Somewhat like the lateen, but with the forward end cut off, is the lugsail which is the sail most often used by the fishermen of northern Europe and the British Isles. Personally I could never see any advantage which this sail possesses over the common and much more simple spritsail or the ordinary boom-and-gaff sail and on large boats it is heavy, clumsy and far less to be recommended than several other forms.
The common boom-and-gaff sail is the one so familiar to everyone who lives on or near the water or who has ever seen sailing boats or vessels, for it is more widely used than any other form and is the basis of all fore-and-aft rigs in most localities.
Parts of Sails, Spars, Etc., of Fore-and-aft Rig
The true fore-and-aft sail or boom-and-gaff sail is really an adaptation of the older lugsail and is a vast improvement over it. It is attached to the mast by means of rings or travelers and has two spars; the one at the top known as the gaff and the one at the bottom known as the boom. There are two halyards used, known as the peak halyard and throat halyard; the latter being used to hoist the sail and the former to spread it tight and flat. This rig is noted for its ability to sail close to the wind; it is easy to handle and in case of a sudden storm or squall the peak may be dropped and the area of the sail thus reduced without stopping to reef. For very small boats it has the disadvantage of requiring rather heavy spars and mast and a multiplicity of ropes, blocks, etc., and hence for this purpose the sprit, leg-o’-mutton, gunter or lateen rigs are preferable.
Aside from the shape or type of sails there are various rigs which are well recognized as standards and which are combinations of several sails. Thus the rig known as the cat rig is a single fore-and-aft sail near the bow of the boat. The jib-and-mainsail rig has a boom-and-gaff sail and a small triangular sail known as a jib, which is set on a stay running from the masthead to the bow, or to the end of the bowsprit. The sloop rig is like the jib-and-mainsail rig but in addition has a small sail known as a topsail between the gaff and the topmast; it may also have two or three other small triangular sails on the forestays. When there are two of these the lowest is known as the fore staysail, the next is the jib and the third is the flying jib. Schooners are two-, three-, four-, five-, six- or even seven-masted vessels with the masts fore-and-aft rigged and with jibs like a sloop and with staysails between the various topmasts. In schooners the various fore-and-aft sails are all of nearly the same size with the sail on the rear mast the largest.
1—Ketch Rig. 2—Cat Yawl Rig
Two other rigs which have two masts and carry fore-and-aft sails are the ketch and the yawl. The ketch has a foremast rigged like that of a sloop, or schooner, with a much smaller boom-and-gaff sail on a mast near the stern, while the yawl is practically the same with a still smaller rear sail. If the rear mast or mizzen is placed in front of the sternpost the rig is the ketch whereas if placed behind the sternpost it is a yawl rig. There are also cat yawls which have no jibs and some ketches and yawls carry lugsails on both masts, or have a boom and gaff mainsail and a lugsail mizzen or even a sprit, lateen, leg-o’-mutton, gunter or other type of mizzen sail. Yawls and ketches are at times rigged with leg-o’-mutton, lug, gunter or lateen sails on both masts, but when thus rigged the crafts are not, properly speaking, either yawls or ketches. If lugsails are used the rig is really a lugger; if both masts carry leg-o’-mutton or gunter sails the rig is known as the nonpareil; if the mizzen is a leg-o’-mutton sail the boat is dandy-rigged and if both main and mizzen sails are of the lateen type the boat becomes a felucca, which is one of the favorite Mediterranean rigs and is familiar to every reader of sea tales as the typical rig of the Eastern corsairs.
All of the sails mentioned on these various rigs are those known as working sails, but in addition there are numerous light sails used when there is little wind or when racing, such as spinnakers, jib topsails, balloon jibs, etc., but which are of little interest in connection with small boats or boats for the amateur sailor. Nevertheless some knowledge of such matters never comes amiss and it is well to know the names and uses of these racing sails.