A form of sailing rig mainly employed on the Thames Sailing Barge, which uses two similarly sized spars to form the framework for the sail area. The mast is stepped vertically, whilst the sprit is hung from the mast at an angle, near its base, with it's foot in a kind of basket, called a 'muzzle'. The sprit is principally angled fore-and-aft, with some freedom to be moved outboard of the vessel, which enables it to utilise several points of sailing. The instablity caused by allowing such a weighty spar to extend too far away from the vessels centre of gravity, however, renders the rig most effective for upwind sailing. Wooden sailing boat Sailing is the skillful art of controlling the motion of a sailing ship or smaller boat, across a body of water using wind as the source of power. ... Look up Rig in Wiktionary, the free dictionary In Norse mythology, see Ríg. ... The distinctive sailing barges that were once a common sight on Londons River Thames, were commercial craft relying on sail power alone. ... A mast is a pole which holds a sail of a boat, see mast (sailing). ... In physics, the center of gravity (CoG) of an object is the average location of its weight. ... Windward is the direction from which a present wind is blowing. ...

The spritsail rig typically eliminates the need for a boom, usually found on fore-and-aft rigged vessels to keep the mainsail in an aerodynamically efficient shape. This technique can also be found on the Norfolk Wherry and the Bawley class of vessels. There are several meanings of the word boom: a sound such as a sonic boom - onomatopoeia the sound of an explosion. ... A wherry (meaning boat) is a boat used for carrying cargo on rivers and canals in England. ...

A conspicuous aspect to the Spritsail rig is that rather than lowering the mainsail, it is gathered up against the mast and the portion of the sprit aft of the mast by way of lines called "brails". This technique is known as "brailing up", and is both an effective way of stowing the mainsail and depowering it. A similar arrangement is found on a Bawley. However, as it renders the sails unreachable from the deck, it does mean that the sail cannot easily be covered, and thus protected from the elements. In keeping with the general philosophy of working boats, all sails would therefore be traditionally treated with tar and other substances. A mainsail is the most important sail raised from the main (or only) mast of a sailing vessel. ... The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the smaller of the two education labor unions in the United States, representing 1. ...