Rig (sailing)

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Rigging of a sailing frigate Tackling.png
Rigging of a sailing frigate

A sailing vessel's rig is its arrangement of masts, sails and rigging. [1] Examples include a schooner rig, cutter rig, junk rig, etc. [2] A rig may be broadly categorized as "fore-and-aft", "square", or a combination of both. Within the fore-and-aft category there is a variety of triangular and quadrilateral sail shapes. Spars or battens may be used to help shape a given kind of sail. Each rig may be described with a sail plan—formally, a drawing of a vessel, viewed from the side.

Contents

Modern examples of single-person sailing craft, such as windsurfers, iceboats, and land-sailing craft, typically have uncomplicated rigs with a single sail on a mast with a boom.

Introduction

In the English language, ships were usually described, until the end of the eighteenth century, in terms of their type of hull design. Using the type of rig as the main type identifier for a vessel became common only in the nineteenth century. [3] : 29  This is illustrated by the terminology for ships in the large fleet of colliers that traded to London from the coal ports of the Northeast of England (of which HMS Endeavour was a well-known example). Many of these full-rigged ships (square rigged on all of three masts) had the hull type "bark" –another common classification was "cat". In the second half of the eighteenth century, the square sails on the mizzen were often eliminated. The resulting rig acquired the name of the hull type: initially as "bark" and soon as "barque". This explains the Royal Navy's description of Endeavour as a "cat-built bark". [3] : 51, 57-61 

Design

Sail plan of a sloop R-Boat Pirate, Original Sail Plan, 1926 - R-Boat Pirate, The Center for Wooden Boats, Seattle, King County, WA HAER WA-187 (sheet 5 of 8).tif
Sail plan of a sloop

Each rig may be described with a sail plan—a drawing of a vessel, viewed from the side, depicting its sails, the spars that carry them and some of the rigging that supports the rig. [4] By extension, "sail plan" describes the arrangement of sails on a vessel. [5] [6] A well-designed sail plan should be balanced, requiring only light forces on the helm to keep the sailing craft on course. The fore-and-aft center of effort on a sail plan is usually slightly behind the center of resistance of the hull, [a] so that the sailing craft will tend to turn into the wind if the helm is unattended. [7] The height of the sail plan's center of effort above the surface is limited by the sailing craft's ability to avoid capsize, which is a function of its hull shape, ballast, or hull spacing (in the case of catamarans and trimarans). [8]

Types of rig

Types of sail

Each form of rig requires its own type of sails. Among them are:

European and American vessels

Ships that sailed from Europe and the Americas could be categorized in a variety of ways, by number of masts and by sailing rig.

Single-masted sailing vessels include the catboat, cutter and sloop. Two-masted vessels include the bilander, brig, brigantine, ketch, schooner, snow, and yawl. Three-masted vessels include the barque, barquentine, polacre and full-rigged ship. Luggers could have one or two masts and schooners could have two or more masts.

Square-rigged masts

Hierarchy of possible sails on a square rigged mast Square rigged sails.svg
Hierarchy of possible sails on a square rigged mast

A three-masted vessel has, from front to back, a foremast, mainmast and mizzenmast. A two-masted vessel has a mainmast, the other being a foremast or mizzen. Ships with more than three masts may simply number them or use another scheme, as with the five-masted Preussen.

On a square-sailed vessel, the sails of each mast are named by the mast and position on the mast. For instance, on the mainmast (from bottom to top):

On many ships, sails above the top (a platform just above the lowest sail on the fore, main and mizzens masts) were mounted on separate mast segments—"topmasts" or "topgallant masts"—held in wooden sockets called "trestletrees". These masts and their stays could be rigged or struck as the weather conditions required, or for maintenance and repair. [13]

In light breezes, the working square sails would be supplemented by studding sails ("stuns'l") out on the ends of the yardarms. These were called as a regular sail, with the addition of "studding". For example, the main top studding sail. [13]

Between the main mast and mizzen as well as between main mast and foremast, the staysails between the masts are named from the sail immediately below the highest attachment point of the stay holding up that staysail. Thus, the mizzen topgallant staysail can be found dangling from the stay leading from above the mizzen (third) mast's topgallant sail (i.e., from the mizzen topgallant yard) to at least one and usually two sails down from that on the main mast (the slope of the top edge of all staysail lines runs from a higher point nearer the stern to a lower point towards the bow). [13]

The jibs (the staysails between the foremast and the bowsprit) are named (from inner to outer most) fore topmast staysail (or foretop stay), inner jib, outer jib and flying jib. Many of the jibs' stays meet the foremast just above the fore topgallant. A fore royal staysail may also be set. [13]

Austronesian and East Asian vessels

Austronesian rigs include what are generally called crab claw (also misleadingly called the "oceanic lateen" or the "oceanic sprit") and tanja rigs. They were used for double-canoe (catamaran), single-outrigger (on the windward side), or double-outrigger boat configurations, in addition to monohulls. [15] [16] These rigs were independently developed by the Austronesian peoples during the Neolithic, beginning with the crab claw sail at around 1500 BCE. They are used throughout the range of the Austronesian Expansion, from Maritime Southeast Asia, to Micronesia, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar. [17]

Crab claw

There are several distinct types of crab claw rigs, but unlike western rigs, they do not have fixed conventional names. [18] Crab claw sails are rigged fore-and-aft and can be tilted and rotated relative to the wind. They evolved from V-shaped perpendicular square sails in which the two spars converge at the base of the hull. The simplest form of the crab claw sail (also with the widest distribution) is composed of a triangular sail supported by two light spars (sometimes erroneously called "sprits") on each side. They were originally mastless, and the entire assembly was taken down when the sails were lowered. [17]

The need to propel larger and more heavily laden boats led to the increase in vertical sail. However this introduced more instability to the vessels. In addition to the unique invention of outriggers to solve this, the sails were also leaned backwards and the converging point moved further forward on the hull. This new configuration required a loose "prop" in the middle of the hull to hold the spars up, as well as rope supports on the windward side. This allowed more sail area (and thus more power) while keeping the center of effort low and thus making the boats more stable. The prop was later converted into fixed or removable canted masts where the spars of the sails were actually suspended by a halyard from the masthead. This type of sail is most refined in Micronesian proas which could reach very high speeds. These configurations are sometimes known as the "crane sprit" or the "crane spritsail". [17] [18]

Another evolution of the basic crab claw sail is the conversion of the upper spar into a fixed mast. In Polynesia, this gave the sail more height while also making it narrower, giving it a shape reminiscent of crab pincers (hence "crab claw" sail). This was also usually accompanied by the lower spar becoming more curved. [17] [18]

Micronesian, Island Melanesian, and Polynesian single-outrigger vessels also used the canted mast configuration to uniquely develop shunting. [17] In shunting vessels, both ends are alike, and the boat is sailed in either direction, but it has a fixed leeward side and a windward side. The boat is shunted from beam reach to beam reach to change direction, with the wind over the side, a low-force procedure. The bottom corner of the crab claw sail is moved to the other end, which becomes the bow as the boat sets off back the way it came. The mast usually hinges, adjusting the rake or angle of the mast. The crab claw configuration used on these vessels is a low-stress rig, which can be built with simple tools and low-tech materials, but it is extremely fast. On a beam reach, it may be the fastest simple rig.

Tanja

The conversion of the prop to a fixed mast in the crab claw sail led to the much later invention of the tanja sail (also known variously and misleadingly as the canted square sail, canted rectangular sail, boomed lugsail, or balance lugsail). Tanja sails were rigged similarly to crab claw sails and also had spars on both the head and the foot of the sails; but they were square or rectangular with the spars not converging into a point. [17] [18] They are generally mounted on one or two (rarely three or more) bipod or tripod masts, usually made from thick bamboo. [19] [20] [21] The masts have curved heads with grooves for attaching the halyards. The lower part of two of the bamboo poles of the mast assembly have holes that are fitted unto the ends of a cross-wise length of timber on the deck, functioning like a hinge. The forward part of the mast assembly had a forelock. By unlocking it, the mast can be lowered across the ship. [19]

Despite the similarity of its appearance to western square rigs, the tanja is a fore-and-aft rig similar to a lugsail. The sail was suspended from the upper spar ("yard"), while the lower spar functioned like a boom. [19] When set fore-and-aft, the spars extend forward of the mast by about a third of their lengths. When running before the wind, they are set perpendicular to the hull, similar to a square rig. [22] The sail can be rotated around the mast (lessening the need for steering with the rudders) and tilted to move the center of pull forward or aft. The sail can even be tilted completely horizontally, becoming wing-like, to lift the bow above incoming waves. The sail is reefed by rolling it around the lower spar. [19]

In addition to the tanja sails, ships with the tanja rigs also have bowsprits set with a quadrilateral headsail, sometimes also canted as depicted in the Borobudur ships. [22] In the colonial era, these were replaced by triangular western-style jibs (often several in later periods), and the tanja sails themselves were slowly replaced with western rigs like gaff rigs. [19]

Junk

The oldest undisputed depiction of the junk rig is from the Bayon temple (c. 12th to 13th century) of Angkor Thom, Cambodia, which shows a ship with a keel and a sternpost and identifies it as Southeast Asian. [23] : 188–189 : 458  [24] Historians Paul Johnstone and Joseph Needham suggest an Austronesian (specifically Indonesian) origin of the rig. [25] : 179  [26] : 599, 612–613  [27] : 191–192  Junk rigs were adopted by the Chinese by around the 12th century. [28] Iconographic remains show that Chinese ships before the 12th century used square sails. [29] : 456–457, plate CDIII–CDVI  It also further diffused into other East Asian shipbuilding traditions, notably Japan. [30]

In its most traditional form the junk rig is carried on an unstayed mast (i.e. a mast without shrouds or stays, supported only on the step at the keelson and the partners); however, standing rigging of some kind is not uncommon. It is typical to run the halyards (lines used to raise and lower the sail) and sheets (lines used to trim the sail) to the companionway on a junk-rigged boat. This means that typical sailhandling can be performed from the relative safety of the cockpit, or even while the crew is below deck.[ citation needed ]

Junk sails are typically carried on a mast which rakes (slants) forward a few degrees from vertical. This causes the sail to swing outwards, absent wind pushing it, which makes the use of a preventer (a line to keep the sail extended) unnecessary.[ citation needed ]

South Asian and Middle Eastern vessels

Dhow

Unlike European ships, South Asian and Middle Eastern vessels are not named based on the type of rigging, but are named based on hull shapes. All of them are rigged similarly, and thus most of these vessels are classified as dhows in European terminology. Dhows are believed to have originated from India. They have loose-footed quadrilateral settee sails (sometimes also fully triangular lateen sails). The sails could not be reefed, instead two main sails were usually carried by the ship, one for night and bad weather, and another for daytime and fair weather. The yard was usually very long in comparison to the actual length of the boat, and they are sometimes made of two pieces of timber joined by a strengthening piece. The halyard was threaded into two holes on the yard to prevent it slipping along the length. The mast was slotted into a mast step fitted over the deck. [31]

Presented alphabetically by section:

Fore-and-aft

Square

With square sails on every mast

Combination

With some masts having exclusively fore-and-aft sails

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Note: not all sailing craft are boats; land yachts have wheels and ice yachts have runners. For the sake of clarity, this article will generally address only waterborne craft.
  2. ↑ Since the early nineteenth century, the topsails and topgallants are often split into a lower and an upper sail to allow them to be more easily handled. This makes the mast appear to have more "sails" than it officially has.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sloop</span> Sail boat with a single mast and a fore-and-aft rig

A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sails fore and aft, or as a gaff-rig with triangular foresail(s) and a gaff rigged mainsail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brigantine</span> Two-masted sailing vessel

A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail. The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts.

A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its forward corner (tack) is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsails on a modern boat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Topsail</span> Sail set above another sail

A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staysail</span> Type of ship sail

A staysail ("stays'l") is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit, or to another mast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cutter (boat)</span> Type of boat

A cutter is any of various types of watercraft. The term can refer to the rig of a sailing vessel, to a governmental enforcement agency vessel, to a type of ship's boat which can be used under sail or oars, or, historically, to a type of fast-sailing vessel introduced in the 18th century, some of which were used as small warships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaff rig</span> Sailing rig configuration

Gaff rig is a sailing rig in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the gaff. Because of the size and shape of the sail, a gaff rig will have running backstays rather than permanent backstays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mast (sailing)</span> Pole used in rigging of a sailing vessel

The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light, look-out position, signal yard, control position, radio aerial or signal lamp. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship. Nearly all sailing masts are guyed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sail components</span> Features that define a (ship) sails shape and function

Sail components include the features that define a sail's shape and function, plus its constituent parts from which it is manufactured. A sail may be classified in a variety of ways, including by its orientation to the vessel and its shape,. Sails are typically constructed out of flexible material that is shaped by various means, while in use, to offer an appropriate airfoil, according to the strength and apparent direction of the wind. A variety of features and fittings allow the sail to be attached to lines and spars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full-rigged ship</span> Sailing vessel with three or more square-rigged masts

A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel with a sail plan of three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. Such a vessel is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged, with each mast stepped in three segments: lower, top, and topgallant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fore-and-aft rig</span> Sailing rig consisting mainly of sails

A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing vessel rig with sails set mainly along the line of the keel, rather than perpendicular to it as on a square rigged vessel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spritsail</span>

The spritsail is a four-sided, fore-and-aft sail that is supported at its highest points by the mast and a diagonally running spar known as the sprit. The foot of the sail can be stretched by a boom or held loose-footed just by its sheets. A spritsail has four corners: the throat, peak, clew, and tack. The Spritsail can also be used to describe a rig that uses a spritsail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foresail</span> Type of sail

A foresail is one of a few different types of sail set on the foremost mast (foremast) of a sailing vessel:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crab claw sail</span> Triangular sail with spars along upper and lower edges used by traditional Austronesians

The crab claw sail is a fore-and-aft triangular sail with spars along upper and lower edges. The crab claw sail was first developed by the Austronesian peoples by at least 2000 BCE. It is used in many traditional Austronesian cultures in Island Southeast Asia, Micronesia, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar. It is sometimes known as the Oceanic lateen or the Oceanic sprit, even though it is not restricted to Oceania, is neither a lateen sail nor a spritsail, and has an independent older origin.

A mast-aft rig is a sailboat sail-plan that uses a single mast set in the aft half of the hull. The mast supports fore-sails that may consist of a single jib, multiple staysails, or a crab claw sail. The mainsail is either small or completely absent. Mast-aft rigs are uncommon, but are found on a few custom, and production sailboats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sail</span> Fabric or other surface supported by a mast to allow wind propulsion

A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may be made from a combination of woven materials—including canvas or polyester cloth, laminated membranes or bonded filaments, usually in a three- or four-sided shape.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sailing:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanja sail</span> Oblique quadrilateral sail from south east Asia

Tanja sail or tanja rig is a type of sail commonly used by the Austronesian people, particularly in Maritime Southeast Asia. It is also known as the tilted square sail, canted rectangular sail, rectangular balance lug, or balance lug sail in English. In historical sources, a tanja sail is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a lateen sail or simply square sail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austronesian vessels</span> Sailing vessels of Austronesian peoples

Austronesian vessels are the traditional seafaring vessels of the Austronesian peoples of Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar. They also include indigenous ethnic minorities in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Hainan, the Comoros, and the Torres Strait Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sail plan</span> Technical drawing of a sailing craft

A sail plan is a drawing of a sailing craft, viewed from the side, depicting its sails, the spars that carry them and some of the rigging that supports the rig. By extension, "sail plan" describes the arrangement of sails on a craft. A sailing craft may be waterborne, an iceboat, or a sail-powered land vehicle.

References

  1. ↑ "Rig". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-15. the distinctive shape, number, and arrangement of sails and masts of a ship or to fit out with rigging
  2. ↑ Kemp, Dixon (1882). A Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing. H. Cox. p. 559.
  3. 1 2 MacGregor, David R (1985). Merchant Sailing Ships 1775-1815: Sovereignty of Sail. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN   0-85177-323-0.
  4. ↑ "Sail plan". Collins English Dictionary. 2023.
  5. ↑ Folkard, Henry Coleman (2012). Sailing Boats from Around the World: The Classic 1906 Treatise. Dover Maritime. Courier Corporation. p. 576. ISBN   9780486311340.
  6. ↑ Committee, Cruising Club of America Technical (1987). Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of Offshore Yachts. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 161. ISBN   978-0-393-03311-3.
  7. ↑ Royce, Patrick M. (1997). Royce's Sailing Illustrated. ProStar Publications. p. 74. ISBN   978-0-911284-07-2.
  8. ↑ Killing, Steve; Hunter, Douglas (1998). Yacht Design Explained: A Sailor's Guide to the Principles and Practice of Design. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 153. ISBN   978-0-393-04646-5.
  9. ↑ Leather, John (2001-01-11). The Gaff Rig Handbook: History, Design, Techniques, Developments. WoodenBoat Books. ISBN   978-0-937822-67-8.
  10. 1 2 Underhill, Harold (1946) [1938]. Masting and Rigging, the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier (1958 reprint ed.). Glasgow: Brown, Son and Ferguson, Ltd.
  11. ↑ "Definition of 'headsail'". Collins. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  12. ↑ Cunliffe, Tom (2016). Hand, Reef and Steer: Traditional Sailing Skills for Classic Boats (second ed.). Adlard Coles. ISBN   978-1472925220.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Nares, George Strong (1897). Seamanship: Including Names of Principal Parts of a Ship. Griffin & Company. pp. 106–256.
  14. ↑ Doran, Edwin B. (1981). Wangka: Austronesian Canoe Origins. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN   9780890961070.
  15. ↑ Horridge A (2008). "Origins and Relationships of Pacific Canoes and Rigs" (PDF). In Di Piazza A, Pearthree E (eds.). Canoes of the Grand Ocean. BAR International Series 1802. Archaeopress. ISBN   9781407302898. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  16. ↑ Lacsina, Ligaya (2016). Examining pre-colonial Southeast Asian boatbuilding: An archaeological study of the Butuan Boats and the use of edge-joined planking in local and regional construction techniques (PhD). Flinders University.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Campbell, I.C. (1995). "The Lateen Sail in World History". Journal of World History. 6 (1): 1–23. JSTOR   20078617.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Horridge, Adrian (April 1986). "The Evolution of Pacific Canoe Rigs". The Journal of Pacific History. 21 (2): 83–99. doi:10.1080/00223348608572530. JSTOR   25168892.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Pelras, Christian (1997). The Bugis. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 258–259. ISBN   9780631172314.
  20. ↑ Burningham, Nick (2019). "Shipping of the Indian Ocean World". In Schottenhammer, Angela (ed.). Early global interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean world. Volume 2: Exchange of ideas, religions, and technologies. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 141–202. ISBN   9783319978017.
  21. ↑ Chaudhuri, K.N. (1985). Trade and Civilisation in the Indian Ocean: An Economic History from the Rise of Islam to 1750. Cambridge University Press. p. 152. ISBN   9780521285421.
  22. 1 2 Paine, Lincoln (2013). The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 286. ISBN   9780307962256.
  23. ↑ Burningham, Nick (2019). "Chapter 6: Shipping of the Indian Ocean World". In Schottenhammer, Angela (ed.). Early Global Interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World, Volume II: Exchange of Ideas, Religions, and Technologies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 141–201.
  24. ↑ Inglis, Douglas Andrew (2014). The Borobudur Vessels in Context (Thesis). Texas A&M University.
  25. ↑ Jett, Stephen C. (2017). Ancient Ocean Crossings: Reconsidering the Case for Contacts with the Pre-Columbian Americas. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN   9780817319397.
  26. ↑ Needham, Joseph (1971). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part III: Civil Engineering and Nautics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  27. ↑ Johnstone, Paul (1980). The Seacraft of Prehistory. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0674795952.
  28. ↑ L. Pham, Charlotte Minh-Hà (2012). Asian Shipbuilding Technology. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education. pp. 20–21. ISBN   978-92-9223-413-3 . Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  29. ↑ Needham, Joseph (1971). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part III: Civil Engineering and Nautics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  30. ↑ Crossley, Pamela Kyle, Daniel R. Headrick, Steven W. Hirsch, Lyman L. Johnson, and David Northrup. "Song Dynasty." The Earth and Its Peoples. By Richard W. Bulliet. 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. 279–80. Print.
  31. ↑ "History and Construction of the Dhow". Nabatea.net. Retrieved 21 May 2024.

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