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Trial Bay

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Trial Bay is a broad bay on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales , Australia . The bay faces northwards and extends from Laggers Point in the east around to Grassy Head to the west, past the town of South West Rocks and the Macleay River mouth.

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26-442: The bay is named after the brig Trial which was shipwrecked there in 1816. In 1820 John Oxley explored the area. He reported Port Macquarie as more favourable for settlement than Trial Bay, though Trial Bay might offer an anchorage while waiting for favourable winds to cross the bar at Port Macquarie. Trial Bay has a northerly facing and is sheltered from the predominant southerly swells. There have been various plans over

52-461: A close reach . Alternatively, a boat may carry smaller jibs, to compensate aerodynamics when the main sail is reefed ; these more rugged sails are called storm jibs or spitfires . On a boat with two staysails the inner sail is called the staysail , and the outer (foremost) is called the jib. This combination of two staysails is called a cutter rig (or in North America a yankee pair ) and

78-454: A main sail . Generally, a jib's most crucial function is as an airfoil , increasing performance and overall stability by reducing turbulence on the main sail's leeward side. On boats with only one jib, it is common for the clew of the jib to be abaft the mast, meaning the jib and mainsail overlap. An overlapping jib is called a genoa jib or simply a genoa (see illustration). These are efficiently used when reaching more broadly than

104-400: A boat with one mast rigged with two staysails and a mainsail is called a cutter . On cruising yachts, and nearly all racing sailboats, the jib needs to be worked when tacking. On these yachts, there are two sheets attached to the clew of the jib. As the yacht comes head to wind during a tack, the active sheet is released, and the other sheet (the lazy sheet ) on the other side of the boat

130-404: A brigantine with two square-rigged masts instead of one gave it greater sailing power. The square-rigged brig's advantage over the fore-and-aft rigged brigantine was "that the sails, being smaller and more numerous, are more easily managed, and require fewer men or 'hands' to work them." The variant was so popular that the term brig came to exclusively signify a ship with this type of rigging. By

156-407: A triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel . Its forward corner ( tack ) is fixed to the bowsprit , to the bows , or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsails on a modern boat. Boats may be sailed using a jib alone, but more commonly jibs make a minor direct contribution to propulsion compared to

182-510: A type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged . Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part of the 19th century. In commercial use, they were gradually replaced by fore-and-aft rigged vessels such as schooners , as owners sought to reduce crew costs by having rigs that could be handled by fewer men. In Royal Navy use, brigs were retained for training use when

208-600: Is "generally built on a larger scale than a schooner , and may approach the magnitude of a full-sized, three-masted ship ." Brigs vary in length between 75 and 165 ft (23 and 50 m) with tonnages up to 480. A notable exception being the famous designer Colin Mudie 's 'Little Brigs' ( TS Bob Allen and TS Caroline Allen) , which are only 30 ft (9 m) long and weigh only 8 tonnes. Historically, most brigs were made of wood, although some later brigs were built with hulls and masts of steel or iron. A brig made of pine in

234-473: Is pulled in. This sheet becomes the new active sheet until the next tack. Schooners typically have up to three jibs. The foremost one sets on the topmast forestay and is generally called the jib topsail , a second on the main forestay is called the jib , and the innermost is called the staysail . Actually, all three sails are both jibs and staysails in the generic sense. Original usage in 18th and 19th century square-rigged ships distinguished between

260-484: Is referenced in the idiom usually spoken as "I like the cut of your jib", generally seen as signifying approval of one's general appearance or respect for their character. The phrase alludes to the maritime practice of identifying far-away ships by noting the "cut" (general shape and configuration) of their sails to determine their status as friend or foe. One such report from the Naval Chronicle (1805)—"we perceived by

286-417: Is smaller than the main mast. The fore mast holds a fore sail, fore top sail, fore top gallant sail, and fore royal. Between the fore mast and the bowsprit are the fore staysail , jib , and flying jib . All the yards are manipulated by a complicated arrangement of cordage named the " running rigging ". This is opposed to the standing rigging which is fixed, and keeps mast and other objects rigid. A brig

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312-416: The jibboom or even the fore royal mast to the flying jibboom. A large square-rigged ship typically has four jibs, but could have as many as six. From forward to aft, these sails are called: The first two were rarely used except by clipper ships in light winds and were usually set flying. A storm jib was a small jib of heavy canvas set to a stay to help to control the ship in bad weather. The jib

338-464: The 17th century the British Royal Navy defined "brig" as having two square rigged masts. Brigs were used as small warships carrying about 10 to 18 guns. Due to their speed and maneuverability they were popular among pirates (though they were rare among American and Caribbean pirates). While their use stretches back before the 17th century, one of the most famous periods for the brig was during

364-420: The 19th century was designed to last for about twenty years (many lasted longer). The word brig has been used in the past as an abbreviation of brigantine (which is the name for a two-masted vessel with foremast fully square rigged and her mainmast rigged with both a fore-and-aft mainsail, square topsails and possibly topgallant sails). The brig actually developed as a variant of the brigantine. Re-rigging

390-461: The 19th century when they were involved in famous naval battles such as the Battle of Lake Erie . In the early 19th century the brig was a standard cargo ship. It was seen as "fast and well sailing", but required a large crew to handle its rigging. Brigs were seen as more manoeuvrable than schooners. James Cook requested the conversion of the schooner HMS Grenfell to a brig, with the justification of

416-422: The battle fleets consisted almost entirely of iron-hulled steamships. Brigs were prominent in the coastal coal trade of British waters. 4,395 voyages to London with coal were recorded in 1795. With an average of eight or nine trips per year for one vessel, that is a fleet of over 500 colliers trading to London alone. Other ports and coastal communities were also served by colliers trading to Britain's coal ports. In

442-438: The better control that he would have with a brig versus a schooner. The ability to stop the ship quickly (by backing sails) was particularly important for a vessel doing survey work. The windward ability of brigs (which depends as much on hull shape as the rig) could be comparable to or better than contemporary schooners. The author and naval officer Frederick Marryat characterised brigs as having superior windward performance to

468-399: The cost would not be warranted. Ships moored in the bay and delivered oil via a pipeline extending approximately 2 km to the terminal operated by Caltex. The terminal is noted as decommissioned in 2003. It was also the site of an internment camp during WWI. 30°52′S 153°03′E  /  30.867°S 153.050°E  / -30.867; 153.050 Brig A brig is

494-410: The cut of their sails, then set, that they were French Ships of War"—is often cited as an early inspiration for the idiom. Sir Walter Scott used the expression to denote approval in the 1824 novel St. Ronan's Well : "If she disliked what the sailor calls the cut of their jib " . John Russell Bartlett later defined the idiom in his 1848 Dictionary of Americanisms as "The form of his profile,

520-399: The evolution of the barquentine . The need for large crews in relation to their relatively small size led to the decline of the production of brigs. They were replaced in commercial traffic by gaffsail schooners (which needed fewer personnel) and steam boats . The famous mystery ship Mary Celeste , while sometimes called a brig, was clearly a brigantine . Flying jib A jib is

546-401: The first half of the 19th century, the vast majority were rigged as brigs, and that rig was retained for longer in the northeast of England. In sailing , a full-rigged brig is a vessel with two square rigged masts (fore and main). The main mast of a brig is the aft one. To improve maneuverability, the mainmast carries a ( gaff rigged ) fore-and-aft sail. Brig sails are named after

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572-420: The fore staysail, set on the forestay running from the foremast head to the ship's peak, the foremost part of the hull, and the jibs set on stays running to the bowsprit. Jibs, but not staysails, could also be "set flying," i.e. not attached to the standing rigging. Sails set beyond the peak were typically called jibs, set on stays running from the fore topmast to the bowsprit , or the fore topgallant mast to

598-420: The masts to which they are attached: the mainsail ; above that the main topsail ; above that the main topgallant sail ; and occasionally a very small sail, called the royal , is above that. Behind the main sail there is a small fore-and-aft sail called the spanker or boom mainsail (it is somewhat similar to the main sail of a schooner ). On the foremast is a similar sail, called the trysail . Attached to

624-435: The respective yards of square-rigged ships are smaller spars, which can be extended, thus lengthening the yard, thus receiving an additional sailing wing on each side. These are called studding sails , and are used with fair and light wind only. The wings are named after the sails to which they are fastened, i.e. the main studding sails, main top studding sails, and the main top gallant studding sails, etc. A brig's foremast

650-413: The schooners of that time. Marryat is considered, by maritime historians, to be an authoritative source on such matters. A brig's square-rig also had the advantage over a fore-and-aft–rigged vessel when travelling offshore, in the trade winds, where vessels sailed down wind for extended distances and where "the danger of a sudden jibe was the large schooner-captain's nightmare". This trait later led to

676-463: The years to make it a full harbour, protected in all conditions. Its location in between other sheltered waters of Moreton Bay and Port Stephens recommended such a project. In the 1880s through to 1900s an attempt at a breakwater was made off Laggers Point . In the 1960s an oil terminal established near South West Rocks reignited interest in a harbour, but the Department of Public Works concluded

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