Features that define a (ship) sail's shape and function
See also: Wingsail, Sailing, Sailboat, and Sailing ship
Sailing vessels
The Russian sail training ship Kruzenshtern has triangular jibs at the bow, square sails on three masts, and a quadrilateral gaff-rigged sail at the stern.
Yacht flying a triangular, symmetric spinnaker with tri-radial construction—panels radiating from all three corners.
Bermuda-rigged Yawl with triangular jib and main and mizzen sails with cross-cut construction—parallel panels, sewn together.
Dhow with triangular lateen sail.
Quadrilateral lug-rigged vessel.
Main article: Sail
Sail components include the features that define a sail's shape and function, plus its constituent parts from which it is manufactured. A sail may be classified in a variety of ways, including by its orientation to the vessel (e.g. fore-and-aft) and its shape, (e.g. (a)symmetrical, triangular, quadrilateral, etc.). Sails are typically constructed out of flexible material that is shaped by various means, while in use, to offer an appropriate airfoil, according to the strength and apparent direction of the wind. A variety of features and fittings allow the sail to be attached to lines and spars.
Whereas conventional sails form an airfoil with one layer of fabric, wingsails comprise a structure that has material on both sides to form an airfoil—much like a wing placed vertically on the vessel—and are beyond the scope of this article.
vessels Sailcomponents include the features that define a sail's shape and function, plus its constituent parts from which it is manufactured. A sail may...
balanced lug sail, or sampan rig, is a type of sail rig in which rigid members, called battens, span the full width of the sail and extend the sail forward...
Mediterranean square sail (which had been in wide use throughout the classical period) was undergoing a simplification of its rigging components. Both the increasing...
craft. The apparent wind on the sail creates a total aerodynamic force, which may be resolved into drag—the force component in the direction of the apparent...
Solar sails (also known as lightsails, light sails, and photon sails) are a method of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight...
lateen (from French latine, meaning "Latin") or latin-rig is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast, and running in a fore-and-aft...
thalassocracies whose chief powers lay in their ports and in their ability to sail navies to defend friendly coasts and to ravage enemy ones. These include...
Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is a central public sector undertaking (PSU) based in New Delhi, India. It is under the ownership of the Ministry...
a topgallant sail (topgallant alone pronounced "t'gallant", topgallant sail pronounced "t'garns'l", is the square-rigged sail or sails immediately above...
laser, a nuclear power source, and the solar sail must be miniaturized to fit within a mass limit. All components must be engineered to endure extreme acceleration...
distorting the edge of the sail. He observed that, "Many a well-cut sail is spoiled by the roping." Rigging Sailcomponents Glossary of nautical terms...
Sailing craft and their rigs Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the water (sailing ship...
often with modern adaptations. They were all made out of wood, with cloth sails (woven wool), and had several details and carvings on the hull. The longships...
multiple levels such as biremes or triremes, and many of which also had sails. Initial efforts of the Romans to construct a war fleet were based on copies...
Neolithic, point to the widespread presence of an (Western) Eurasian ancestry component distributed throughout Northern Africa, the Sahara, and the Horn of Africa...
From Sidon, at which his ship put in after leaving Caesarea, Paul finally sailed for Rome (Acts 27:3, 4). The account ascribed to the Phoenician historian...
feature of a properly designed sail is an amount of "draft", caused by curvature of the surface of the sail. When the sail is oriented into the wind, this...
peoples, using technologies like multihulls, outriggers, crab claw sails, and tanja sails. This enabled the rapid spread of Austronesians into the islands...
Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and...
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