Halyard

[1] Halyards, like most other parts of the running rigging, were classically made of natural fibre like manila or hemp.

Halyards can be attached a number of ways to the head of a triangular sail.

The most common methods are as follows: The other end of the halyard is usually attached to the mast at its foot by way of a cleat.

When the person jumping can no longer pull up the sail simply by hanging on the halyard, they must "sweat" the line.

To manually sweat a halyard, the sweater grasps the line and, in a fluid motion, hauls it laterally towards themself, then down toward the deck, letting the tailer take up the new slack.