Catharpin is anautical term, which is often pronouncedcat-harping. It describes one of the short ropes or iron clamps used to brace in theshrouds toward themasts so as to give a freer sweep to theyards.[1] The expression has been borrowed to refer to short lashings which hold halyards away from the masts of sailing yachts by tying to adjacent shrouds so as to prevent noise and fraying by the wind.
Example fromTwo Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana:"All the hides, too, that came down in the boats were soaked with water, and unfit to put below, so that we were obliged to trice them up to dry, in the intervals of sunshine or wind, upon all parts of the vessel . . . The rail, fore and aft, the windlass, capstan, the sides of the ship, and every vacant place on deck, were covered with wet hides, on the least sign of an interval for drying. Our ship was nothing but a mass of hides, from thecat-harpins to the water's edge, and from the jib-boom-end to thetaffrail."[2]
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