OK, so now we get down to where the wind meets the material so to speak. Sails are a simple yet complex piece of technology. Over the years they have been improved from simple animal skins sewn together with tendons to today’s newest space age fabrics.

Sails need to be strong, yet flexible. They must give and stretch with the wind so they do not tear and become useless. Today nylon is used fro most sails around the world. Their seams are sewn together with strong nylon yard or ultrasonically welded together.

Sails are normally rigged in two different formats, square rigging and fore and aft rigging. Like I have said before, more on these later.

Anyone who has either been on a sailing vessel or even watch some of the great sailing movies, Master and Commander, or the Hornblower movies, will know, sailing requires a great deal of teamwork, not only with men, but also the ship itself. Each rope and mast plays a different role. I will continue along with the sail break down and mast in the following days.

Like I had said earlier, we shall learn the ropes. Anyone who fails to get their quals shall taste the cat and earn their red R. But seriously, sailing was such a dominate method of moving on open water it is important to know its terms.

OK, back to a sail. Sails are made up of many different parts. They are more than just a larger sheet of fabric. They are in their own way a static machine that produces its power in an almost passive way. They neither have nor store potential or kinetic energy. Square rigged sails have four named sections, the head, foot, leech and clew. Fore and aft sails also have four named sections, foot, luff, leech, and head.