Lug sail

Last updated

A lugger, showing a variety of lug sail types. Ship-lugger.png
A lugger, showing a variety of lug sail types.

The lug sail, or lugsail, is a fore-and-aft, four-cornered sail that is suspended from a spar, called a yard. When raised, the sail area overlaps the mast. For "standing lug" rigs, the sail may remain on the same side of the mast on both the port and starboard tacks. For "dipping lug" rigs, the sail is lowered partially or totally to be brought around to the leeward side of the mast in order to optimize the efficiency of the sail on both tacks.

Contents

The lug sail is evolved from the square sail to improve how close the vessel can sail into the wind. Square sails, on the other hand, are symmetrically mounted in front of the mast and are manually angled to catch the wind on opposite tacks. Since it is difficult to orient square sails fore and aft or to tension their leading edges (luffs), they are not as efficient upwind, compared with lug sails. The lug rig differs from the gaff rig, also fore-and-aft, whose sail is instead attached at the luff to the mast and is suspended from a spar (gaff), which is attached to, and raised at an angle from, the mast. [1]

Types

A sailing Fifie, showing the difference between a standing lug (aft - left) and a dipping lug (fore - right). Fifiesmall.gif
A sailing Fifie, showing the difference between a standing lug (aft – left) and a dipping lug (fore – right).

Lug sails are divided into three types: standing lug, balance lug (or balanced lug) and dipping lug. [1]

Procedures for tacking by dipping

Whereas a standing lug may be tacked conventionally by moving the sail across the vessel, as the wind crosses the bow, a dipping lug must be brought around to the leeward side by a multi-step procedure: [3]

  1. Hauling in the sheets to get the sail over the boat.
  2. Lowering the halyard so that the peak of the sail can be reached, yet the yard is free of interfering with the rest of the boat.
  3. Gathering the after part of the sail and bringing it around forward of the mast.
  4. Bringing the peak down and passing it under the luff of the sail to the new leeward side.
  5. Bringing the halyard to windward aft of the mast.
  6. Shackling on the sheets and bringing the sail aft.
  7. Rehoisting the sail and sheeting in.

This procedure is also necessary for gybing a dipping lug. Reportedly, this action can be completed expeditiously on a larger boat with four hands. On smaller boats, the sail is simply lowered and the mast unstepped to allow the sail to be moved beneath it to the other side and the mast to be re-stepped and the sail raised. [3]

On larger luggers, like the Fifie, large dipping lug sails were possible only with the introduction of steam-powered capstans to facilitate with dipping. [4]

Extent of use

A replica of a longboat from the French frigate La Resolue The original was captured in 1786 in Bantry and is now in the National Museum of Ireland. Such replicas are referred to as a Yole de Bantry. Yole de Bantry2.JPG
A replica of a longboat from the French frigate La Résolue The original was captured in 1786 in Bantry and is now in the National Museum of Ireland. Such replicas are referred to as a Yole de Bantry.

The rig was widely used in Europe from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries for small fishing vessels and other coasters because of their good performance to windward. This popularity extended to smugglers and privateers and the French chasse-marée fishing boats. [1]

Currently, lug rigs are used on certain small sailing craft, like the International Twelve Foot Dinghy, a dinghy, [5] the SCAMP, a pocket cruiser, [6] and the Oz Goose 12-foot (3.7 m) sailing dinghy. [7]

There are several lug rigged boat classes of long history that have been raced more or less continuously for a century. One example is the balance lug rigged Lymington Scow [8] that has become highly developed in almost continuous racing since 1905.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rigging</span> Ropes, cables and chains which support masts of sailing ships

Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support and control a sailing ship or sail boat's masts and sails. Standing rigging is the fixed rigging that supports masts including shrouds and stays. Running rigging is rigging which adjusts the position of the vessel's sails and spars including halyards, braces, sheets and vangs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rig (sailing)</span> Description of the specific ways that a sailing craft is rigged

A sailing vessel's rig is its arrangement of masts, sails and rigging. Examples include a schooner rig, cutter rig, junk rig, etc. A rig may be broadly categorized as "fore-and-aft", "square", or a combination of both. Within the fore-and-aft category there is a variety of triangular and quadrilateral sail shapes. Spars or battens may be used to help shape a given kind of sail. Each rig may be described with a sail plan—formally, a drawing of a vessel, viewed from the side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yawl</span> Type of boat

A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig, to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jibe</span> Basic sailing maneuver, where ship turns its stern through the wind

A jibe (US) or gybe (Britain) is a sailing maneuver whereby a sailing vessel reaching downwind turns its stern through the wind, which then exerts its force from the opposite side of the vessel. Because the mainsail boom can swing across the cockpit quickly, jibes are potentially dangerous to person and rigging compared to tacking. Therefore, accidental jibes are to be avoided while the proper technique must be applied so as to control the maneuver. For square-rigged ships, this maneuver is called wearing ship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Topsail</span> Sail set above another sail

A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staysail</span>

A staysail ("stays'l") is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit, or to another mast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spinnaker</span> Sail designed for sailing off the wind

A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach to downwind. Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually nylon, and are often brightly colored. They may be designed to perform best as either a reaching or a running spinnaker, by the shaping of the panels and seams. They are attached at only three points and said to be flown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cutter (boat)</span> Type of boat

A cutter is a name for various types of watercraft. It can apply to the rig of a sailing vessel, to a governmental enforcement agency vessel, to a type of ship's boat which can be used under sail or oars, or, historically, to a type of fast-sailing vessel introduced in the 18th century, some of which were used as small warships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaff rig</span> Sailing rig configuration

Gaff rig is a sailing rig in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the gaff. Because of the size and shape of the sail, a gaff rig will have running backstays rather than permanent backstays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Running rigging</span> Lines that control sails

Running rigging is the rigging of a sailing vessel that is used for raising, lowering, shaping and controlling the sails on a sailing vessel—as opposed to the standing rigging, which supports the mast and bowsprit. Running rigging varies between vessels that are rigged fore and aft and those that are square-rigged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lugger</span> Type of sailing vessel

A lugger is a sailing vessel defined by its rig, using the lug sail on all of its one or more masts. Luggers were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Luggers varied extensively in size and design. Many were undecked, open boats, some of which operated from beach landings. Others were fully decked craft. Some larger examples might carry lug topsails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bermuda rig</span> Configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat

A Bermuda rig, Bermudian rig, or Marconi rig is a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats. This configuration was developed in Bermuda in the 17th century; the term Marconi, a reference to the inventor of the radio, Guglielmo Marconi, became associated with this configuration in the early 20th century, because the wires that stabilize the mast of a Bermuda rig reminded observers of the wires on early radio masts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sail components</span> Features that define a (ship) sails shape and function

Sail components include the features that define a sail's shape and function, plus its constituent parts from which it is manufactured. A sail may be classified in a variety of ways, including by its orientation to the vessel and its shape,. Sails are typically constructed out of flexible material that is shaped by various means, while in use, to offer an appropriate airfoil, according to the strength and apparent direction of the wind. A variety of features and fittings allow the sail to be attached to lines and spars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunter rig</span> Fore and aft sailing rig with nearly vertical upper spar

Gunter rig is a configuration of sail and spars used in sailing. It is a fore and aft sail set abaft (behind) the mast. The lower half of the luff (front) of the sail is attached to the mast, and the upper half is fastened to a spar which is approximately vertical and reaches above the top of the mast. This spar is called a "yard", but it is common for some to confuse it with a "gaff". The overall shape of a gunter sail is roughly triangular, so having a superficial resemblance to Bermuda rig.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tacking (sailing)</span> A sailing maneuver

Tacking or coming about is a sailing maneuver by which a sailing craft, whose next destination is into the wind, turns its bow toward and through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side of the boat to the other, allowing progress in the desired direction. Sailing vessels are unable to sail higher than a certain angle towards the wind, so "beating to windward" in a zig-zag fashion with a series of tacking maneuvers, allows a vessel to sail towards a destination that is closer to the wind that the vessel can sail directly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spritsail</span>

The spritsail is a four-sided, fore-and-aft sail that is supported at its highest points by the mast and a diagonally running spar known as the sprit. The foot of the sail can be stretched by a boom or held loose-footed just by its sheets. A spritsail has four corners: the throat, peak, clew, and tack. The Spritsail can also be used to describe a rig that uses a spritsail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junk rig</span> Type of sail rig used in East Asia

The junk rig, also known as the Chinese lugsail, Chinese balanced lug sail, or sampan rig, is a type of sail rig in which rigid members, called battens, span the full width of the sail and extend the sail forward of the mast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sail</span> Fabric or other surface supported by a mast to allow wind propulsion

A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may be made from a combination of woven materials—including canvas or polyester cloth, laminated membranes or bonded filaments, usually in a three- or four-sided shape.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sailing:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sail plan</span> Technical drawing of a sailing craft

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. By extension, "sail plan" describes the arrangement of sails on a craft. A sailing craft may be waterborne, an iceboat, or a sail-powered land vehicle.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Block, Leo (2003). To Harness the Wind: A Short History of the Development of Sails. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. p. 164. ISBN   9781557502094.
  2. 1 2 3 Barnes, Roger (2014-01-02). The Dinghy Cruising Companion: Tales and Advice from Sailing a Small Open Boat. A&C Black. ISBN   9781408180280.
  3. 1 2 Winn, William (1891). The Boating Man's Vade-mecum. London: Swan Sonnenschein. p. 336.
  4. March, Edgar J. (1953). Sailing Drifter. London: Percival Marshall & Co.
  5. Bird, Vanessa (2012). Classic Classes. A. & C. Black. p. 160. ISBN   9781408158890.
  6. McCoy, James (Winter 2013). "SCAMP: A new genre of sailboat". Harbors. pp. 24–9.
  7. Supetran, Bernard L. (February 17, 2019). "A Sailing We Will Go". BusinessMirror. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  8. Staff (January 27, 2019). "West Wittering Sailing Club: Lymington River Scows". www.wwsc.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-11.