A rig of mainsail or course that consists of a triangular sail set aft of the mast, with its head raised to the top of the mast, its luff running down the mast and normally attached to it for all its length, its tack attached at the base of the mast, its foot controlled by a boom, and its clew attached to the aft end of the boom, which is controlled by its sheet.
A rig that uses such a bermuda mainsail.
This sail, whether set as a mainsail on the main mast or as the course (the principal sail) on another mast, is known as a bermuda sail. Originally developed for the bermuda sloop, it has largely replaced the older gaff rigged fore and aft sails.
A bermuda rigged sloop with exactly one jib is known as a bermuda sloop, marconi sloop or marconi rig. Bermuda sloop can also refer to a more specific type of vessel.
The foot of a bermuda sail may be attached to the boom along its length, or in more modern rigs the sail is attached to the boom only at its ends. This modern variation of a bermuda mainsail is known as a loose_footed main.
The main controls on a bermuda sail are:
The halyard used to raise the head, and sometimes to tension the luff.
The outhaul used to tension the foot by hauling the clew towards the end of the boom.
The sheet used to haul the boom down and towards the center of the boat.
The vang or kicking strap which runs between a point partway along the boom and the base of the mast, and is used to haul the boom down when on a run.
Minor (but vital when they are present) controls include:
A downhaul on the boom at the mast end, used to set sail height and sometimes tension.
A cunningham's eye, particularly useful for getting a good shape in an older sail in medium to strong winds.
A leach line, eased for lighter winds.
Batten tension controls, eased for lighter winds but only accessible before the sail is raised.
Reefing points and lines, used to reduce sail area in strong winds.
Running backstays to fine tune the shape of the mast.
The tension of the jib halyard(s) will also particularly affect the shape of the mast and therefore the set of the bermuda sail, and of course the set of all other sails will have some affect on it.
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 to the keel of the vessel and to the masts.
In their heyday, square-rigged vessels ranged in size from small boats to full rigged ships, however, today this rig has fallen from favour and the rig in common use today is one form or another of fore-and-aft gaff rigs and bermudarigs.
Square rigs do have their advantages, however; they are more efficient when running, where the high lift to drag is irrelevant and the total drag is the most important issue.
The term BermudaRig refers to a configuration of the mast and rigging for a type of sailboat, and is also known as a Marconi rig; this is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats.
Gaff rig is a sailingrig (configuration of sails) in which a sail is a four-cornered fore-and-aft riggedsail controlled at its peak, and usually entire head, by a spar (pole) called the gaff.
They were lateen rigged on two or three masts, but suffered from the inevitable defects of compromise, being unable to carry the more effective square rig of the sailing ship because of the modified galley hull form and also, for the same reason, being unable to retain the speed and maneuverability of the true galley.
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