The kelson is a wooden piece attached to the keel of a sailboat that strengthens and reinforces it, while also attaching lateral beams. It is a vital part of the timber frame system that makes wooden boats strong and streamlined. The kelson also supports the weight of the mast on some vessels.
In a wooden sailboat, the kelson, also called a keelson or apron, is a piece of wood located on the keel and attached to it. The kelson strengthens and reinforces the keel, but also helps attach the beams running laterally through the vessel to the keel, which runs forward and aft. The kelson is therefore a vital part of the framing of a timber-framed sailing ship.
Wooden boats rely on a complicated timber frame system to make them strong and streamlined. The central part of this frame is the keel itself. The keel is a long piece of wood that serves as the “backbone” of the ship, extending forward and aft for the majority of the ship. Naval historians consider the construction of a ship to begin when its keel is laid; in fact, the keel is so important that the word “keel” comes from a word meaning “ship,” and may be the first written English word. The keel is the largest and most important of what is known as the longitudinal timbers of the ship.
Running through the keel are the side or cross beams of the vessel. In larger vessels these are called floors and are heavy supports that support the ribs. In smaller vessels, the ribs may rest directly on the keel. Ribs are curved pieces of wood that support the long boards, called strands, that form the sides of the boat’s hull. The combination of longitudinal and lateral wood constitutes the basic skeleton of the vase.
The kelson is located at the top of the flats or ribs where they cross the keel. The kelson is attached to the keel, compressing the crossbeams between them. The resulting structure joins the timbers together quickly, creating a rigid frame for the rest of the boat.
In addition to stiffening the keel and holding the cross beams in place, the Kelson has another important function. On many vessels, the masts are grounded, or “grounded”, on the Kelson. The base of the neck has a protrusion called a tongue that fits into a specially constructed wooden support known as a step. On many vessels, the step rests on the Kelson, which supports the weight of the mast. However, on some ships, particularly larger ships, not all of the masts were stepped on on the Kelson; some or all of them may be stepped on on one of the decks above.
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