Boat-Building and Boating

by Daniel Carter Beard

Fig. 164.—Sharpie with sprit and club leg-of-mutton sails.

Showing detail of sprit club sail.

The Standing Lug

is another sail approaching the square in pattern ([Fig. 152]), and, as any novice can see, is a good canvas with which to scud before the wind. It is very convenient for open boats built to be propelled by paddles. While the standing lug cannot point up to the eye of the wind like a schooner or cat, it is very fast on the wind or when running with the wind astern. Probably the safest form of sail used is the old reliable

Leg-of-Mutton Sail

This is used by the fishermen on their stanch little dories away up on the coast of Maine, and by the "tide-water" people in their "buckeyes" on Chesapeake Bay. The latter boat is very little known outside of the locality where it makes its home, but, like the New Haven sharpies, it is very popular in its own waters.