Spanker (sail)

{{Short description|Type of sail}}

{{Redirect|Driver (sail)||Driver (disambiguation)}}

File:Sail plan ship.svg

On a square rigged ship, the spanker is a gaff-rigged fore-and-aft sail set from, and aft of, the aftmost mast.{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvgDAAAAQAAJ&q=Spanker+sail&pg=PA10 |title=The art of sail-making |date=1843 |publisher=Dennett |location=London |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Crothers |first=William L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2QMBAAAQBAJ&q=Spanker+sail&pg=PA30 |title=The Masting of American Merchant Sail in the 1850s: An Illustrated Study |date=2014-07-09 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786493999 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Wood |first=Max |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAutarhssAMC&q=Spanker+sail&pg=PA114 |title=Sailing Tall: Around the World on the Square Rigged Passat (1946-1948) |date=2004 |publisher=Seafarer Books |isbn=9780954275020 |language=en}} Spankers are also called driver, jigger, and pusher sail.{{Cite web |first=Brion|last=Toss|date=August 31, 2016 |title=Harvesting the wind |url=https://oceannavigator.com/harvesting-the-wind/}}

On a schooner of four or more masts, the spanker is the sail on the mast nearest the stern.{{Cite web |title=spanker (noun) |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spanker}}

The spanker is a small sail, but as it is so far aft of the balance point of the hull, it has strong leverage. When sheeted in, the spanker is important in driving the boat to a new tack.