Footropes - ropes on square-rigged ships which hang below the yards, on which sailors stand while reefing or furling sails.
Fore - the front part of the ship. "She had sustained damage in the fore." ...
Footropes:
On a square:rigged ship, the ropes which hang below a yard upon which the topmen stand while aloft furling or reefing a sail. They were supported by ropes from the yard known as "stirrups".
To do this, they stand in footropes suspended beneath the yard and balance themselves between that and the yard itself. The person working on the yardarm has a separate footrope known as the flemish horse.
The yards are provided with ropes, extending from the middle to the extremities or arms, called horses, or footropes, which hang about 2 or 3 ft. down, and on which men can stand.
 See also: Square sail, Rig, Topsail, Wind, Spar
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