A Wisdom Archive on Gaff Rigged

On a gaff rigged sailing boat, a topsail is a triangular sail set between the gaff and the top of the mast or extended higher by a small boom. These rigs may still be seen in widespread use today but were once more common, particularly on such vessels as cutters, two-masted racing, naval or merchant schooners and gaff sloops, but have now been largely superseded by the bermuda rig, which has no topsails. There may be o ...

Read more here: » Topsail: Encyclopedia II - Topsail - Gaff rig

On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a square sail rigged above the course sail and below the topgallant sail where carried. A full-rigged ship has either single or double ("split" upper and lower) topsails on all masts, the single or lower topsail being the second sail above the deck and the upper topsail where so rigged being the third. Although described as a "square" sail, this term refers not to a sail's shape but to it and its yard being rigged square to the keel of the vessel rather than in line with it or "fore and a ...

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In sailing, a course sail is the principal sail on a mast. This term is used predominantly on square rigged vessels, referring to the largest and lowest sail on each mast (mizzen-course, main-course and fore-course). Gaff-rigged vessels might possibly use the term (for the lowest sail rigged aft of each mast), but are more likely to refer simply to a mainsail, foresail, etc. A Bermuda- or lateen-rigged yacht, whether sloop, cutter, ketch or yawl, would not usually be des ...

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• Bermuda sloop - External link

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A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat), or a cat-rigged sailboat, is a sailing vessel characterized by a single mast carried well forward (i.e., near the front of the boat). Although any boat with a single sail and a mast carried well forward is 'technically' a catboat, the traditional catboat has a wide beam approximately half the length of the boat, a centerboard, and a single gaff-rigged sail. Some catboats such as the Barnegat Bay type and more modern catboat designs carry a Bermuda sail. A jib is so ... Including:

• Catboat - Description
• Catboat - Other Types of Sailing Vessels

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In sailing, a spar is a round pole of wood or metal, used on a sailing ship. In modern usage it almost always refers to the mast, but historically it was also used for booms, gaffs, yards, etc. Spars of all types are used in the rigging of sailing ships to resist compressive and bending forces, and to provide support for the sails. Wooden ships from the age of sail often carried many extra spars of all types for repairs while at sea. The spar deck of a frigate was so named because it was used to c ...

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A traditional modern yacht is technically called a "Bermuda sloop" (sometimes a "Bermudan sloop"). A sloop is any boat that has only a single mast. The Bermuda designation refers to the fact that the sail which has its forward edge (the "luff") against the mast (the main sail) is a sail roughly triangular in shape. Addionally, Bermuda sloops only have a single sail behind the mast. Other types of sloops are gaff-rigged sloops and lateen sloops (sometimes called a junk-rig). Gaff-rigged sloops have quadrilateral mainsails with a gaff (a small ...

Read more here: » Sailing: Encyclopedia II - Sailing - Types of sails and layouts

Bark | Barque | Barquentine | Bilander | Brig | Brigantine | Caravel | Carrack | Catamaran | Catboat | Clipper | Dutch Clipper | Cog | Corvette | Cutter | Dhow | Fluyt | Fore & Aft Rig | Frigate | Full Rigged Ship | Gaff Rig | Galleon | Gunter Rig | Hermaphrodite Brig | Junk | Ketch | Mersey Flat | Multihull | Nao | Norfolk Wherry | Pink | Pocket Cruiser | Polacca | Pram | Proa | Schooner | Ship of the Line | Sloop | Smack | Snow | Square Rig | Tall Ship | Thames Sailing Ba ...

Read more here: » List of sailing boat types: Encyclopedia II - List of sailing boat types - Types of sailing vessels and rigs

Bark | Barque | Barquentine | Bilander | Brig | Brigantine | Caravel | Carrack | Catamaran | Catboat | Clipper | Dutch Clipper | Cog | Corvette | Cutter | Dhow | Fluyt | Fore & Aft Rig | Frigate | Full Rigged Ship | Gaff Rig | Galleon | Gunter Rig | Hermaphrodite Brig | Junk | Ketch | Mersey Flat | Multihull | Nao | Norfolk Wherry | Pink | Pocket Cruiser | Polacca | Pram | Proa | Schooner | Ship of the Line | Sloop ...

Read more here: » Cog ship: Encyclopedia II - Cog ship - Other types of sailing vessel

Some standard sail plans are: sloop a single jib or staysail and a Bermudian or gaff mainsail lifted by a single mast. The mainsail is managed with a spar on the underside called a "boom." One of the best-performing rigs, it is the fastest for up-wind passages. It is by far the most popular for recreational boating because of its simplicity and potential for high performance. On small boats, it is a very simple rig. On larger sloops, the large sails have high loads, and one must manage them with winches or multiple purcha ...

Read more here: » Sail-plan: Encyclopedia II - Sail-plan - Standard plans

The schooner sail-plan has two or more masts with the forward mast being shorter or the same height as the rear masts. A two-masted schooner is technically a yacht, as a sailing ship must have at least three masts. Most schooners are either gaff or schooner rigged. Alternatives include the topsail schooner with one or two square rigged topsails on the foremast, and the staysail schooner with staysails only on the foremast. There was no set maximum number of masts for a schooner. A small schooner has two or three masts, but they were b ...

Read more here: » Schooner: Encyclopedia II - Schooner - Construction

A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat), or a cat-rigged sailboat, is a sailing vessel characterized by a single mast carried well forward (i.e., near the front of the boat). Although any boat with a single sail and a mast carried well forward is 'technically' a catboat, the traditional catboat has a wide beam approximately half the length of the boat, a centerboard, and a single gaff-rigged sail. Some catboats such as the Barnegat Bay type and more modern catboat designs carry a Bermuda sail. A jib is sometimes added, but this may require a bowsprit, and ...

Read more here: » Catboat: Encyclopedia II - Catboat - Description