‹‹‹ Vitr. 10.3.4 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 10.3.6 ›››
5Thus also the steersman of a merchant ship, holding the tiller which the Greeks call οἴαξ with only one hand, by the situation of the centre moves it in a moment as the nature of the case requires, and turns the ship though ever so deeply laden. The sails also, if only half mast high, will cause the vessel to sail slower than when the yards are hoisted up to the top of the mast, because not then being near the foot of the mast, which is as it were the centre, but at a distance therefrom, they are acted on by the wind with greater force.
5So, too, the pilot of the biggest merchantman, grasping the steering oar by its handle, which the Greeks call οἱαξ, and with one hand bringing it to the turning point, according to the rules of his art, by pressure about a centre, can turn the ship, although she may be laden with a very large or even enormous burden of merchandise and provisions. And when her sails are set only halfway up the mast, a ship cannot run quickly; but when the yard is hoisted to the top, she makes much quicker progress, because then the sails get the wind, not when they are too close to the heel of the mast, which represents the centre, but when they have moved farther away from it to the top.