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Fore-and-aft rigs comprise the vast majority of sailing vessels in use today, including effectively all dinghies and yachts. The sheet on a fore-and-aft sail controls the angle of the sail to the wind, and should be adjusted to keep the sail just filled. Most smaller boats use the Bermuda rig, which has two or three sets of sheets:
Sheets attach to the clews (bottom corners) of a sail to control the sail's angle to the wind. Sheets run aft (for comparison, see tacks). [2] Tacks are used to haul the clew of a loose-footed square sail (for example, a course) forward when sailing close to the wind. Tacks run forward (for comparison, see sheets).
Stays are ropes, wires, or rods on sailing vessels that run fore-and-aft along the centerline from the masts to the hull, deck, bowsprit, or to other masts which serve to stabilize the masts. [ 1 ] A stay is part of the standing rigging and is used to hold a mast upright.
On these yachts, there are two sheets attached to the clew of the jib. As the yacht comes head to wind during a tack, the active sheet is released, and the other sheet (the lazy sheet) on the other side of the boat is pulled in. This sheet becomes the new active sheet until the next tack.
The kicker pulls the boom downwards. When the boat is running away from the wind the sheet will be fully eased and so the kicker becomes the primary means of controlling sail twist. The preventer, prevents the boom from jibing. This line is run from a point on the boom to a point forward such as a deck cleat or the base of a stanchion.
The sheets are passed to either side of the forestay, attached to the clew; they may be passed forward of the luff of the asymmetric, or aft of the luff of the asymmetric, between the tack line and the forestay. The sheet on the downwind (lee) side of the hull is used to trim the sail, and the opposite sheet is left slack.
A traveller is a part of the rigging of a boat or ship that provides a moving attachment point for a rope, sail or yard to a fixed part of the vessel. It may take the form of anything from a simple ring on a metal bar or a spar to, especially in a modern yacht, a more complex "car" – a component with bearing-mounted wheels running on a shaped aluminium extrusion.
Depending on the design and size of the boat, sail and position of the tack, asymmetrical spinnaker sheets may be led to pass between the spinnaker and the headstay or, alternatively, outside of the spinnaker during a gybe. An inside gybe requires space for the spinnaker to pass between its luff and the headstay.