Sail

A sail is a tensile structure—made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and sail-powered land vehicles. A sail generates its propulsive force as air passes along its surface, analogous to a wing in a vertical orientation. 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 (called "triangular" or "quadrilateral", despite their often having curved edges). They may be attached to a mast, boom or other spar or may be attached to a wire that is suspended by a mast. They are typically raised by a line, called a halyard, and their angle with respect to the wind is usually controlled by a line, called a sheet. In use, they are designed to be curved in both directions along their surface, often as a result of their curved edges. Battens may be used to extend the trailing edge of a sail beyond the line of its attachment points.

Other non-rotating airfoils that power sailing craft include wingsails, which are rigid wing-like structures, and kites that power some wind-powered vessels, but do not employ a mast to support the airfoil and are beyond the scope of this article.

Rigs

Sailing craft employ two types of rig, the square rig and the fore-and-aft rig.

The square rig carries 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, beyond the last stay, are called the yardarms[1]. A ship mainly so rigged is called a square-rigger.[2] The square rig is aerodynamically most efficient when running (sailing downwind).[3]

A fore-and-aft rig consists of sails that are set along the line of the keel rather than perpendicular to it. Vessels so rigged are described as fore-and-aft rigged.[4]

History

Egyptian sailing ship, ca. 1422–1411 BCE

Archaeological studies of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture ceramics show use of sailing boats from the sixth millennium BC onwards.[5] Excavations of the Ubaid period (c. 6000 -4300 BC) in Mesopotamia provides direct evidence of sailing boats.[6]

Square rigs

Sails from ancient Egypt are depicted around 3200 BCE,[7][8] where reed boats sailed upstream against the River Nile's current. Ancient Sumerians used square rigged sailing boats at about the same time, and it is believed they established sea trading routes as far away as the Indus valley. The proto-Austronesian words for sail, lay(r), and other rigging parts date to about 3000 BCE when this group began their Pacific expansion.[9] Greeks and Phoenicians began trading by ship by around 1,200 BCE.

Fore-and-aft rigs

Triangular fore-and-aft rigs were invented in the Mediterranean as single-yarded lateen sails and independently in the Pacific as the more efficient bi-sparred crab claw sail,[10][11] and continue to be used throughout the world. During the 16th-19th centuries other fore-and-aft sails were developed in Europe, such as the spritsail, gaff rig, jib, genoa, staysail, and Bermuda rig mainsail, improving the upwind sailing ability of European vessels.

The fore-and-aft rig began as a convention of southern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea: the generally gentle climate made its use practical, and in Italy a few centuries before the Renaissance it began to replace the square rig which had dominated all of Europe since the dawn of sea travel. Northern Europeans were resistant to adopting the fore-and-aft rig, despite having seen its use in the course of trade and during the Crusades. The Renaissance changed this: beginning in 1475, their use increased and within a hundred years the fore-and-aft rig was in common use on rivers and in estuaries in Britain, northern France, and the Low Countries, though the square rig remained standard for the harsher conditions of the open North Sea as well as for trans-Atlantic sailing. The lateen sail proved to have better upwind performance for smaller vessels.[12]

Aerodynamic forces

Aerodynamic forces for two points of sail.
Left-hand boat:
Down wind—predominant drag propels the boat with little heeling moment.
Right-hand boat:
Up wind (close-hauled)—predominant lift both propels the boat and contributes to heel.
Sail angles of attack and resulting (idealized) flow patterns that provide propulsive lift.

Aerodynamic forces on sails depend on wind speed and direction and the speed and direction of the craft. The direction that the craft is traveling with respect to the true wind (the wind direction and speed over the surface) is called the point of sail. The speed of the craft at a given point of sail contributes to the apparent wind ( VA)—the wind speed and direction as measured on the moving craft. The apparent wind on the sail creates a total aerodynamic force, which may be resolved into drag—the force component in the direction of the apparent wind—and lift—the force component normal (90°) to the apparent wind. Depending on the alignment of the sail with the apparent wind, lift or drag may be the predominant propulsive component. Total aerodynamic force also resolves into a forward, propulsive, driving force—resisted by the medium through or over which the craft is passing (e.g. through water, air, or over ice, sand)—and a lateral force, resisted by the underwater foils, ice runners, or wheels of the sailing craft.[13]

For apparent wind angles aligned with the entry point of the sail, the sail acts as an airfoil and lift is the predominant component of propulsion. For apparent wind angles behind the sail, lift diminishes and drag increases as the predominant component of propulsion. For a given true wind velocity over the surface, a sail can propel a craft to a higher speed, on points of sail when the entry point of the sail is aligned with the apparent wind, than it can with the entry point not aligned, because of a combination of the diminished force from airflow around the sail and the diminished apparent wind from the velocity of the craft. Because of limitations on speed through the water, displacement sailboats generally derive power from sails generating lift on points of sail that include close-hauled through broad reach (approximately 40° to 135° off the wind).[14] Because of low friction over the surface and high speeds over the ice that create high apparent wind speeds for most points of sail, iceboats can derive power from lift further off the wind than displacement boats.[15]

Downwind sailing with a spinnaker

Types

Different sail types.[16]
A. Square: Course
B. Square: Topsail
C. Lateen
D. Staysail
E. Gaff-rigged
G. Quadrilateral on spar
H. Loose-footed on gaff
J. Spritsail
K. Standing lug
L. Triangular
M. Dipping lug
N. Junk

Each rig is configured in a sail plan, appropriate to the size of the sailing craft. A sail plan is a set of drawings, usually prepared by a naval architect which shows the various combinations of sail proposed for a sailing ship. Sail plans may vary for different wind conditions—light to heavy. Both square-rigged and fore-and-aft rigged vessels have been built with a wide range of configurations for single and multiple masts.[17]

Types of sail that can be part of a sail plan can be broadly classed by how they are attached to the sailing craft:

High-performance yachts, including the International C-Class Catamaran, have used or use rigid wing sails, which perform better than traditional soft sails but are more difficult to manage.[18] A rigid wing sail was used by Stars and Stripes, the defender which won the 1988 America's Cup, and by USA-17, the challenger which won the 2010 America's Cup.[19] USA 17's performance during the 2010 America's Cup races demonstrated a velocity made good upwind of over twice the wind speed and downwind of over 2.5 times the wind speed and the ability to sail as close as 20 degrees off the apparent wind.[20]

Shape

Quadrilateral fore-and-aft sail
Edges
Corners
Gaff-rigged Schooner.

The shape of a sail is defined by its edges and corners in the plane of the sail, laid out on a flat surface. The edges may be curved, either to extend the sail's shape as an airfoil or to define its shape in use. In use, the sail becomes a curved shape, adding the dimension of depth or draft.

A fore-and-aft triangular mainsail achieves a better approximation of a wing form by extending the leech aft, beyond the line between the head and clew on an arc called the roach, rather than having a triangular shape. This added area would flutter in the wind and not contribute to the efficient airfoil shape of the sail without the presence of battens.[23] Offshore cruising mainsails sometimes have a hollow leech (the inverse of a roach) to obviate the need for battens and their ensuing likelihood of chafing the sail.[24] The roach on a square sail design is the arc of a circle above a straight line from clew to clew at the foot of a square sail, which allows the foot of the sail to clear stays coming up the mast, as the sails are rotated from side to side.[25]
The corner where the leech and foot connect is called the clew on a fore-and-aft sail. On a jib, the sheet is connected to the clew; on a mainsail, the sheet is connected to the boom (if present) near the clew.[21] Clews are the lower two corners of a square sail. Square sails have sheets attached to their clews like triangular sails, but the sheets are used to pull the sail down to the yard below rather than to adjust the angle it makes with the wind.[28] The corner where the leech and the foot connect is called the clew.[21] The corner on a fore-and-aft sail where the luff and foot connect is called the tack[21] and, on a mainsail, is located where the boom and mast connect.[21]
In the case of a symmetrical spinnaker, each of the lower corners of the sail is a clew. However, under sail on a given tack, the corner to which the spinnaker sheet is attached is called the clew, and the corner attached to the spinnaker pole is referred to as the tack. [28][29] On a square sail underway, the tack is the windward clew and also the line holding down that corner.[30]

Material

Laminated sail with Kevlar and Carbon fibers.

Sail characteristics derive, in part, from the design, construction and the attributes of the fibers, which are woven together to make the sail cloth. There are several key factors in evaluating a fiber for suitability in weaving a sail-cloth: initial modulus, breaking strength (tenacity), creep, and flex strength. Both the initial cost and its durability of the material define its cost-effectiveness over time.[23][32]

Traditionally, sails were made from flax or cotton canvas.[32] Materials used in sails, as of the 21st Century, include nylon for spinnakers—where light weight and elastic resistance to shock load are valued—and a range of fibers, used for triangular sails, that includes Dacron, aramid fibers—including Kevlar, and other liquid crystal polymer fibers—including Vectran.[32][23] Woven materials, like Dacron, may specified as either high or low tenacity, as indicated, in part by their denier count (a unit of measure for the linear mass density of fibers).[33]

Construction

Cross-cut genoa jib with sail components.[Legend 1]

Conventional sails comprise panels, which are most often stitched together, other times adhered. There are two basic configurations, cross-cut and radial.

Cross-cut sails have the panels sewn parallel to one another, often parallel to the foot of the sail, and are the least expensive of the two sail constructions. Triangular cross-cut sail panels are designed to meet the mast and stay at an angle from either the warp or the weft (on the bias) to allow stretching along the luff, but minimize strutting on the luff and foot, where the fibers are aligned with the edges of the sail.[34]

Radial sails have panels that "radiate" from corners in order to efficiently transmit stress and are typically higher-performance than cross-cut sails. A bi-radial sail has panels radiating from two of three corners; a tri-radial sail has panels radiating from all three corners. Mainsails are more likely to be bi-radial, since there is very little stress at the tack, whereas head sails (spinnakers and jibs) are more likely to be tri-radial, because they are tensioned at their corners.[32]

Higher-performance sails may be laminated, constructed directly from multiple plies of filaments, fibers, taffetas, and films—instead of woven textiles—and adhered together. Molded sails are laminated sails formed over a curved mold and adhered together into a shape that does not lie flat.[32]

Conventional sail panels are sewn together. Sails are tensile structures, so the role of a seam is to transmit a tensile load from panel to panel. For a sewn textile sail this is done through thread and is limited by the strength of the thread and the strength of the hole in the textile through which it passes. Sail seams are often overlapped between panels and sewn with zig-zag stitches that create many connections per unit of seam length.[32][35]

Whereas textiles are typically sewn together, other sail materials may be ultrasonically welded—a technique whereby high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations are locally applied to workpieces being held together under pressure to create a solid-state weld. It is commonly used for plastics, and especially for joining dissimilar materials.[35]

Sails feature reinforcements of fabric layers where lines attach at grommets or cringles.[27] A bolt rope may be sewn onto the edges of a sail to reinforce it, or to fix the sail into a groove in the boom, in the mast, or in the luff foil of a roller-furling jib.[25] They may have stiffening features, called battens, that help shape the sail, when full length,[36] or just the roach, when present.[23] They may have a variety of means of reefing them (reducing sail area), including rows of short lines affixed to the sail to wrap up unused sail, as on square and gaff rigs,[37] or simply grommets through which a line or a hook may pass, as on Bermuda mainsails.[38] Fore-and-aft sails may have tell-tales—pieces of yarn, thread or tape that are affixed to sails—to help visualize airflow over their surfaces.[23]

Running rigging

Running rigging on a sailing yacht:
1. Main sheet
2. Jib sheet
3. Boom vang
4. Downhaul
5. Jib halyard
Square sail edges and corners (top). Running rigging (bottom).

The lines that attach to and control sails are part of the running rigging and differ between square and fore-and-aft rigs. Some rigs shift from one side of the mast to the other, e.g. the dipping lug sail and the lateen. The lines can be categorized as those that support the sail, those that shape it, and those that control its angle to the wind.

Fore-and-aft rigged vessels

Fore-and-aft rigged vessels have rigging that supports, shapes, and adjusts the sails to optimize their performance in the wind, which include the following lines:

Square-rigged vessels

Square-rigged vessels require more controlling lines than fore-and-aft rigged ones, including the following.

Sails on high-performance sailing craft.

Sails on craft subject to low forward resistance and high lateral resistance.

See also

Types of sails

Legend

  1. ↑ Genoa jib
    1. Head
    2. Reinforcement
    3. Luff
    4. Leech
    5. Anti-UV covering
    6. Head foil attachment
    7. Panel(s)
    8. Telltales
    9. Reinforcement
    10. Tack
    11. Leech control
    12. Clew
    13. Foot control
    14. Foot
    15. Furling marks

References

  1. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary
  2. ↑ Keegan, John (1989). The Price of Admiralty. New York: Viking. p. 280. ISBN 0-670-81416-4.
  3. ↑ Mclaughlan, Ian (2014). The Sloop of War: 1650-1763. Seaforth Publishing. p. 288. ISBN 9781848321878.
  4. ↑ Knight, Austin Melvin (1910). Modern seamanship. New York: D. Van Nostrand. pp. 507–532.
  5. ↑ Gimbutas, Marija (2007). "1". The goddesses and gods of Old Europe, 6500-3500 BCE: myths and cult images (New and updated ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 18. ISBN 9780520253988. The use of sailing-boats is attested from the sixth millenium onwards by their incised depiction on ceramics.
  6. ↑ Carter, Robert (2012). "19". In Potts, D.T. A companion to the archaeology of the ancient Near East. Ch 19 Watercraft. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 347–354. ISBN 978-1-4051-8988-0. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  7. ↑ John Coleman Darnell (2006). "The Wadi of the Horus Qa-a: A Tableau of Royal Ritual Power in the Theban Western Desert". Yale. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
  8. ↑ The sea-craft of prehistory, p76, by Paul Johnstone, Routledge, 1980
  9. ↑ Lewis, David (1994). We, the Navigators : the ancient art of landfinding in the Pacific (2nd ed.). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 7. ISBN 0-8248-1582-3.
  10. ↑ I. C. Campbell, "The Lateen Sail in World History", Journal of World History (University of Hawaii), 6.1 (Spring 1995), p. 1–23
  11. ↑ Marchaj, Czeslaw A. Sail Performance, Techniques to Maximize Sail Power, Revised Edition. London: Adlard Coles Nautical, 2003. Part 2 Aerodynamics of sails, Chapter 11 "The Sail Power of Various Rigs"
  12. ↑ Chatterton, Edward Keble (1912). Fore and aft. London: J. B. Lippincott. OCLC 651733391.
  13. ↑ Clancy, L.J. (1975), Aerodynamics, London: Pitman Publishing Limited, p. 638, ISBN 0-273-01120-0
  14. ↑ Jobson, Gary (1990). Championship Tactics: How Anyone Can Sail Faster, Smarter, and Win Races. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 323. ISBN 0-312-04278-7.
  15. ↑ Bethwaite, Frank (2007). High Performance Sailing. Adlard Coles Nautical. ISBN 978-0-7136-6704-2.
  16. ↑ Clerc-Rampal, G. (1913) Mer : la Mer Dans la Nature, la Mer et l'Homme, Paris: Librairie Larousse, p. 213
  17. ↑ Folkard, Henry Coleman (2012). Sailing Boats from Around the World: The Classic 1906 Treatise. Dover Maritime. Courier Corporation. p. 576. ISBN 9780486311340.
  18. ↑ Nielsen, Peter (May 14, 2014). "Have Wingsails Gone Mainstream?". Sail. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
  19. ↑ "America's cup: BMW Oracle Racing pushes edge in 90-foot trimaran". International Herald Tribune. 2008-11-08. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  20. ↑ Swintal, Diane (13 August 2009). "Russell Coutts Talks About BMW Oracle's Giant Multi-hull". cupinfo.com. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 SAIL Editors. "Know How: Sailing 101". Sail Magazine. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  22. ↑ King, Hattendorf & Estes 2000, p. 283.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 Textor, Ken (1995). The New Book of Sail Trim. Sheridan House, Inc. p. 228. ISBN 0924486813.
  24. ↑ Nicolson, Ian (1998). A Sail for All Seasons: Cruising and Racing Sail Tips. Sheridan House, Inc. p. 124. ISBN 9781574090475.
  25. 1 2 Kipping, Robert (1847). The Elements of Sailmaking: Being a Complete Treatise on Cutting-out Sails, According to the Most Appproved Methods in the Merchant Service... F.W. Norie & Wilson. pp. 58–72.
  26. ↑ Jobson, Gary (2008). Sailing Fundamentals (Revised ed.). New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 224. ISBN 1439136785.
  27. 1 2 Knight, Austin N. (1921). Modern Seamanship (8 ed.). New York: D. van Nostrand Company. p. 831.
  28. 1 2 3 King, Dean; Hattendorf, John B.; Estes, J W. (2000). A sea of words: a lexicon and companion for Patrick O'Brian's seafaring tales (3 ed.). New York: Henry Holt. p. 518. ISBN 978-0-8050-6615-9.
  29. ↑ "Sailing Quick Reference Guide" (PDF). Wayzata Yacht Club. Wayzata Yacht Club. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  30. ↑ King, Hattendorf & Estes 2000, p. 416.
  31. ↑ Jinks, Simon. "Adjusting Sail Draft". Royal Yachting Association. Royal Yachting Association. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  32. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hancock, Brian; Knox-Johnson, Robin (2003). Maximum Sail Power: The Complete Guide to Sails, Sail Technology, and Performance. Nomad Press. p. 288. ISBN 9781619304277.
  33. ↑ Rice, Carol (January 1995), "A first-time buyers checklist", Cruising World, 21, pp. 34–35, ISSN 0098-3519, retrieved 2017-01-13
  34. ↑ Colgate, Stephen (1996). Fundamentals of Sailing, Cruising, and Racing. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 384. ISBN 9780393038118.
  35. 1 2 Jones, I.; Stylios, G.K. (2013), Joining Textiles: Principles and Applications, Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles, Elsevier, p. 624, ISBN 9780857093967, retrieved 2017-01-12
  36. ↑ Berman, Phil (1999). Catamaran Sailing: From Start to Finish. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 219. ISBN 9780393318807.
  37. ↑ Cunliffe, Tom (2004). Hand, Reef and Steer. Sheridan House, Inc. p. 178. ISBN 9781574092035.
  38. ↑ Hahne, Peter (2005). Sail Trim: Theory and Practice. Sheridan House, Inc. p. 120. ISBN 9781574091984.
  39. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Howard, Jim; Doane, Charles J. (2000). Handbook of Offshore Cruising: The Dream and Reality of Modern Ocean Cruising. Sheridan House, Inc. p. 468. ISBN 9781574090932.
  40. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Biddlecombe, George (1990). The Art of Rigging: Containing an Explanation of Terms and Phrases and the Progressive Method of Rigging Expressly Adapted for Sailing Ships. Dover Maritime Series. Courier Corporation. p. 155. ISBN 9780486263434.
  41. ↑ Schweer, Peter (2006). How to Trim Sails. Sailmate. Sheridan House, Inc. p. 105. ISBN 9781574092202.
  42. ↑ Holmes, Rupert; Evans, Jeremy (2014). The Dinghy Bible: The Complete Guide for Novices and Experts. A&C Black. p. 192. ISBN 9781408188002.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.