Old British Navy ships could only manoeuvre across oceans using their mainbrace, the biggest and heaviest of all rigging

When it broke, the ship wasn’t able to change direction

The strongest able seamen were chosen to ‘splice the mainbrace’, a brutally exhausting job of intertwining thick hemp until it was workable again

As a reward for a job well done, they were issued with an extra ration of navy rum, a tradition Wood’s is proud to have been part of

Splice the mainbrace is still used today as a euphemism for a job well done, always celebrated with a tot of rum