The Collaborative International Dictionary
Whipstaff \Whip"staff`\, n. (Naut.) A bar attached to the tiller, for convenience in steering.
Wiktionary
n. (context nautical English) A bar attached to the tiller for convenience in steering.
Wikipedia
A whipstaff, sometimes called a whip or kolder-stok, is a device used in 16th- and 17th-century Europe to control the movement of a large sailing ship. Its development preceded the invention of the more-complex ship's wheel and followed the simple use of a tiller to control the steering of a ship underway.
Before the 16th century most sailing vessels were sufficiently small that they could be steered by a single individual working the handle of the tiller which was directly connected to the rudder stock and therefore the rudder. However, as ships became taller and broader there came a need for a steering device which could stretch from the top deck of the stern down to the tiller which was sometimes located more than a deck below. The whipstaff became the temporary solution.
In a typical arrangement: an iron gooseneck was fitted at the fore end of the tiller. Then, a metal ring was fitted over this and secured with a pin. The ring was attached to a long thin pole (the whipstaff proper) and this pole connected the tiller to the helmsman one or more decks above it through a pivot point, roll, or rowle described as, "that round piece of wood or iron wherein the whip doth go and is made turn about that it may carry over the whip from side to side with more ease." The helmsman himself still usually did not stand on the topmost deck, but rather viewed what lay ahead of the ship through a small port or hatchway in the deck above him called a companion. To move the ship to port, the helmsman pushed the pole down and to the right; to move it to starboard, down and to the left. In this fashion the tiller might get as much as 20° of turn though angles of between 5° and 10° seem more likely. The tiller rested on a very strong horizontal wooden bar called the tiller sweep which was sheathed in metal and coated with soap and grease to minimize the drag of the tiller as it rode across it.
This arrangement, however, meant that the helmsman still had very limited range of control of the tiller's movement (no more than 15° to either side) and he had to steer either with extremely limited views of the sails or sometimes dependent entirely upon the conn for direction. Emphasis had to be placed on the use of sails to control the ship's course, and this was imprecise and depended on the vicissitudes of the wind. Where extreme movement of the rudder was necessary, the use of relieving tackle had to be implemented.
Usage examples of "whipstaff".
The helmsman leaned against his whipstaff, using his weight to twist the steering oars crosswise to the water flowing past the hull.
The helmsman shifted his grip and pulled the blackened oak whipstaff toward him.
The captain explained how this new invention, the whipstaff, made steering much easier.
Before the whipstaff, the steersman was below decks, guiding the tiller without being able to see the sails, responding to shouted commands from above.
Shii stood next to Gigis, who had abandoned his position at the whipstaff when the anchor had been dropped.
He positioned himself by the whipstaff, the steering position, from where he could fight the ship.
Her father drove the team inside, set the brake and wound the reins around the whipstaff before stiffly climbing down.
Gede knelt on one knee by the whipstaff, the other booted foot braced and his hand steady.
The aftdeck above it was barely big enough to give the helmsman room to wrestle the whipstaff but it was adorned with two highly polished lamps and a carved dolphin springing along the stern rail.