Tall Ship James Craig
The James Craig historic tall ship was originally launched on the 18th February, 1874 in Sunderland, England as Clan Macleod. She has a waterline of 51 meters(167 feet)
with the extremest length of 71.3 meters(234 feet) from jib boom to mizzen boom. The James Craig has a beam of 9.5 meters(31 feet). Her draught is
3.7 metres(12 feet) and fully laden her draught is 4.7 meters(15 foot 6 inches). The James Craig has a mainmast height of 33.07 meters above deck and
35.7 meters above the waterline.
The James Craig wooden sailing ship was a work-horse, a bulk cargo carrier of her time and is typical of hundreds of typical sailing ships of the time.
She is similar in concept to a medium clipper ship. The James Craig ended her working life in the early 1930's after hauling cargo across the Tasman
Sea. She was abandoned in Recherche Bay, Tasmania where she lay for about 49 years. A patching in 1973 allowed her to be towed to Hobart, and from there
after some initial repairs, she was towed into Sydney Harbour in January 1981. In 2001 the James Craig was recomissioned. Her restoration was done as
authentically as possible to her original state with the minimum of changes to allow her to sail and to meet modern day safety legislation.
The sails on the James Craig are a mix of square sails and triangular, or fore and aft sails, which are seen on modern day yachts. These triangular
sails may be termed lateen as well. The mizzen sail or "spanker" on the James Craig is the large lower sail on the mizzen mast and the sail above it
is the gaff-topsail. The triangular sails are named after the stays on which they are set. The mizzen mast is the aft most mast or the mast at the
very back of the boat. The foremast is the mast at the bow or front. The mainmast is the larger mast in the middle.
The James Craig is a part of the Sydney Heritage Fleet, a community-based organisation that is involved in preserving and sailing heritage ships of various kinds.
The Fleet in staffed by volunteers who are act as guides or stewards aboard the tall ship on sailing days.
The James Craig sails from Wharf 7, Pyrmont Wharf, Sydney, Australia every fortnight on Saturdays and Sundays. You can join in setting sails, have a
sailors lunch, and sing rollicking sea shanties. You can actually sail through Sydney Heads aboard a square rigger and pretend you are a pirate, arrhhh.
.
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