Template talk:Sail types

Martingale rigging

I have been adding some info to the sailing articles, and ended up adding the nautical term martingale to the page martingale (fastener). Should that page be added to this template? Perhaps it should be spun off into its own article for expansion and added? --Fxer 16:07, August 30, 2005 (UTC)

I'd say no, because it's really pretty obscure, and since you only find them on i) large boats with ii) a bowsprit, I suspect very few of our readers are going to run into them. I'd suggest we limit it to common things that all sailing vessels have.

One idea though: we could link to Glossary of nautical terms from this template (if we don't already), and make sure it includes links to all the more obscure terms. Noel (talk) 21:06, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Hmm, I just added martingale (rigging) to get sail info out of the martingale (fastener) which I think I'm going to move to a different name. So if that's a stub that'll never get filled in, maybe it shd be changed to a redirect to where the term is discussed? Elf | Talk 17:04, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

Stay mouse

In an attempt to control template bloat, my suggestion is to remove Stay mouse - it's so obscure, it's not worth including it. Sailing is full of all sorts of obsolete terms (like those little round wooden blocks used for mechanical advantage in tightening the shrouds of old sailing vessels, I'm drawing a blank on their name here momentarily), and we simply can't include them all. We should stick to the ones people are likely to run across in common usage. Noel (talk) 21:27, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

I finally remembered the correct name for those things. They are called deadeyes (in case anyone was wondering :-). Noel (talk) 14:37, 24 September 2005 (UTC)

both marked like this^† D1gggg (talk) 03:19, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

Sprit

FYI: This template is missing the spar called the sprit and its corresponding rig. -Onceler 10:16, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

Obsolete Terms

If this template is to be any use it needs to retain and glory in obsolete terms. The discussion above is amusing. has it paid any heed to the template itself:

"Course | Driver | Extra | Genoa | Gennaker | Jib | Lateen | Mainsail | Moonsail | Spanker | Spinnaker | Spritsail | Staysail | Studding | Tallboy | Topgallant | Topsail | Trysail"

Of those I see 12 out of 18, two thirds of the total, as not in common parlance. Keep the obsolete, glory in being encyclopaedic, and expand the terms. If you think it important enough subdivide the box into "current" and "obsolete"

Fiddle Faddle 12:15, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, some things are still used in the present, but I don't come across them much in the subset of sailing (monohull small-sport-boat racing) that I engage in... things like mizzen mainsails, staysails, and gybe-preventers come to mind. So if you're going to subdivide, does it have to be based on age and present usefulness? How about dividing on other criteria, like type of rig or type of boat? That way obsolete sails/rig could be grouped with the obsolete boats you find them on...

Infinoid 17:39, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

I decided to separate them based on form, but then decided to stick with more abstract 3/4-edged sails

archaic or rare sails should be indicated as such D1gggg (talk) 16:39, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

Polynesian Sailing Rigs

There is a wiki page on Crab claw sails from Oceania, used there likely since long before Captain Cook was playing with toy boats on the sea shore. C. A. Marchaj includes study of them in at least one of his books (I only have his Aero-Hydrodynamics of Sailing but it's not handy to me at the moment). This sail configuration might be included in the template, especially since Marchaj's Sail Performance apparently rates them top in reaching and running performance (see the "Crab claw sail" article). Newportm (talk) 00:52, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Added Crab claw sail. Newportm (talk) 15:40, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

Cat boat vs. Cat rig

The section in the template is headed "rigs", so I think the appropriate link here is to the (admittedly bad) Cat rigged page. I'm not saying that a link to Catboat doesn't belong in this template somewhere, just not in the section labeled "rigs". Right? -- B.S. Lawrence (talk) 18:26, 23 January 2014 (UTC)

The problem is that Cat boat and Cat rig overlap, but are not quite synonyms. The terms are often used in parallel. A cat rigged boat is a very different thing then the other "rigs." Trying to fit this into the mesh of little boxes on a shelf ain't easy. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 18:36, 23 January 2014 (UTC)

Pilot rig

Hit upon this in a 1950s-era book but no idea what it means and no listing here. Probably deserves an entry, even if its to redirect. Online I did find "Pilot cutters carry a versatile gaff rig which is designed to give the vessel power and speed whilst arranged to be handled by an experienced crew of two." Can someone more knowledgeable please add and/or clarify this? prat (talk) 04:16, 12 October 2014 (UTC)

Apparent wind indicator?

 Done Template:Sailing ship elements

Do we need it here at all? It should be another template with anchor D1gggg (talk) 02:42, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

Several items left in "Rigging"

Not sure where to place them or to remove. D1gggg (talk) 03:56, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

only 4 left D1gggg (talk) 20:36, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

"Sail template"

Moved from User talk:D1gggg § Sail template

Can you explain that thing to me? It seems to have some foresails and stern sails intermixed. Anmccaff (talk) 18:39, 9 November 2017 (UTC)

Main separation is done based on "edges" (unknown, 3, 4, 3 and 4)

Rig-based separation would be more useful more even more tall (it is very tall already)

Additional edits may help.

Any specific problems? D1gggg (talk) 18:43, 9 November 2017 (UTC)

Ahh, so 3 is a lateen, bermuda, jib, I see that. 4 a squaresail, gaff... lug and junk belong here, then. What does the blank row signify? Anmccaff (talk) 20:21, 9 November 2017 (UTC)

Probably.

blank row is "everything else"

In case of sail it is "other number of edges"

Probably would make more sense to place it below others. D1gggg (talk) 20:24, 9 November 2017 (UTC)

 Comment: problem with Junk rig is that edges are not in smooth line; an alien to all sails D1gggg (talk) 20:31, 9 November 2017 (UTC)

two templates about rigs

• Template:Sailing vessels and rigs
• this one

I don't know what to do but they are different now. D1gggg (talk) 19:58, 9 November 2017 (UTC)

Number of sides to a sail

I updated the template to make it clear that the groupings in the sail section refer to the number of sides each type of sail has. I'm not sure this categorization is useful, though, nor am I certain that all the sails are properly grouped. UninvitedCompany 14:26, 16 August 2019 (UTC)