The language used on tall ships can be very strange to new sailors. There’s lots of unusual names to learn and new lingo to pick up! One interesting quirk of this, is the sheer number of animal names you find on a ship! From Flemish Horses to Dolphin Strikers, Hounds and Cat Heads! Below you’ll find explanations to just some of the creatures you might find aboard your floating menagerie! Plus, I’ve listed many others for you to ponder over – or to ask your crew about when you join your ship!

The Flemish Horse

This mythical creature you might well expect to be found somewhere in the hold, eating carrots and not enjoying being on a boat! But actually, it’s an integral part of the rigging on the yardarm of any square rigged tall ship.

It’s the footrope at the outer end of a yard, giving a crew member something to stand on when working the outer edges of the sail. It’s been suggested that all footropes on a yard were once called “horses.” The term Flemish horse may have arisen because this outer section was considered more unstable—just as Flemish horses were said to be more unruly than others!

When standing on the Flemish Horse, there is no ship below you – just the ocean waves. The view is breath taking and any movement of the ship is really exaggerated! And while you are of course secured via a climbing harness, the adrenalin hit you get while out there is incredible!

The Dolphin Striker

Then there’s the Dolphin Striker, which might be questioned for its suitability onboard a modern tall ship, especially when wildlife spotting is a highlight of any trip! In reality, it is the name for an important spar that’s found on most larger tall ships. It’s mounted downwards, below the bowsprit, jutting out in order to counteract the upward tension created by the foresails.

Despite usually being several meters above sea level, in a swell, the Dolphin Striker can plunge under the waves and presumably, sailors of old thought it might strike any unlucky dolphin playing in the ship’s bow wave at the time – though this is extremely unlikely given the speed, manoeuvrability and intelligence of Dolphins!

Without this useful bit of rigging, there would be no ability for multiple heads sails to be flown, as the bowsprit would likely snap under the tension.
While you’ll have to go looking for your ship’s Dolphin Striker, you couldn’t go tall ship sailing without it!

The Hounds

On a traditional sailing vessel, the hounds are the strengthened sections near the top of a mast where important standing rigging is secured—most commonly the upper shrouds and the forestay.

Their job is to distribute the loads imposed by these stays, which keep the mast from bending or toppling under sail. The hounds act as reinforced fixing points, either as part of a wooden masthead structure or integrated into metal fittings on more modern spars. On square-riggers, you’ll find hounds just below the mast cap or crosstrees. On gaff rigged vessels and cutters, the forestay often attaches at the hounds, just below where the topmast is housed—if there is one.

The origin of the name is uncertain, but there are a few theories. One suggestion is that it comes from the shape of the wooden fittings on the mast that stop the forestay from slipping down. To some sailors, these wooden cheeks may have resembled a dog’s jowls or ears—hence “hounds”. Another theory is that just as hounds pull or strain on the leash, the shrouds and stays “pull” on the mast at these critical attachment points. – But who really knows?

The Catheads

A cathead is a large wooden beam located on either bow of a sailing ship, and angled outward at roughly 45 degrees. It’s used to support the ship’s anchor when weighing or lowering it. It also hold the anchor out and away from the side of the ship, preventing damage to the ships timbers or getting the anchor snagged.

Many ships were (and still are) decorated with intricate carvings, such as figureheads, that represent the ships name or some other aspect of her character. Many catheads had lion’s heads carved on the seaward end, hence the name! Below you can see HMS Victory’s Catheads protruding out either side of the bowsprit. The Scottish Maritime Museum even have one of Cutty Sark’s original Cathead carvings, which you can see a 3D scan of here!

Other Seafaring Animals

Here’s a list of other animal names you might find on your ship – do let us know if you know what they are for (or if you’d like some clues!) and of course remember to ask your crew to point some of them out on your next voyage! If you know any others we’d love to learn about them!

Gooseneck
Monkey’s Fist
Ratlines
Dog Watch
Bullseye
Sheepshank
Parrot Beak
Bees
Lizards
Crane
Mousing