What is a spanker sail on a ship?
On a square rigged ship, the spanker is a gaff rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft of the aftmost mast. More often now called a Mizzen or a Jigger. (In old books you may also find the same sail called a ‘driver’.) The sail which the Dutch sometimes set from masthead to stern, and which they call an aap (ape),...
Where is the spanker on a square rigged ship?
The spanker is the fore-and-aft sail at the lower right. On a square rigged ship, the spanker is a gaff-rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft of the aftmost mast. ^ Wilson, Charles (1843).
What is the meaning of spanker?
Definition of spanker. 1 : the fore-and-aft sail on the mast nearest the stern of a square-rigged ship. 2 : the sail on the mast nearest the stern of a schooner of four or more masts.
What is the difference between a spanker and a headsail?
The headsails (the jibs and fore staysail) also help the ship turn off the wind; the spanker helps the ship turn into the wind to tack. Enter a name, wait 7 seconds, brace yourself (this is addicting).
What does the spanker do?
The purpose of the spanker — or mizzen sail, as it is called on most yawl configurations — is to provide overall stability and balance to the vessel while under sail. The sail itself is aft of the rudder. A spanker provides exceptional maneuverability and in skilled hands can be used to steer the boat or ship.
What is a spanker gaff?
On a square rigged ship, the spanker is a gaff rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft of the aftmost mast. More often now called a Mizzen or a Jigger. (In old books you may also find the same sail called a 'driver'.)
What is a barque rigged ship?
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, bearing a square-rigged sail above.
What is a mizzen 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 HMS Prince Albert).
Where is the spanker on a ship?
On a square rigged ship, the spanker is a gaff-rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft of the aftmost mast.
What is a staysail used for?
The staysail plays three roles: It augments sail power. It helps break down total sail area into smaller working components for ease of handling. The smaller sail units allow for different combinations, giving sailors a variety of options for different conditions.
What is a 4 masted ship called?
Barque9) The Bark (Barque) They had four masts, each bearing square sails on the fore topmast and fore-and-aft sails on the aft mast. These vessels were commonly used by traders to carry extremely high volumes of cargo from Australia to Europe.
What is a ship with 3 masts called?
Barque. A vessel of three or more masts, fore and aft rigged on the aftermost mast and square-rigged on all others. Sometimes spelled 'bark'.
Why is a ship called a bark?
bark, also spelled barque, sailing ship of three or more masts, the rear (mizzenmast) being rigged for a fore-and-aft rather than a square sail. Until fore-and-aft rigs were applied to large ships to reduce crew sizes, the term was often used for any small sailing vessel.
What are the 3 sails on a boat called?
Types of yacht sails Either a jib, a genoa or a spinnaker, there are several sizes of headsails: A working jib is a smaller jib that fills the space between the mast and forestay, used in stronger winds.
Why do we yawl?
A yawl is often considered a suitable rig for a short handed or single handed sailor. This is because the mainsail is not quite so big to handle and the mizzen (before the days of modern self steering gear) could allow the sails to be trimmed to keep a boat on the same course.
What is the back sail called?
Mainsail: As the name implies, this is the main sail of the boat. It is the sail attached to the back of the mast. Mast: The mast is a large, vertical pole that holds the sails up. Some boats have more than one mast. Painter: This is a line positioned at the front of small boats.
What is the difference between a bark and a brig?
Many ship rigged vessels were converted to barks to reduce the number of crew member, and therefore will appear both as a ship and a bark in the lists. The brig was usually a much smaller vessel than the bark and ship rigged vessels. The brig is a vessel with two masts (fore and main), both of which are square rigged.
What is the difference between a ship and a bark?
A bark is square-rigged at her fore and main masts, and differs from a ship in having no top, and carrying only fore-and-aft sails at her mizzenmast.
What is the difference between a brig and a schooner?
A brig is "generally built on a larger scale than a schooner, and may approach the magnitude of a full-sized, three-masted ship." Brigs vary in length between 75 and 165 ft (23 and 50 m) with tonnages up to 480.
What is a barque Egypt?
A royal boat used by ancient Egyptians to transport statues of gods or mummies.
What is the after sail of a ship called?
the after sail of a ship or bark, being a fore-and-aft sail attached to a boom and gaff; -- sometimes called driver. See Illust. under Sail
What is the aftermost sail of a ship?
A fore-and-aft sail, setting with a boom and gaff, frequently called the driver (which see). It is the aftermost sail of a ship or bark.
What does "whopper" mean?
something very large, or larger than common; a whopper, as a stout or tall person
What is a full rigged ship?
Sailing vessel with three or more square-rigged masts A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel 's sail plan with three or more masts , all of them square-rigged . [1] A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged . Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three segments: lower mast, top mast, and topgallant mast. [2] [3] [4] Other large, multi-masted sailing vessels may be regarded as ships while lacking one of the elements of a full-rigged ship, e.g. having one or more masts support only a fore-and-aft sail or having a mast that only has two segments. [4] HMS Lutine , a French-built ship-rigged frigate of the late 18th century The masts of a full-rigged ship, from bow to stern , are: [2] Foremast, which is the second tallest mast Mainmast, the tallest Mizzenmast, the third tallest Jiggermast, which may not be present but will be fourth tallest if so If the masts are of wood, each mast is in three or more pieces. They are (in order, from bottom up): [3] The lowest piece is called the mast or the lower . Topmast Topgallant mast Royal mast, if fitted On steel-masted vessels, the corresponding sections of the mast are named after the traditional wooden sections. Ship Garthsnaid at sea, c. 1920 The lowest and normally largest sail on a mast is the course sail of that mast, and is referred to simply by the mast name: Foresail, mainsail, mizzen sail, jigger sail or more commonly forecourse etc. Note that even a full-rigged ship did not usually have a lateral (square) course on the mizzen mast below the mizzen topmast. Instead, the lowest sail on the mizzen was usually a fore/aft sail—originally a lateen sail, but later a gaff sail called a spanker or driver. The key distinction between a "ship" and "barque" (in modern usage) is that a "ship" carries a square-rigged mizzen topsail (and therefore that its mizzen mast has a topsail yard and a cross-jack yard) whereas the mizzen mast of a barque has only fore-and-aft rigged sails. The cross-jack yard was the lowest yard on a ship's mizzen mast. Unlike the corresponding yards on the fore and main mast it did not usually have fittings to hang a sail from: its purpose was to control the lower edge of the topsail. In the rare case that the cross-jack yard did carry a square sail, this sail would be called the cross-jack rather than the mizzen course. Above the course sail, in order, are: The division of a sail into upper and lower sails was a matter of practicality, since undivided sails were larger and, consequently, more difficult to handle. Larger sails necessitated hiring, and paying, a larger crew. Additionally, the great size of some late-19th and 20th century vessels meant that their correspondingly large sails would have been impossible to handle had they not been divided. Jibs are carried forward of the foremast, are tacked down on the bowsprit or jib-boom and have varying naming conventions. Staysails may be carried between any other mast and the one in front o
What is a bow shackle?
The Bow shackle- with a larger "O" shape to the loop, this shackle can take loads from many directions without developing as much side load. However, the larger shape to the loop does reduce its overall strength. Also referred to as an anchor shackle.
What happens when you try to tack a square rigger?
Anyway, when you try to tack a square-rigger the square sails on the yardarms will go aback early on in the maneuver. The staysails will continue to help drive the ship through the wind and onto the new tack.
How far off the wind can a square rigged ship sail?
Even with them, the best most square-riggers could do would be about 75-80 degrees off the wind (vs about 45 degrees for a fore and aft rigged vessel, like a schooner or modern sailboat).
What type of ships plied long tradewind routes where the wind generally blew from behind?
Thus square rigged ships mostly plied long tradewind routes where the wind generally blew from behind. Sailing vessels in coastal/interisland trade were mostly fore-and-aft rigged, typically schooners or dhows or lateen rigs in the Mediterranean because they would typically have the wind behind in one direction and in front the other way. The state of Maine is called "Down East" in New England because sailing to Maine from the south was generally downwind.
When to use square rigged sails?
Square-rigged sails are most effective when sailing downwind - the wind is pushing the ship from behind. If the ship is not going dead downwind but mostly downwind, the yards will be braced around so that they are perpendicular to the wind.
What is the function of the headsails in a ship?
The headsails (the jibs and fore staysail) also help the ship turn off the wind; the spanker helps the ship turn into the wind to tack.
