Sail.
A canvas cloth spread to catch the wind.
1. (
Nautical.) It is supported by the masts, spars, or stays of a vessel.
2. The propelling sheet of a wind-driven carriage.
3. The clothing on the radial arms of a windmill.
4. A funnel-shaped bag on the deck of a vessel to intercept or gather air and lead it below deck for the purpose of ventilation.
A
wind-sail.
The
Greek tradition that
Daedalus, the Athenian, 1240 B. C., first contrived sails, is disproved by the expeditions of the Phoenicians around the Mediterranean previous to that time, by the fact that the
Nile had been for over 1,000 years the great highway of
Egypt, and the rivers of
China for an equal or greater period had run through a well-peopled country.
Sails come from Egypt, and this paper too.
The
Veneti, a tribe of the Belgae, had leathern sails managed by chains.
The
Romans tore them by scythes on the ends of long poles.—Strabo.
Sails take their names from the mast, yard, or stay on which they are stretched.
Some of the names indicate relative elevation:—
| Mainsail. | Foretopmast-staysail. |
| Foretopsail. | Maintopmast-studdingsail. |
| Mizzen-royal-sail. | Main-sky sail, etc., etc. |
| Main-staysail. | See Fig. 4549. |
They also differ in their mode of extension:—
A
square sail is extended by a
yard or
boom (see
Fig. 4548）
A
fore-and-aft sail is extended by a
gaff, stay, sprit, or
yard.
Names indicative of form:—
| Square sail. | Shoulder-of-mutton sail, etc. |
| Lateen-sail. |
Specific names of various derivations:—
| Bonnet. | Driver. |
| Jib. | Lug. |
| Ring-tail. | Save-all. |
| Skysail. | Spanker. |
| Spencer. | Trysail. |
Names derived from normal position:—
| Fore-and-aft sail. | Studdingsail. |
| Water-sail. | Bonnet. |
By position before or abaft the
center of effort of the vessel:—
The
square sails are:
courses, topsails, top-gallantsails, royals, and
skysails, on each mast.
Lug and
studding sails are also enumerated among the
square sails.
The
fore-and-aft sails are:
staysails, trysails, jibs, drivers, spankers, gaff-topsails; and in sloops, cutters, and schooners, the main and fore sails, and frequently the topsails.
Trysails are bent to small spars abaft the lower masts.
That of the mizzen is called the
spanker.
Staysails are those hoisted on the
stays of the masts.
The
foretopmast-staysail, jib, flying-jib, and
jib-of-jib are of this kind.
Some jibs do not run on a stay.
See cutter.
The
courses are the sails sustained by the lower masts, as the
foresail, mainsail, and
spanker.
The parts and accessories of a sail are:—
Head; the upper edge.
Foot; the lower edge.
Leech; the vertical edge.
The
weather-leech is the
luff. The
lee-leech is the
after-leech.
Clew; one of the lower corners of a square sail; the lower after-corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
Tack; the lower weather-corner of a square sail; the lower forward corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
Bunt; the middle part of a sail, vertically.
Bolt-rope; sewed round the edges of a sail; it is called the
head, foot, or
leech rope, according to position.
Earing; the upper corner of a square sail.
The
depth of a sail is from the
head-rope to the
foot-rope of a square sail; the length of the after-leech of a fore-and-aft sail.
Tabling; an additional thickness of canvas on the
roped side of a sail.
Reef-band; a strengthening band across the sail at the eyeletholes for the
reef-points.
Reef-points; tapering pieces of braided cordage called
sennit, which pass through the eyelets and hang down an equal distance before and abaft the sail.
The length is such as to enable them to reach twice round the yard.
Reef-line: a substitute for
reef-points, consisting of a rope rove through the eyelets of a reef-band and over the yard.
[
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Reef-tackle; a purchase by which the
reef-cringles on the leech of the sail are hauled up to the yard in reefing.
Belly-band; a strengthening band of canvas running horizontally midway between the lowest reef-band and the foot of the sail.
Buntline-cloths; bands of canvas running up and down from the belly-band to the foot of the sail.
Reef-tackle patch; a strengthening piece of canvas at the reef-cringle on the leech of a sail.
Top-lining; a patch on the lower part of a topsail where it chafes on the
top of a lower mast.
Cringle; a loop on the leech of a sail to which the reef-tackles are attached.
The head-cringle is a loop on the upper corner of a sail by which it is lashed to the
headearing strops on the yard-arms.
The
head-rope of the sail is secured to the
jackstay on the yard by
robands passing through eyelet-holes.
The
roach of the sail is the concave curve of the foot.
A
save-all is a piece which fills up the
roach when required.
For the ropes to operate yards, sails, etc., see running-rigging.
A sail is —
Bent; that is, fastened to its yard or other spar; or
Unbent; cast loose therefrom.
Furled: drawn up to the yard or spar and secured by gaskets.
Reefed; reduced in area by tying up a portion of the
foot or of the
head, as the case may be.
Atrip; hoisted and sheeted home ready for trimming.
Trimmed; when the yards are braced up in the most advantageous position to catch the wind.
To
set sail; to expand it on its yard or stay.
To
make sail is to spread all or a part of the sails or shake out the reefs.
To
shorten sail is to furl, reef, or clew a part of the sails.
To
strike sail is to lower it suddenly by letting run the halyards.
To
loosen sail; to shake it from the yard to dry.
To
back sail; to handle the sail so as to catch the wind in a direction to force the ship astern.
To
hand sail is to
furl it.
To
brace a sail is to move it by bracing the yards; to
brace about is to brace them in a contrary direction; to
brace in is to haul in the weather-braces; to
brace up is to haul in the leebraces.
To
brail is to haul up the foot and leeches of a sail by its brails.
To
fill is to brace the yards so that the wind will act upon the after surface of the sails.
To
settle down a sail is to lower it to the cap handsomely.
Square sails are worked by the motions of the yards which are effected by those parts of the running-rigging known as
The ropes especially devoted to the sails are the
| Sheets. | Buntlines. |
| Jacks. | Downhauls. |
| Clewlines. | Brails. |
| Bowlines. | Outhaulers. |
Canvas or sail-cloth is made in grades of quality and strength.
Of the latter it is Nos. 1 to 8.
The first number is the strongest, and is used for storm-sails; No. 8 for small sails and studdingsails.
The seams of the cloth in a square sail are vertical.
In a fore-and-aft sail they are parallel with the after-
leach.
In
Cowan's patent (
English) the seams are horizontal.
The seams have also been made diagonal, with no improved effect, but rather otherwise.
Some of the terms employed by sail-makers are, —
Seaming: sewing the breadths together.
Goring; cutting out the wedge-shaped pieces where the sail narrows.
Tabling; putting on the strengthening strips around the edge, where the cringles are inserted.
Sewing on the
reef, belly, lining, and
buntline bands.
Roping; sewing on the
bolt-rope.
Marling on the clews and foot-rope.
Many attempts have been made to avoid the necessity of going aloft to set or furl sails, which is a dangerous duty, especially in stormy and wintry weather.
Cunningham's patent (
English) is for a yard, rotated by ropes from the deck, so as to wind on or unwind the sail in furling or setting.
The plan involves a vertical division of the sail, and has not been generally adopted.
Fig. 4548 is a
course or lower square-sail.
 |
|
Square sail. |
a, yard.
b, head-rope.
c, foot-rope.
d d, clews.
e e, earings.
f f, leeches.
g, bunt.
h, first reef-band.
i, second reef-band.
k, third reef-band.
 |
|
Frigate under full sail. |
| a, spanker. | m, foresail. |
| b, mizzen-topsail. | n, fore-studdingsail. |
| c, mizzen-top-gallantsail. | o, foretopsail. |
| d, mizzen-royal. | p, foretopmast-studdingsail. |
| e, mainsail. | q, fore-top-gallantsail. |
| f, main-topsail. | r, fore-top-gallant-studdingsail. |
| g, maintopmast-studdingsail. |
| h, main-top-gallantsail. | s, fore-royal. |
| i i, main-top-gallant-studdingsails. | t, fore-royal-studdingsail. |
| u, jib. |
| k, main-royal. | v, flying-jib. |
| l l, main-royal-studdingsails. |
