On 15/8/13, Ann Sanfedele, discombobulated, unleashed: > >Your gaffers are more picturesque :-)
Thanks Anne. The term gaffers in this context refers to a type of sailing rig commonly used up until the 20th century. The 'gaff' is a wooden spar (pole) that holds the top side of a four-sided sail. Hence 'gaff-rigged'. Most modern sailing boats have a mainsail that is triangular and is correctly referred to as a Bermudian rig. The advantage of the gaff mainsail is more sail area = more thrust. The advantage of the Bermudian mainsail is the ability to sail slightly closer to the wind. Eg - a boat can sail 'upwind' to the tune of about 45 degrees. The gaff rig sails a couple of points more off the wind (say about 50 degrees). Here endeth the lesson ;-) -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ Broadcast, Corporate, || (O) | Web Video Producion ---------- <www.seeingeye.tv> _____________________________ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
