Gaffelaar, by Johannes Christiaan Schotel

Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails) in which a sail is a four-cornered fore-and-aft rigged item controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the gaff. Sailing is the art of controlling a Sailing vessel. By changing the Rigging, Rudder and dagger or centre board a Sailor manages the force A sail is any type of surface intended to generate Thrust by being placed in a Wind &mdashin essence a vertically-oriented Wing. A fore-and-aft rig is a Sailing rig consisting mainly of Sails that are set along the line of the Keel rather than perpendicular to it In Sailing the parts of a Sail have common terminology for each corner and edge of the sail In Sailing the parts of a Sail have common terminology for each corner and edge of the sail In Sailing, a spar is also know as a round pole of wood or Metal used on a Sailing ship. The gaff enables a fore and aft sail to be four sided, rather than triangular, and as much as doubles the sail area that can be carried by that mast and boom (if a boom is used in the particular rig). In Sailing, a boom is a Spar (pole along the foot (bottom of a Fore and aft rigged Sail, that greatly improves control of the angle

A sail hoisted from a gaff is called a gaff rigged sail. Any mast may carry a gaff rigged course sail. In Sailing, a course sail is the principal sail on a mast This term is used predominantly on Square rigged vessels referring to the largest and lowest sail on

Gaff rig remains the most popular rig for schooner and barquentine mainsails and other course sails, and spanker sails on a square rigged vessel are always gaff rigged. A schooner (ˈskuːnɚ is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts Schooners were first used by the Description A barquentine (also spelled barkentine) is a Sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a Square rigged A spanker is either of two kinds of Sail. On a Square rigged ship the spanker is a Gaff rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal Spars which are perpendicular or square On other rigs, particularly the sloop, ketch and yawl, gaff rigged sails were once common but have now been largely replaced by the Bermuda rig sail. For the military definition of sloop see Sloop-of-war. For the open learning project see SLOOP Project. A ketch is a Sailing Craft with two masts: a main mast and a shorter Mizzen mast abaft (rearward of the main mast YAWL (Yet Another Workflow Language is a Workflow language based on the Workflow patterns. The term Bermuda rig refers to a configuration of mast and Rigging for a type of Sailboat and is also known as a Marconi rig; this is the typical

On larger gaff rigged vessels the gaff is hoisted by two halyards:

Halyards (and edges) on a gaff rigged sail

• The throat or main halyard lifts the end closer to the mast and bears the main weight of the sail and the tension of the luff. In Sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line ( Rope) that is used to hoist (pull up a Sail, a Flag or a yard. In Anatomy, the throat is the anterior part of the Neck, in front of the vertebral column. In Sailing the parts of a Sail have common terminology for each corner and edge of the sail
• The peak halyard lifts the end further from the mast, and bears the leech tension. In Sailing the parts of a Sail have common terminology for each corner and edge of the sail

A near-vertical gaff allows this boat to carry a triangular sail that apes that of the Bermuda rig. The term Bermuda rig refers to a configuration of mast and Rigging for a type of Sailboat and is also known as a Marconi rig; this is the typical

On such rigs a triangular fore-and-aft sail called a gaff topsail may be carried between the gaff and the top mast or the gaff and a jack yard.

On some smaller vessels the gaff is raised by a single halyard running on a wire gunter. In Sailing, a gunter is used for two main configurations of rig The gunter is defined as a wire that leads from one point near the end of a gaff On these rigs the gaff may be very nearly vertical and a topsail is never carried. Another variation on small vessels is a gaff with no halyard. One end of the spar is attached to the peak of the sail and the gaff is hoist until it tensions the head and leach and then the other end is secured to the mast near the tack.

See also

• Gunter
• Winkle Brig