Truck (rigging)

A truck is a nautical term for a wooden ball, disk, or bun-shaped cap at the top of a mast, with holes in it through which flag halyards are passed.[1] Trucks are also used on wooden flagpoles, to prevent them from splitting.

Without a masthead truck, water could easily seep into the circular growth rings of a wooden mast. However, the grain in the truck is perpendicular to that of the mast, allowing the water to run off it.

References

  1. Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier" by Harold A. Underhill ISBN 0-85174-173-8
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