What is a spritsail used for?
The spritsail was a feature of the Cromster where the ability to furl the foot of the sail and raise the sheets, made gunnery much more readily possible. The sail could still be controlled using the vangs.
What is a sprit boom?
A snotter is a rope or tackle used in sailing to tension the sprit on a spritsail, or a sprit boom on a sprit-boomed sail by pulling the lower end towards the mast. It is also used in a junk rig.
What is a bowsprit sail?
bowsprit – An extension (in our case a big, solid piece of teak) that is bolted to the deck at the bow and extends out, over the water. It’s secured by the bobstay and two whiskerstays. The purpose of a bowsprit is to increase the amount of sail area.
How do you Brail a sail?
To reef or furl a sail using brail lines, one must pull on the single vertical rope running down the mast that the brails are attached to. This pulls the sail in toward the mast. The vertical rope is then secured and the sail can be further stowed if needed.
Do you need a bowsprit?
The bowsprit is not required but allows you to use a bigger sail.
How do blind people read?
Braille is not a language. It is a tactile code enabling blind and visually impaired people to read and write by touch, with various combinations of raised dots representing the alphabet, words, punctuation and numbers.
What is braille used for?
Braille is a reading and writing system for blind and vision impaired people, made up of raised dots that can be ‘read’ by touch. The most popular form of braille is Grade 2, which uses the alphabet as well as abbreviations and contractions.
Where does the spritsail go on a sailboat?
Because the mast is short it is easier to put up and often is made to fit inside the boat. The sprit is usually about the same length as the mast and also fits neatly in the boat. The spritsail is usually laced on the mast. There is no halyard and very little to fuss with, once the sail is set.
How is the spritsail used in the Optimist?
Modern use of the spritsail has also become more common through its use in the Optimist (dinghy) – this uses a boomed spritsail – in the case of which the sprit is tensioned by a snotter arrangement. This much simpler implementation sees the sprit anchored higher on the mast than on barges.
Why was the Amazing spritsail sailmaker discontinued?
It was a true square sail with sheets running from each of the corners. These ungainly spritsails were discontinued because of the difficulty in handling a sail that dangled so close to the water. The sailmaker needed to make drain holes to allow water out when the sail got caught in a wave.
What kind of sail is flown under the bowsprit?
For a square rigged sail flown under the bowsprit, see Spritsail (square-rigged). 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.