The Anatomy of a Sail
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Here are the basics of a sail and the terms that you should know, both when purchasing a new sail and using that new sail! |
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| ASPECT RATIO - The height of a sail or luff length in relation to its width. |
HEAD - The top edge of a four sided sail or the top corner of a triangular sail. |
BOLTROPE - Rope sewn along one or more edges of a sail to strengthen it and take some of the stress of the cloth when it is stretched tightly. |
| LUFF - The front or leading edge of a sail. |
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ROACH - The part of the sail that extends beyond the straight line between the head and the clew. Roach is sometimes also applied to the foot. |
| CHORD - A straight line between the luff and leech of a sail. | ||
| CAMBER - The fore and aft curvature of a sail in relation to its chord. | ||
| LEECH - The aftmost or back edge of a sail. | ||
| HANK - A metal or nylon clip used to hold the luff of a headsail or staysail to the forestay | ||
| TACK - The lower, forward corner of a sail. | FOOT - The lowest edge of a sail. | CLEW - The lower, aft corner of a fore-and-aft sail, where the leech meets the foot. |
| BROADSEAM - A seam in a sail, in which the edges of neighboring panels are cut in a convex curve, so that when they are sewn together the resulting taper in the panels forces fullness into the sail. | TABLING - The folded hem sewn to the edges of a sail to reinforce them. |
CROSSCUT - Sails in which the panels of cloth run perpendicular to the leech. |
| FILL
- The thread that runs across sail cloth from edge to edge.
WARP - The threads that run lengthwise in a woven sailcloth across the fill threads. STARCUT - Sails in which the panels of cloth radiate from all corners, along the warp VERTICAL CUT - Sails in which the panels of cloth run vertically or parallel to the luff. BI-RADIAL - Sails in which the panels of cloth radiate from the head and the clew, along the warp. |
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