Square rig

Square rig refers to a type of sail and rigging where the sails are mounted on horizontal spars.Gershom Bradford, 'Rigs of Vessels', The Rudder, Volume 23, ed. Thomas Fleming Day (1910), p. 505 The number of masts, the square sails and how the yards (spars) are set out distinguishes a square-rigged ship.Otmar Schäuffelen, Chapman Great Sailing Ships of the World (New York: Hearst Books, 2005), p. xxi The classic example of a square-rig is a three masted fully rigged ship. The square-rigger descends from the lateen-rig. Its angled sails became square sails. The full-rigged ship is a ship with square-rigged sails on all its masts. The square rig with all its sails and rigging is hard to handle when tacking or "coming about".Fred B. Jacobs, 'The Modern Sailor is Economical—II', Marine Review, Volume 50 (1920), p. 459 In the trade winds, square-rigged ships have an advantage, especially in deep water. 

 References 

 Other websites 
 How to sail a Full-Rigged-Ship - The Sørlandet Part 1
 Star of India tacking and wearing: YouTube

Category:Sailing