[msandford]

There was a time in the early steamship days where they carried both engines and sails. If that's what you object to it's very easy to verify this with historical records.

If something else, sure maybe.

[Luc]

Something else. Rigging is the ropes holding the masts and controlling the sails. There's a bunch of weirdness going on with that. Someone with an interest in sail boats will spot it easily.

[msandford]

Looks pretty normal to me for ships of that era. Wooden masts and natural cordage means you need a lot of rigging to keep things standing.

Comparing these rigs to modern ones with aluminum masts and stainless wire or dyneema rope is very apples to oranges.

Even more so since 97% of modern boats have Bermudan rigs (triangle sails) where as these ships have square sails.

[Luc]

Maybe you want to take another look? It’s not subtle.