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Sprit topmast: a small mast set on the end of the bowsprit (discontinued after the early 18th century); not usually counted as a mast, however, when identifying a ship as "two-masted" or "three-masted" Fore-mast: the mast nearest the bow, or the mast forward of the main-mast. [3] As it is the furthest afore, it may be rigged to the bowsprit.
The lowest and normally largest sail on a mast is the course sail of that mast, and is referred to simply by the mast name: Foresail, mainsail, mizzen sail, jigger sail or more commonly forecourse etc. Even a full-rigged ship did not usually have a lateral (square) course on the mizzen mast below the mizzen topmast.
Sailing ships prior to the mid-19th century used wood masts with hemp-fiber standing rigging. As rigs became taller by the end of the 19th century, masts relied more heavily on successive spars, stepped one atop the other to form the whole, from bottom to top: the lower mast, top mast, and topgallant mast. This construction relied heavily on ...
The top on a traditional square rigged ship is the platform at the upper end of each (lower) mast. [1] This is not the masthead "crow's nest" of the popular imagination – above the mainmast (for example) is the main-topmast, main-topgallant-mast and main-royal-mast, so that the top is actually about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up the mast as a whole.
The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older usages are looser; in addition to the rigorous definition above (attested from 1695), the Oxford English Dictionary includes two c. 1525 definitions: "a small vessel equipped both for sailing and rowing, swifter and more easily manœuvred than larger ships" and "(loosely) various ...
The main mast of a brig is the aft one. To improve maneuverability, the mainmast carries a (gaff rigged) fore-and-aft sail. [3] Brig sails are named after the masts to which they are attached: the mainsail; above that the main topsail; above that the main topgallant sail; and occasionally a very small sail, called the royal, is above that
Main yard lower end 74.88 20.22 Main yard upper piece 105.30 28.43 Mainmast draft below deck 8 2.16 Mizzen mast draft 6 1.62 Distance of the mainmast forward of center 2 0.54 Distance of mizzenmast aft of center 3.4 9.19 Inside the bowsprit 10 2.7 Interior of the coaster 6 1.62 Angle of the mainmast with the vertical 18° Mizzen mast angle aft 5°
For staysails between the foremast and the mainmast (from bottom to top): main, main-topmast, main-topgallant, and main-royal (...staysail). Staysails between other masts are similarly named. The mizzen sail (or "spanker") is a gaff-rigged, fore-and-aft sail, mounted on the after side of the mizzenmast. It was used to help tack the vessel. [8] [9]