gaff rig

Gaff rig remains the most popular fore-aft rig for schooner and barquentine mainsails{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} and other course sails, and spanker sails on a square rigged vessel are always gaff rigged. 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,{{cite book|last=Cunliffe |first=Tom |year=1992 |title=Hand, Reef and Steer |publisher=Adlard Coles Nautical |location=London |page=12}} which, in addition to being simpler than the gaff rig, usually allows vessels to sail closer to the direction from which the wind is blowing (i.e. "closer to the wind").{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

The gaff is hoisted by two halyards:

File:Mainsail-edges.png

• The throat halyard hoists the throat of the sail (the end closer to the mast) at the forward end of the gaff and bears the main weight of the sail and the tension of the luff.{{cite book|last=Leather|first=John|title=The Gaff Rig Handbook: History, Design, Techniques, Developments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vunvLutTE7QC|edition=2nd|year=2001|publisher=WoodenBoat Books|isbn=978-0-937822-67-8|page=32 }}
• The peak halyard lifts the aft end of the gaff and bears the leech tension. Small craft attach the peak halyard to the gaff with a wire span with eyes at both ends looped around the gaff and held in place with small wooden chocks, larger craft have more than one span. Peak halyards pull upwards, approaching the gaff at right angles.{{sfnp|Leather|2001|p=33}}

File:Rose Dorothea-1907-broke topmast racing-won Lipton Cup.jpg

Additionally, a gaff vang may be fitted. It is a line attached to the end of the gaff which prevents the gaff from sagging downwind. Gaff vangs are difficult to rig on the aft-most sail, so are typically only found on schooners or ketches, and then only on the foresail or mainsail.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

A triangular fore-and-aft sail called a jib-headed topsail may be carried between the gaff and the mast.{{sfnp|Leather|2001|p=54}}

Gunter-rigged boats are similar, smaller vessels on which a spar (commonly, but incorrectly called the gaff) is raised until it is nearly vertical, parallel to the mast and close adjacent to it. Topsails are never carried on gunter rigs.

The spritsail is another rig with a four-sided fore-aft sail. Unlike the gaff rig where the head hangs from a spar along its edge, this rig supports the leech of the sail by means of a spar named a sprit. The forward end of the sprit is attached to the mast but bisects the face of the sail, with the after end of the sprit attaching to the peak and/or the clew of the sail.

For a given sail area a gaff rig has a shorter mast than a Bermudan rig. In short-ended craft with full body, heavy displacement and moderate ballast ratio, it is difficult to set enough sail area in the Bermudan rig without a mast of excessive height and a centre of effort (CE) too high for the limited stability of the hull.{{sfnp|Philips-Birt|1954|pp=47–48}} Because of its low aspect ratio, the gaff rig is less prone to stalling if oversheeted than something taller and narrower.{{sfnp|Cunliffe|1992|p=15}}

Whilst reaching, the CE being set further back, will encourage a small craft to bear up into the wind, i.e. strong weather helm. The boat builder can compensate for this at design stage, e.g. by shifting the keel slightly aft, or having two jibs to counter the effect. The gaff-cutter is in fact a very popular sailplan for small craft.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} The helmsman can reduce weather helm significantly, simply by sheeting out the mainsail. Sheeting out may appear to create an inefficient belly in the sail, but it is often a pragmatic alternative to having a heavy helm. A swing keel lifted halfway is the perfect treatment for weather helm on a gaffer.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} The usual adjustments to mast rake, or even bowsprit length may be made to a gaffer with persistent heavy weather (or lee) helm.

On a gaff-rigged vessel, any heading where the wind is within 20 degrees of dead aft is considered a run.{{sfnp|Cunliffe|1992|p=118}} When running with a gaff rig, the CE of the mainsail may actually be overboard of the hull, in a stiff wind the craft may want to broach. Running goose winged with a balloon staysail poled out to windward will balance the CE; Nick Skeates circumnavigated Wylo II with this configuration.{{sfnp|Cunliffe|1992|p=120}}

In light winds, or when racing, a watersail may also be set.

Since 1972, the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club has regularly hosted a Gaffers Day for any classic sailing boat that can "hoist a spar". Up to 90 vessels from around Australia take part in sailing on Sydney Harbour in a practical demonstration of the skills and technology used in the nautical past.{{Cite web|url=https://sasc.com.au/gaffers-day/|title = Gaffers Day}}

{{clear}}

File:J&ERiggin.jpg|Gaff rigged schooner J. & E. Riggin. Her sails, from left to right, are: jib, staysail, gaff foresail, gaff mainsail, and, above that, a main gaff topsail

File:Partridge 1885 - Sails.jpg|Gaff rigged Cutter Partridge 1885

File:18-04-20 ASTRID - MMSI 230998670 11-06-10.jpg|Gaff rigged ketch, Astrid, off Helsinki, Finland

File:Bermudianised Gaff Rig.jpg|A near-vertical gaff allows this Gunter-rigged boat to carry a triangular sail that is similar to the Bermuda rig

File:Schotel Gaffelaar.jpg|Gaffelaar, by Johannes Christiaan Schotel, depicting both gaff and square-rigged boats

File:Sloop Carmita-2.jpg|Carmita, racing cutter

File:Governor Ames.jpg|Governor Ames, five-masted schooner

File:Victory Chimes.jpg|Victory Chimes, National Historic Landmark

File:Errol Flynn's Zaca.jpg|Zaca, owned by Errol Flynn

File:IJsselmeerTraditionalBoat.JPG|Traditional Dutch sailing barge

File:Jacob van Strij - Het Jacht van de kamer Rotterdam.jpg|The yacht of the VOC-Chamber of Rotterdam, by Jacob van Strij

File:Rose Dorothea-Lipton's Cup-1907 Fishermen's Race.jpg|The schooner Rose Dorothea in 1907

File:Galway hookers, Belfast, June 2010 (06).JPG|Traditional Galway hooker, Ireland, June 2010

File: Bluenose sailing 1921.jpg|Original iconic Canadian schooner Bluenose

{{Commonscat|Gaff rigged sails}}

• Gunter rig
• Parts of a sail
• Spritsail
• Lug sail

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Rousmaniere|first=John|title=The Illustrated Dictionary of Boating Terms: 2,000 Essential Terms for Sailors & Powerboaters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YyWkT-C3pBkC|year=1998|publisher=W.W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-04649-6}}

{{Sail Types}}

{{Sailing vessels and rigs}}

Category:Sailing rigs and rigging

Category:Nautical terminology