Square-Rigged Ships

Square-Rigged Ships: An Introduction
by Alan Villiers
with a foreword by Peter Villiers

Click image to enlargeExclusive! Watch an excerpt from Alan Villiers’ film The Cape Horn Road.

There must have been few more thrilling sights than a large square-rigged ship in full sail. These magnificent, engineless vessels once carried heavy cargoes of nitrate, coal, guano or grain, battling with the storms off Cape Horn or sailing in or out of harbours in a light breeze. While the days in which square-riggers routinely transported goods around the world has now passed, their allure continues to linger.

In this classic introduction, originally published in 1975 under the title Voyaging with the Wind, Alan Villiers offers a first-hand, practical overview of these fascinating ships, their design, the routes they sailed and the specialist skills of men who worked on them. Relying on 50 years of experience at sea, he outlines basic ship-handling skills and techniques, discusses traditional training practices, shares his own experiences of sailing around Cape Horn, recalls the best master mariners of his day and ponders the future of sail.

Illustrated with maps, diagrams, and Villiers’ own photographs, Square-Rigged Ships immerses the reader in a world that has been ‘allowed quietly to disappear’.

Alan VilliersAlan Villiers (1903–1982) first went to sea at the age of 16 and over five decades sailed hundreds of thousands of miles in the most famous square-riggers of his age, including the four-masted barque Herzogin Cecilie, the Parma, and his own Joseph Conrad.

After playing a key role in the Allied sea operations during the Second World War, he became a much sought-after lecturer, consultant, writer, and expert on the history of sail. His work for the Society of Nautical Research and as a trustee of the National Maritime Museum, along with his contributions to the restoration of historic ships, have inspired and influenced sail enthusiasts around the world. As captain, adventurer, writer, photographer and educator, he dedicated his life to documenting the era of square-rigged ships and in over 40 books captured the passing of a romantic and dangerous world.

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Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1: The Square-Rigged Ship and Her Seamen
Chapter 2: Ship-Handling under Sail
Chapter 3: Passage Making
Chapter 4: Round the Horn
Chapter 5: Gone Forever?
Glossary
Recommended Books for the Interested
Photo Credits