Rig (sailing)

thumb|300px|Rigging of a sailing [[frigate]]

A sailing vessel's rig is its arrangement of masts, sails and rigging. Examples include a schooner rig, cutter rig, junk rig, etc. 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.

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. 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 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".

Design

thumb|upright|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. By extension, "sail plan" describes the arrangement of sails on a vessel. 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, so that the sailing craft will tend to turn into the wind if the helm is unattended. 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).

Types of rig

Fore-and-aft rig features sails that run fore and aft (along the length of the sailing craft), controlled by lines called "sheets", that changes sides, as the bow passes through the wind from one side of the craft to the other. Fore-and-aft rig variants include:
Bermuda rig (also known as a Marconi rig) features a three-sided mainsail.
Gaff rig features a four-sided mainsail with the upper edge made fast to a spar called a gaff.
Spritsail rig features a four-sided mainsail with the aft upper corner supported by a diagonal spar, called a sprit, whose lower end meets the mast near the foot of the sail.
Lateen rig features a three-sided sail set on a long yard, mounted at an angle on the mast and running in a fore-and-aft direction.
Crab claw sail (also known as Oceanic sprit or Oceanic lateen) features a three-sided sail with spars on both the foot and the head. It's either mastless, supported by a "prop", or mounted on removable or fixed masts.
Tanja sail (also known as canted square/rectangular sail, balance lugsail, or boomed lugsail) features a four-sided sail with spars on both the foot and the head. It's mounted on removable or fixed masts.
Square rig uses square sails as the major sails on a vessel. It is common for square rigged vessels to include some fore and aft sails, such as staysails. A mast may be referred to as a square rigged mast where square sails predominatethis would differentiate from other masts on the same vessel being fore-and-aft rigged, for example in a barque. Square sails are generally suspended from yards which, when at rest, are at right angles ("square") to the centre-line of the vessel. This differentiates them from fore-and-aft sails, which are aligned along the centre-line when at rest. Operationally, this means that square sails always present the same surface of the sail to the wind when propelling a vessel forward: they have a front and a back. Fore-and-aft sails can have either of their surfaces facing the wind when in use. Hence either vertical edge of a square sail may be the front (when sailing to windward) but fore-and-aft sails always have the same vertical edge at the front.

Types of sail

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

A staysail (pronounced stays'l) is a fore-and-aft sail whose leading edge (or luff) is hanked to a stay.
A headsail is any sail forward of the foremost mast on a sailing boat. It is usually a fore-and-aft sail, but on older sailing ships would include a square-sail on a bowsprit.
A jib is a headsail that is set in front of any other headsails, or in modern usage, may be the only headsail. It may be hanked to a stay, used in roller reefing or set flying (as in the more traditional cutter rigs). In a large vessel with many headsails, you may, for example, find a flying jib, outer-jib, inner-jib and then the fore-staysail.
A genoa is a large jib that increases area by extending rearward of the mast.
A spinnaker is a full sail of light material for use when sailing downwind in light airs. When in use, the jib or genoa would be lowered.
A gennaker is a sail that is a cross between a genoa and a spinnaker.
A mainsail ("mains'l") is a sail attached to the main mast. The principal types include:
A square-rig mainsail is a square sail attached at the bottom of the main mast.
A Bermuda-rig mainsail is a triangular sail with the luff attached to the mast with the foot or lower edge generally attached to a boom.
A gaff-rig mainsail is a quadrilateral sail whose head is supported by a gaff.
A spritsail-rig mainsail is a quadrilateral sail whose aft head is supported by a sprit.
A lug sail is an asymmetric quadrilateral sail suspended on a spar and hoisted up the mast as a fore-and-aft sail.
A mizzen sail is a small triangular or quadrilateral sail at the stern of a boat.
A steadying sail is a mizzen sail on motor vessels such as old-fashioned drifters and navy ships (such as ). The sail's prime function is to reduce rolling rather than to provide drive.

Rigging-longship.svg|A square sail is loose-footed, but may be attached to a spar, below.

Rigging-junk-sail.svg|A junk sail has multiple transverse battens.

Rigging-lug-sail.svg|A lugsail has a tall asymmetrical shape.

Rigging-lateen2-sail.svg|A settee sail has an elongated asymmetrical shape.

Sail plan catboat.svg|A gaff rigged sail has a spar above and a boom below.

Rigging-gunter-sail.svg|A gunter rig has a vertical spar that extends vertically above the mast.

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Rigging-catboat-berm.svg|A bermuda rigged sail has one edge attached to the mast.

Rigging-lateen-sail.svg|A lateen sail is loose-footed.

Sail plan sunfish.svg|A crabclaw sail has spars along two sides.

Żagiel spinaker.svg|Spinnakers are attached at their corners.

Jib vs genoa.jpg|Staysails include jibs.

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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

thumb|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):

main course
main topsail
main topgallant ("t'gallant")
main royal
main skysail
main moonraker.

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.

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. A Double sprit (Sri Lanka) B Common sprit (Philippines) C Oceanic sprit (Tahiti) D Oceanic sprit (Marquesas) E Oceanic sprit (Philippines) F Crane sprit (Marshall Islands) G Rectangular boom lug (Maluku Islands) H Square boom lug (Gulf of Thailand) I Trapezial boom lug (Vietnam)|align=right|height=275|width=275

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. 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.

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".

Micronesian, Island Melanesian, and Polynesian single-outrigger vessels also used the canted mast configuration to uniquely develop shunting. 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. 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.

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. Historians Paul Johnstone and Joseph Needham suggest an Austronesian (specifically Indonesian) origin of the rig. Junk rigs were adopted by the Chinese by around the 12th century. Iconographic remains show that Chinese ships before the 12th century used square sails. It also further diffused into other East Asian shipbuilding traditions, notably Japan.

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.

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.

Four Kind of Ships which Bantenese Use de Bry.jpg|Southeast Asian djongs (D'Eerste Boeck, ) with both tanja and junk rigs

Kangxi-Reise.jpg|Qing dynasty Chinese junk (chuán) (), note the partially reefed sails

The Naga Pelangi under full canvas.JPG|Malay pinas

Maquette - caboteur de la Laguna - Manille, Philippines.jpg|Tagalog balación

Picture of a kai-sen at Tokyo National Museum Image Archives, ID C0070617 A-9899.jpg|Japanese kai-sen

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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.<

Gallery

Presented alphabetically by section:

Fore-and-aft

Sail_plan_catboat.svg|Catboat: single mast and sail, usually gunter- or gaff-rigged

Sail plan cutter.svg|Cutter: single mast with gaff-rigged mainsail, two headsails, and a gaff topsail above the gaff.

Rigging-lateen-sail.svg|Dhow: single unstayed mast with lateen sail

Sail_plan_felucca.svg|Felucca: one to three lateen rigged masts

Gunter rig.png|Gunter: sloop with gunter rig

Sail_plan_junk.svg|Junk: one or more junk-rigged masts

Sail_plan_ketch.svg|Ketch: two masts with mizzen mast before the tiller

Lugrig.svg|Lugger: two-masted lug rig

Sail_plan_proa.svg|Proa: single mast with crab claw sail

Sail_plan_scooner.svg|Schooner: two or more fore-and-aft rigged masts, first mast no taller than the second

Sail_plan_sloop.svg|Sloop: single mast with a gaff-rigged mainsail and topsail on the mainmast

Sail_plan_yawl.svg|Yawl: two masts with mizzen mast aft of the tiller

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Square

With square sails on every mast

File:Sail plan brig.svg|Brig: two square-rigged masts and headsails

File:Sail_plan_ship.svg|Fully rigged ship: three or more (all) square-rigged masts and headsails

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Combination

With some masts having exclusively fore-and-aft sails

File:Sail_plan_barque.svg|Barque: two or more square-rigged masts and headsails with fore-and-aft rigged aftmost mast

File:Sail_plan_barquentine.svg|Barquentine: one square-rigged mast (fore) and two or more fore-and-aft rigged (main, mizzen, etc.) masts

File:Bilander.svg|Bilander: two masts, main mast course sail lateen rigged, all others square rigged

File:HermaphroditeBrig.png|Schooner brig: one square-rigged foremast and one fore-and-aft rigged main mast

File:Brigantine.png|Brigantine: one square-rigged foremast and hybrid rigged main mast

File:Sail_plan_xebec.svg|Polacre: one square-rigged main with headsails and two lateen rigged aft masts

File:Topsailschoonerdiagram.jpg|Topsail schooner: two schooner-rigged masts with one or more square-rigged topsails

File:Snow.png|Snow: headsails, two square-rigged masts, and a third smaller 'snow-mast' with a trysail

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Notes

References

Introduction

Design

Types of rig

Types of sail

European and American vessels

Square-rigged masts

South Asian and Middle Eastern vessels

Dhow

Gallery

Fore-and-aft

Square

Combination

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links