Hi, I'm a complete newcomer to anything sailing related, maybe someone
can answer my question. On a large ship, say an 17-18th century 3
masted marine vessel, I've seen in pictures and movies, that the sails
will rotate relative to the ship to face the wind at the desired
angle. My question is what causes this rotation. I first thought that
it happened naturally, but no, there has to be a way to control it.
Are the entire masts themselves rotated? perhaps just the cross-beams
(sorry I don't know the proper term) are re-angled? Is their a typical
arrangement or do they vary? is this done with ropes, or maybe levers?
thanks for any help.
-bl