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Scott MacCready wrote:Once again, I'll show my ignorance....
So, on a schooner, the aft most sail is the main as opposed to a mizzen on my ketch. The middle sail is the foresail, where my main is. And how about the sails most forward? Are they still jib and staysail and not foresails? A little confusing.
yes unless it is a staysail schooner
that rig uses a jib shaped sail behind the fore mast on a stay
some times with more then one sail inbetween the masts
if a sail is attached to a foremast it is a fore sail
if it is behind the foremast and on a stay it is a forestay sail
a gollywobber is NOT a working sail and used in lightairs mostly
and/or off the wind
a normal foresail on a boom is a working sail and used on most boats in heavyer air in place of a gollywobber
the mainsail is the biggest of the working sails on a boat
I haven't seen any mention of the jib sails, so I am adding my two cents. I worked on the schooner J&E Riggen out of Rockland, ME for a summer and during that time came to know that each ship had a slightly different set of names for the jibs.
Most of the Maine fleet flys at least two jibs. Some three, and I can't recall one with more than that.
Our captain called the foremost jib the jib, and the second one, the staysail. On other ships, the foremost jib was called the "outer" and the second one the "inner." Of course, you had to learn that with a Maine accent, making the first the "outa" and the second the "inna."
On ship's with an additional jib that was forward of those two (and flew higher than the other two - almost half way between bowsprit and masthead) was called the flying jib.
And who needs amusement park rides, when you can walk out on whiskerstays to the tip of the bowsprit while underway over the white crest of a ship's bow wake to unstop or furl the flying jib?
The four master I sailed on out in Kansas called it's masts Eenie, Meenie and Miney. Sorry, the fourth mast escapes my mind right now. I'll probably think of it at two o'clock tomorrow morning. (Nine bells)
Unless I am way of my feed (once again) I believe the mule sail is a triangular version of a fishermans sail and is carried above the mainsail on multi masted gaff riggers.
Didereaux- San Leon, TX
last owner of CD-25 #183 "Spring Gail"
"I do not attempt to make leopards change their spots...after I have skinned them, they are free to grow 'em back or not, as they see fit!" Didereaux 2007
Didereaux- San Leon, TX
last owner of CD-25 #183 "Spring Gail"
"I do not attempt to make leopards change their spots...after I have skinned them, they are free to grow 'em back or not, as they see fit!" Didereaux 2007
My Cape Dory 30 ketch has a mule. It is my favorite light air sail. Instead of removing the club footed jib and replacing it with the genoa in light air, I put up the mule. It is great for single handing. You can have four sails up and they are all self tacking. You just turn the wheel, a miracle occurs, and you are on the other tack.
The advantage is that most of the mule area is up high where it can grab whatever wind is available. The disadvantage is that most of its area is up high, where it substantially increases the heeling moment. I will fly it up to about 15 knots, and then it has to come down.
For off the wind, my ketch has a mizzen staysail. That sail is huge and I only fly it when I have crew. It is not my favorite sail. Both the tack and the clew must be moved to tack. The asymmetric spinnaker is much easier to use.
Maybe some day when the wind is moderate, and I have enough crew on board, it would be fun to raise them all. What a display of Royal Laundry that would make!
Hi Joe, I have the mizzen staysail and have used it several times now. Once I figured it out, it's pretty easy to set single handed...well, not really single handed as I have the autopilot steering while I set it up. I run the sheet through a snatchblock off the aft end of the mizzen boom and tun the tack line through a snatchblock on a windward stanchion base. I use it only in light winds and it does block all visibility forward of the helm. I used it on the trip to Ocracoke last month but don't think anyone got a picture of it. I'd love to have the mule also but it'll have to wait til after a cruising spinnaker.
Joe Mac Phee wrote:My Cape Dory 30 ketch has a mule. It is my favorite light air sail. Instead of removing the club footed jib and replacing it with the genoa in light air, I put up the mule. It is great for single handing. You can have four sails up and they are all self tacking. You just turn the wheel, a miracle occurs, and you are on the other tack.
The advantage is that most of the mule area is up high where it can grab whatever wind is available. The disadvantage is that most of its area is up high, where it substantially increases the heeling moment. I will fly it up to about 15 knots, and then it has to come down.
For off the wind, my ketch has a mizzen staysail. That sail is huge and I only fly it when I have crew. It is not my favorite sail. Both the tack and the clew must be moved to tack. The asymmetric spinnaker is much easier to use.
Maybe some day when the wind is moderate, and I have enough crew on board, it would be fun to raise them all. What a display of Royal Laundry that would make!
