Everything about Foot Sailing totally explained
In
sailing the
parts of a sail have common terminology. Most sails are now triangular; for such sails, there are six separate terms, one for each
corner and edge.
The corners
In a triangular sail, the upper point is known as the
head; the
halyard, the
line which raises the sail, is attached to the head. The lower two points of the sail, on either end of the
foot (the bottom edge of the sail), are called the
tack (forward) and
clew (aft). The tack is shackled to a fixed point on the boat, such as the
gooseneck in the case of a
mainsail, or the deck at the base of a stay, in the case of a
jib or
staysail. The clew is movable and is positioned with
running rigging. A symmetrical sail may be said to have two clews.
Clew
The clew of a jib or other
headsail is the free corner (not attached to any
standing rigging), to which port and starboard jib
sheets are attached to control the angle of the sail to the wind.
In a sail with a
boom (such as a mainsail on a
sloop), the clew is attached to the boom, and can often be tightened along the boom using the
outhaul to adjust the sail shape.
On a
square sail or a symmetrical
spinnaker, each of the lower corners is a clew, but the corner to which the sheet (the
working sheet or
leeward sheet) is currently attached is called
the clew.
Related terms are the 'clew lines', ropes attached to the clews, and 'clewgarnets' or 'cluegarnets', which are the
tackles attached to clew lines. These lines and tackles are used to ‘clew up’ the ‘
courses’ (ie to pull the clews up onto the
upper yard or the
mast in preparation for
furling the sail).
The edges
The
foot of a sail is its lowest edge, bounded by the clew and the tack, or on some sails by the two clews. The forward (leading) edge of the sail is called the
luff. This is related to the term
luffing, which is a condition where the sail ripples because wind is crossing over the front and back side simultaneously, caused when the angle of the wind fails to allow the sail to maintain a good aerodynamic shape; this condition usually starts near the luff as the boat passes through being
close-hauled. A
cunningham may be rigged on the luff of the mainsail to help control the sail shape.
The aft edge of a sail is called the
leech. If incorrectly tensioned, the leech of a sail may "flutter" noisily; some larger mainsails are provided with a line which runs along a pocket in the leech, called a
leech line, for the purpose of tightening the leech to prevent this fluttering.
The roach
The shape of a sail is seldom a perfect triangle. It is common for sailmakers to add an arc of extra material on the leech, outside a line drawn from the head to the clew. This additional part of the sail is known as the
roach; mainsails usually have roaches, but they're very occasionally found on specialized jibs as well. They provide additional power for a given mast/boom size.
Since it can't be supported by tension in the sail material (applied from the corners), it would flap uselessly unless some other provision were made for it. It is therefore supported by
battens, held in
batten pockets, which extend into the main portion of the sail.
Non-triangular fore and aft sails
Gaff,
gunter,
lug,
junk and some
sprit sails have four sides but are set fore and aft so that one edge is leading. That is, the
luff.
tack,
foot,
clew and
leech are the same as for the triangular Bermuda sail. But the high aft corner is the
peak and the top edge is the
head. The corner between the head and the luff is the
throat.
Square Sails
Although most sails used today are triangular and follow the conventions above, square sails are still used on a few vessels. Many of the same names are used for parts of a square sail.
Head : As for a triangular sail, this refers to the topmost part. On a square sail, however, this part is an edge rather than a corner.
; Leech : The "side" edge of the sail. Since square sails are symmetrical, they've two leeches. Occasionally, when the ship is close-hauled, the windward edge of the sail might be referred to as the luff.
Clew : Like a triangular sail, the "free" corners of a square sail are called clews; again there are two of them. Square sails have sheets attached to their clews like triangular sails, but the sheets are used to pull the sail down to the yard below rather than to adjust the angle it makes with the wind.
; Foot : The bottom edge of the sail.
Square sails also have tacks and sheets, although they're not a part of the sail itself ....
Further Information
Get more info on 'Foot Sailing'.
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