Swim Head Spritsail Barges Version 7.3c

Before the evolution of a streamlined bow early spritsail barges were built with a very slab-sided hull and a flat 'swim head' bow derived from unpowered dumb lighters. The 'swim head' was also common on contemporary Dutch sailing vessels, and though the arrangement appears ungainly they were by all accounts capable of spirited performance under skilled handling.

The 'swim head' had begun to fade by the mid-1850's as more refined designs evolved. Few plans and photographs exist so a degree of supposition and outright guesswork has been applied in the making of these models. They portray ships built in the latter transition years where a more curvaceous stern was already being adopted by shipwrights but the swim head was still retained perhaps out of conservatism, tradition, or at the commissioning shipowner's request.

Two models are included here:

* 'Juno' is a stumpie with a main boom but no topmast or bowsprit
* 'Starling' carries bowsprit and staysail, with topmast and topsail

** 9 August 2020: first refit up to V7.0b:

* port and starboard leeboards are now independently controllable in prototypical fashion
* An internal hold is now fitted, with opening hatches and changeable loads

Change between the six different loads or an empty hold on both models by saying in local chat:

coal
sand
stone
rubble
hay
dung
empty

All other functionality is controlled by the revised HUD,which uses a different channel to the original Spritsail Barges' HUD, to avoid command conflicts between the two types.]

Please download and save the .pdf guide from the link below for more information on sailing your barges and using the control HUD.

** 16 October 2020: minor refit to V7.3c - various detail improvements **

**** New designs are being added to our range regularly so please do join the Group 'Lili's Yard' to receive group notifications about new vessels ****

As ever, my thanks go to my friend Jero Ramo for all his fabulous scripting help and to my Second Life landlady Claire for all her support, encouragement, scripting and modelling assistance.