Sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

s frequently encounter difficult conditions, whether by storm or combat, and the crew frequently called upon to cope with accidents, ranging from the parting of a single line to the whole destruction of the

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support and control a sailing ship or sail boat's masts and sails. ''Standing rigging'' is the fixed rigging that supports masts including shrouds and stays. ''Running rigg ...

, and from running aground to

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

Steering

The sailboat is particularly vulnerable to capsizing or hitting a shoal or rock in the water when the steering fails. In heavy chop there is a lot of force on the rudder as it is pushed by the water. If the ship is flying a

Spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a Point of sail#Reaching, reach (wind at 90° to the course) to Point of sail#Running downwind, downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinna ...

and it loses steering, the boat will most likely

broach Broach may refer to: * Broaching (metalworking), a machining operation that uses a metalworking tool with a series of chisel points mounted on one piece of steel * Broach (nautical), a sudden loss of control of a vessel caused either by wind actio ...

(head up into wind), which will, on most boats, cause a capsize in heavy weather. It is possible to sail smaller

dinghies A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or Towing, towed by a Watercraft, larger vessel for use as a Ship's tender, tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they diffe ...

without a rudder using only sail adjustment.

Rigging

Running rigging Running rigging is the rigging of a sailing, sailing vessel that is used for raising, lowering, shaping and controlling the sails on a sailing vessel—as opposed to the standing rigging, which supports the Mast (sailing), mast and bowsprit. Runn ...

is often subject to parting, especially during bad weather, or when attempting to carry too much sail in a strong wind. For instance, the brace on the weather side is under a considerable strain, and its parting would allow the entire

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

to swing free, a rather ugly prospect for a spar up to 30 meters long. In general, for each line there is a procedure to a) reduce the forces at play, b) use other lines to bring loose items under control, and c) run a replacement line (retying is not usually an option, since the knot will not fit through the blocks). The most critical lines will sometimes have a backup in the form of a "preventer" line serving the same function.

Standing rigging Standing rigging comprises the fixed lines, wires, or rods, which support each mast or bowsprit on a sailing vessel and reinforce those spars against wind loads transferred from the sails. This term is used in contrast to running rigging, w ...

is a structural element that holds up the

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...

s, and loss of standing rigging puts them at risk of being sprung (cracked) or simply snapped off. By the end of the

age of sail The Age of Sail is a period in European history that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid-15th) to the mid-19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the int ...

, most stays had preventers, and

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

s equipped themselves with "rigging stoppers" or "fighting stoppers", small lengths of rope arranged so they could be attached to

shroud Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to ''burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the Jewish '' ...

s quickly and tightened. In the days of wooden construction, sprung masts were a serious problem, because their structural integrity was compromised, and the next gust of wind could easily bring them down. Upper masts were usually just replaced by spares carried for the purpose. The usual recourse for the lower mast was to "fish" it by lashing a special set of spars to the mast along the cracked area. If the mast was gone altogether, it had to be replaced with a

jury rig In maritime transport and sailing, jury rigging or jury-rigging is making temporary makeshift running repairs with only the tools and materials on board. It originates from sail-powered boats and ships. Jury-rigging can be applied to any part o ...

assembled from whatever spars were available.

Cargo shift

On a ship, cargo must be stowed evenly so that the ship floats upright. All ships are vulnerable to cargo shifting, causing the ship to develop a list to one side. However sailing ships are particularly vulnerable because the ship naturally heels over in reaction to the force of the wind on the sails. If the cargo is not adequately secured the cargo may fall to the leeward side of the ship. Loose cargos (e.g. grain) flow downhill like water if not adequately secured (e.g. by shifting boards) and are particularly prone to shifting. If a large quantity of cargo shifts the ship may develop such a heavy list that she capsizes. A catastrophic cargo shift caused the loss of the tall ship Pamir in 1957.

Grounding

Ship grounding Ship grounding or ship stranding is the impact of a ship on seabed or waterway side. It may be intentional, as in beaching (nautical), beaching to land crew or cargo, and careening, for maintenance or repair, or unintentional, as in a marine ac ...

is a type of marine accident that involves the impact of a ship on the seabed, resulting in damage of the submerged part of her hull and in particularly the bottom structure, potentially leading to water ingress and compromise of the ship's structural integrity and stability. Grounding induces extreme loads onto marine structures and is a marine accident of profound importance due to its impact: * The environmental impact, especially in the case where large tanker ships are involved. * The loss of human life. * Financial consequences to local communities close to the accident. * The financial consequences to ship-owners, due to ship loss or penalties. The grounding, depending on the maneuvers of the master before the impact, may result in the ship being stranded. Depending on the nature of the relief of the seabed at the location, i.e. being muddy or rocky, different measures have to be taken to release the ship and carry it to a safe harbor.

Capsizing

A capsize is when a vessel rolls over beyond the limit angle of positive static stability. The severity of a

capsize Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is Turtling (sailing), upside down in the water. The act of reco ...

depends on the size and design of a vessel. A small

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or Towing, towed by a Watercraft, larger vessel for use as a Ship's tender, tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they diffe ...

is designed to capsize and be righted by her crew. Yachts are typically built to right themselves even if heeled over beyond 90 degrees. However a large sailing ship will typically lose all

stability Stability may refer to: Mathematics *Stability theory, the study of the stability of solutions to differential equations and dynamical systems ** Asymptotic stability ** Exponential stability ** Linear stability **Lyapunov stability ** Marginal s ...

at a smaller angle of heel, and will be vulnerable to downflooding and sinking if heeled beyond this point. Ballasted monohull sailing yachts will capsize very easily if they lose their external ballast

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

. Fortunately, this is rare, but if it does, it is a life-threatening danger, as seen in the case of the sunken ''

Cheeki Rafiki ''Cheeki Rafiki'' was a Bénéteau First 40.7 sailboat, sailing yacht. The yacht lost her keel in the Atlantic Ocean about southeast of Nova Scotia, Canada, and subsequently capsized. Rescue services found her upturned hull before it sank but th ...

''.

Fire

Fire is a serious threat to all ships, but to a ship made of wood, rope, and canvas, it was the greatest danger of all. Cooking fires in the galley were watched constantly, and put out instantly if the weather turned ugly, or an enemy ship appeared in the distance. Warships had an elaborate set of procedures for handling their

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

; the magazines were deep in the ship and the lanterns kept in another room, with a window between. The introduction of

steam power A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transf ...

in the mid-19th century was attended by the use of "fire-engines" consisting of pumps and hoses. Even so, fire was fatal to a ship far more often than not.