Running rigging

Running rigging is the term for the rigging of a sailing vessel that is used for raising, lowering and controlling the sails - as opposed to the standing rigging, which supports the mast and other spars. The running rigging includes halyards and sheets.
Some types of running rigging include:

• halyards, which are used to raise sails
• sheets, which control the angle of a sail to the wind
• downhauls, which lower a sail or a yard, and can be used to adjust the tension on the luff of a sail
• Cunninghams, which tighten the luff of a sail
• Guys, which control spinnakers
• Topping lifts, which hold up booms or yards
• Barber hauls, which adjust the sheeting angle of a foresail (jib)

Older ships (particularly square-rigged vessels) required even more running rigging like braces, which were used to adjust the fore and aft angle of a yard and braces, which adjusted the up and down angle of a yard.