What Is A Spanker Sailing?

The spanker is a small sail on the mast nearest the stern of a schooner with four or more masts. It is a four-cornered sail set on the aftmost mast of a sailing vessel, typically triangular or quadrilateral. A spanker is also known as a driver, jigger, or mizzen. In old times, a spinnaker was a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind, on courses between a reach and downwind. They are made of lightweight fabric, often brightly colored, and are hauled to weather to help the rudder force the stern around, maintaining steerageway and keeping momentum going.

The mizzen or spanker is a sailing ship in the longitudinal direction (fore-) at the far (first eight) mast of many sailing ships. The term is used on most sailing ships with at least one mast. The spanker is a gaff-rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft of the aftmost mast. It helps push the stern out in the opposite direction of the turn in order to bring the bow around and through the turn.

A spanker is a fore-and-aft sail on the aftermost lower mast of a sailing vessel having three or more masts. It is a designation given to the mast abaft a mizzenmast, which is the aft mast of a square-rigged ship, from and behind which a spanker – a fore and aft sail – is flown.

What is the definition of a spanker?

Definitions of spanker. noun. a hitter who slaps (usually another person) with an open hand. synonyms: slapper. type of: hitter, striker.

A hitter who slaps (usually another person) with an open hand.

A fore-and-aft sail set on the aftermost lower mast (usually the mizzenmast) of a vessel.

Any sail not set on a yard and whose normal position is in a fore-and-aft direction.

What is a 3 masted ship called?

Barque or Bark, usually a three masted vessel, the fore and main masts square rigged and the mizzen mast or after mast rigged fore and aft. The four masted barque was a relatively common rig on the oceans, but only two were built in Canada.

The sail plans of sailing vessels were many and varied. Beside differences in original design, a ship might undergo a number of changes, depending upon the whims of her owner, captain, or builder, the trade she was used in, or local traditions. These changes were introduced to improve sailing qualities and to provide a rig that could be handled by a smaller crew, thus paying higher returns to shareholders.

The silhouettes of vessels overleaf represent different rigs of ships on the east coast of North America during the mid 1800s to the early 1900s, a period in marine history often referred to as the “golden age of sail”.

Sailing ship rigs can be divided into two broad categories: the “fore and aft rig” (left), in which the sails lie along the same plane as the ship’s fore and aft line; and the “square rig” (right), in which the sails are rigged athwart (across) the ship. Each rig had certain advantages.

What does jibbing mean in sailing?

Definition of Jibing. Jibing, one of the other turning maneuvers is simply the opposite of a tack. Recall that during a tack, the bow of the boat passes through the wind. During a jibe, the stern of the boat passes through the wind.

What is a junk sailboat?

The Junk’s keel was laid in Malaysia in 1961 and she was launched in 1962. She was one of many junks built in Penang, but among the last. For those who don’t know, a junk is a traditional Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails. The Junk measures 30 metres in length and, amazingly, still has her 3 original masts.

Hardwood used for her construction bears the name ‘takien tong’ (Hopea Odorata) and comes from Langkawi Island. Initially, there was no engine on The Junk. This was because according to Malaysian government rules, this kind of cargo ship belonged to the ‘native sailing vessels’ category. Consequently, she could not have any engines so as ‘not to compete with modern motorized ships’. But, who needs an engine when you’re carrying 400 square meters of sail?

For many years she carried cargo – mainly mango wood charcoal – from Malaysia to Burma, via Thailand, only under sail. However, she got her first engine in the 1970’s and continued to operate, for another ten years, plying the same route until 1985.

Thailand re-birth. In the mid-eighties, 2 French businessmen purchased The Junk and brought her to Thailand. Following this she was restored and redesigned to serve as a classic yacht. For the first time in her history, the Junk had a deck! On top were two master cabins and below deck a kitchen, one toilet, and many bunk beds all in one open space. Life was still very communal on the Junk.

What is a spanker in British slang?

(dated) One who takes long, quick strides in walking. (dated) A swift horse. (dated, slang) Something very large, or larger than usual; a whopper.

What is the difference between a gaffer and a skipper?

In context of footballers terminology ‘gaffer’ would refer to the manager of the team. Skipper would, generally, be used to refer to the teams captain on the field of play during the course of a match. Gaffer is the boss and skipper is the captain …

What is the purpose of the spanker?

Quick Reference. The fore-and-aft sail set from the mizzen of square-rigged ships, usually with a gaff and a boom. Although used for propulsion, the principal function of the spanker is to aid the ship in manoeuvre and to be set to assist in the balance of the helm.

What is a gaffer sailboat?

Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the gaff.

Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the gaff. Because of the size and shape of the sail, a gaff rig will have running backstays rather than permanent backstays.

The gaff enables a fore-and-aft sail to be four sided, rather than triangular. A gaff rig typically carries 25 percent more sail than an equivalent Bermuda rig for a given hull design.

A sail hoisted from a gaff is called a gaff-rigged (or, less commonly, gaff rigged or gaffrigged) sail.

What is a spanker in sailing?

Span·​ker ˈspaŋ-kər. 1. : the fore-and-aft sail on the mast nearest the stern of a square-rigged ship. 2. : the sail on the mast nearest the stern of a schooner of four or more masts.

: the fore-and-aft sail on the mast nearest the stern of a square-rigged ship.

: the sail on the mast nearest the stern of a schooner of four or more masts.

Recent Examples on the Web And Alabama is a big spanker. —John Archibald | [email protected], al, 24 Aug. 2022 If this season’s crop of romances is anything to go by, there’s no general rush to the whip: E. L. James and a few other spankers may have both stirred up a vast market and satisfied it. —Robert Gottlieb, New York Times, 26 Sep. 2017 The women at the observatory used fly spankers, which sound like something from 50 Shades of Grey. —National Geographic, 25 Dec. 2016.

What is the difference between a barque and a ship?

Even a full-rigged ship did not usually have a lateral (square) course on the mizzen mast below the mizzen topmast. Instead, the lowest sail on the mizzen was usually a fore/aft sail—originally a lateen sail, but later a gaff sail called a spanker or driver. The key distinction between a ship and a barque (in modern usage) is that a ship carries a square-rigged mizzen topsail (and therefore that its mizzen mast has a topsail yard and a cross-jack yard) whereas the mizzen mast of a barque has only fore-and-aft rigged sails. The cross-jack yard was the lowest yard on a ship’s mizzen mast. Unlike the corresponding yards on the fore and main mast it did not usually have fittings to hang a sail from: its purpose was to control the lower edge of the topsail. In the rare case, the cross-jack yard did carry a square sail, that sail would be called the cross-jack rather than the mizzen course.

The full set of sails, in order from bottom to top, are:

• Lower topsail, if fitted.
• Upper topsail, if fitted.

What does gybing mean in sailing?

Capsize. You must also be very wary of the boom. And keep your head out of the way as it moves. Across Jai Bing is nothing to fear good balance technique is important but very easy to master.