Have you seen these figures written down somewhere ?
The post I made was a direct quote from the EWBS website.
Good grief... I agree with Ian... where did this come from??? The Mary Rose Trust even took a few bows and drew them to full draw on the tiller to look at their shape and draw weight. Why on earth would Henry VIII have a warship full of unfinished warbows???
Like I said above, I don't actually think they were unfinished. I know people who do, and I know people who have done talks on them being unfinished. And the fact still remains that the Mary Rose Trust actually list them as "incomplete." Whether that's a reference to broken bows or bows that they consider weren't finished I have no idea. For some reason, whenever conversation about these bows comes up - either on forums or in general - people get very fired up very quickly.
I believe the references to 'incomplete' bows are to fragments or pieces of incomplete bows... not ones which were untillered. Think about it... who would finish tillering them on board a ship, and why would they take up precious space on an already crowded warship if they had no purpose? Makes little or no sense to me.
Yes, when it comes to the Mary Rose bows, there are many theories and many opinions. Most are not based on close observation or replication. Most people with theories haven't even been to Portsmouth, nevermind handled any of these bows. I've done both, but in no way consider myself even slightly qualified to offer much of an opinion. I believe these were weapons of war, used at the peak of their effectiveness, and certainly had a purpose onboard a warship. I believe they had draw weights of 100-180#, which was required to shoot a heavy projectile with effectiveness. Beyond that, I'm not qualified.
However, this is getting way off topic of the original post... a beautiful Poletti bow, which happens to be 70#@32". A warbow or not?... depending on your opinion of what that is. EWBS says it is. I agree. All be it at the minimum end, but a warbow none the less. It is tillered to draw to 32", does so in a more or less circular fashion, is >74", and has no grip.
