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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.
A cruising chute is a form of asymmetric spinnaker used by cruising yachts and designed for easy use when short-handed. Two sheets are used, with the tack line eased by a foot or so before gybing. Alternatively, only one sheet is used, with the sail snuffed before a gybe. [11]
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.
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Backstay insulators, when used as a pair, are devices which allow for the electrical isolation of a section of wire on a yacht (e.g. the backstay) so that it can be used as an antenna for a single sideband (SSB) radio. [5] They can also be used to reduce the risk to a yacht's crew in the event of a lightning strike. [6]