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Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called yards and their tips, outside the lifts, are called the yardarms. [1] A ship mainly rigged so is called a square ...
A square-rig mainsail is a square sail attached at the bottom of the main mast. A Bermuda-rig mainsail is a triangular sail with the luff attached to the mast with the foot or lower edge generally attached to a boom. A gaff-rig mainsail is a quadrilateral sail whose head is supported by a gaff.
Clewlines and buntlines are lines used to handle the sails of a square rigged ship. The leechlines are clearly visible running inwards and upwards from the edges of the sail. The buntlines up the front of the sail can be seen too, but their run to the blocks on the shrouds is obscured because the sail is set on a lifting yard.
Sail shape is usually controlled by lines that pull at the corners of the sail, including the outhaul at the clew and the downhaul at the tack on fore-and-aft rigs. The orientation of sails to the wind is controlled primarily by sheets, [8] but also by braces, which position the yard arms with respect to the wind on square-rigged vessels. [7]
A sail plan is a drawing of a sailing craft, viewed from the side, depicting its sails, the spars that carry them and some of the rigging that supports the rig. [1] By extension, "sail plan" describes the arrangement of sails on a craft.
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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).