently the ship was collapsing under the weight of the masts , could this be the reason ?
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14-01-2021, 11:52 PM
(This post was last modified: 15-01-2021, 12:02 AM by Tigerfish.)
It might be. But surly the attraction of such ships must be in their historical significance! How much do realistic plastic Spars cost/ weigh? So what is the true cost of their emasculation?
TF
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Could the reason also be down to the recent and not so recent storms with gale force winds, especially along the south coast?
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Possibly AD, but these ships have been devoid of spare and cross trees for years now. My concern is that whole generations of young people are growing up never having had the opportunity of seeing real majesty Of properly rigged ships. Bare pole masts just don’t convey that.
TF
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15-01-2021, 12:36 PM
(This post was last modified: 15-01-2021, 12:40 PM by bessacarr425.)
I've visited a few historic tall ships including the Jylland in Ebeltoft Denmark. The ship is preserved as a museum and is very interesting. The main interest of museum ships is not the external view from afar, but what's on deck and below decks. I'm never worried if the minor rigging is missing, on any of the ships, they are a very expensive upkeep and as the ships will never sail again are totally redundant. The real history is within the ship and the lives of the sailors who sailed in them.
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That is true Bessie, clearly it would not be reasonable to expect any of the ships to be fully rigged but they do look very sad with Just bare pole masts. You only need to look at pictures of those ships taken only 10 years ago to see the difference today.
TF
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(15-01-2021, 10:56 AM)Tigerfish Wrote: Possibly AD, but these ships have been devoid of spare and cross trees for years now. My concern is that whole generations of young people are growing up never having had the opportunity of seeing real majesty Of properly rigged ships. Bare pole masts just don’t convey that.
TF
They could go and watch the Tall Ships Race next time it comes to UK,Tigerfish. Spectacular event. We went to Hartlepool and Gateshead to see them. Sadly at the Gateshead event the weather was so bad that the ships had to be escorted downstream roped to tugboats. Lots of the ships were crewed by youngsters too, and one for disabled kids.
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The Victory is still a fully commissioned vessel in the RN, so I don’t think maintenance of full rigging would be that much of an issue for the MOD, it’s more likely to be some other underlying cause, but what that might be I have no idea
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