Crossword clues for spritsail
spritsail
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Spritsail \Sprit"sail\ (spr[i^]t"s[=a]l; among seamen spr[i^]t"s'l), n. (Naut.)
A sail extended by a sprit.
A sail formerly hung under the bowsprit, from the spritsail yard.
Wiktionary
n. (context nautical English) A form of three- or four-sided fore-and-aft sail and its rig, supporting the leech of the sail by means of a sprit.
WordNet
n. a fore-and-aft sail extended by a sprit
Wikipedia
The spritsail is a form of three or four-sided, fore-aft sail and its rig. Unlike the gaff where the head hangs from a spar along its edge, this rig supports the leech of the sail by means of a diagonal spar or spars named a sprit. The forward end of the sprit spar is attached to the mast but bisects the face of the sail, with the after end of the sprit spar attaching to the peak and/or the clew of the sail. It is said to be the ancestor from which the common gaff rig evolved in 16th-century Holland. Historically, spritsails were the first fore-and-aft rigs, appearing in Greco-Roman navigation in the 2nd century BC.
On large sailing ships a spritsail is a square-rigged sail carried on a yard below the bowsprit.
In some languages (such as German) it is known as a "blind" (German, (eine) Blinde) because it effectively blocks forward vision when set.
Spritsails were commonly used on sailing vessels from the first carracks until about 1800. Until the mid-18th century, most ships also flew a sprit-topsail from the short sprit topmast that rose vertically above the fore end of the bowsprit.
The full-rigged ships of the golden age of sail had no spritsails, as the area under the bowsprit was instead occupied by rigging ( martingales and dolphin striker) that reinforced the bowsprit and jib-boom against the forces of an increasing number of jibs.
Usage examples of "spritsail".
In this chair, wrapped in his cloak, he spent the long moonlit night, rising at every bell to walk along the gangway to the forecastle and out along the bowsprit to peer at the Spartan with his night-glass between the spritsail course and its topsail.
Although the Surprise was now making very close on thirteen knots, with her larboard cathead well under water and her lee rail hardly to he seen for the rushing foam, while her bow-wave flung the spray a good twenty yards and her deck sloped at thirty-five degrees, he still called for the spritsail course.
Jack, and he led Stephen forward to the head, out on to the bowsprit, to the cap, and set him on the spritsail yard.
Now the spritsail topsail followed, while to ease her plunging they hauled up the mainsail, giving all the wind to her forecourse: she sailed easier yet, with no slackening in her pace, clearly outrunning the Dutchman, although he had shaken out his foretopsail reef.
At eight bells, with both watches on deck, he took in the spritsail, got the yard fore and aft, set the inner jib, and bore up another point.
Cape Martin, the southeasternmost point of Nuku-hiva, was abeam, and Comptroller Bay was opening up as we fled past its wide entrance, where Sail Rock, for all the world like the spritsail of a Columbia River salmon-boat, was making brave weather of it in the smashing southeast swell.
Early in the morning I had noticed a tiny outrigger canoe, with an impossible spritsail, skimming the surface of the lagoon.
He made his way through them to the bows, then carefully out along the bowsprit as far as the spritsail yard.
The small boat was motionless with its spritsail furled, not too far from me.
A mainsail, topsail, and topgallant sail on each mast, and a spritsail on the bowsprit.
Torbay, for a haven, but we were riding out the gale, with our spritsail tucked under the bowsprit and the triangular head sails still unfurled.
The spritsail puckered and turned, and to his astonishment Stephen saw the chase right ahead, almost within gunshot, very, very much closer than he had expected.
Jack set their old-fashioned spritsail topsail, edging away another half point.
Surprise spread more canvas: studdingsails alow and aloft, royals, the rarely-seen but useful spritsail topsail, all the jibs that would set and a cloud of staysails.
And if the chase wore and fled, he still had his spritsail and the kites in hand, as well as an advantage of some two or three knots, in all likelihood.