Will a schooner IE Baltimore Clipper, USRC with Sq Sail and guns, be allowed for a AOS Battle? Bill Bibeault Athens Ga.
Of course. Those were popular ships during the Age of Sail, right? Just keep in mind that they are smaller and more lightly armed than most square-rigged ships. Also remember that while a schooner with only fore-and-aft sails can point further upwind, a square-rigged ship will outmaneuver and outrun that same schooner on any point of sail it can maintain. What ship are you thinking of, Bill? There are some really nice topsail schooners out there...
Thanks for the reply,maybe it is time to build a three sticker. Have to find one with Georgia History Maybe the Savannah (1821) 44 guns. 175 ft length. Model around 43" A question how do I put a picture in my profile? Thanks Bill
How is it a fullrigged ship can outmaneouver a schooner? My frigates 3 feet, while my sons are building pirate_like topsl schooners, and my sell to them was the maneuvering. Can't they tack easier, especially if I can haul over their mainsail to windward? And the faster the tack the more maneuverable.
Fore&aft ships beat better than squareriggers. They also can reach pretty fast (dispatch ships were often topsail schooners, not frigates). In battle though, the ability of a squarerigger to stop, and even sail backwards, is more important in keeping broadside guns on target. Thus, ships of the line are squarerigged because they hold position better in the line of battle. Size matters - a large vessel can hold sail longer as the wind increases than a small ship. Schooners were faster than frigates in light to medium airs, when they could set all sails. But as the wind picked up, they had to reduce sail faster than the larger vessel, which happened to be squarerigged. Thus, frigates could catchup with fast schooners if the wind was strong. Each is faster in some wind conditions and slower in others .
