Footrope

A footrope is a rope suspended underneath a yard or bowsprit for sailors to stand on while working on the sails. It is a feature of square rigged sailing vessels from the middle of the 17th century onwards. Before its invention, sailors would lie or sit on the yards to stow or loose sails.

The footrope is supported along the middle of its span by stirrups, short pieces of rope which are seized to the jackstay on the yard and hang down on the after side. The footrope is either fed through the thimble at the lower end of the stirrup, or seized to it.

The Flemish horse is an extra piece of footrope provided at the end of the yard, hanging in a single bight. It covers the region where the main footrope is rising up towards its attachment point on the yard and is therefore too close to the yard for effective use.

Another nautical use of the term footrope is for the boltrope sewn along the foot of a sail to provide reinforcement.

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