Complex sentence: The fore-and-aft rig was particularly useful in manoeuvring upwind, and was very useful to European Bermudians who used boats as the primary means of moving about their gusty archipelago into the 20th century.
Split into simpler sentences: The fore-and-aft rig was particularly useful in maneuvering upwind. This is particularly due to the European Bermudians use of boats as the primary means of moving about their gusty archipelago into the 20th century.