A watersail is a sail hung below the boom. It is used mostly on gaff rig boats for extra downwind performance when racing. Often a watersail will be improvised from an unused foresail. Its psychological effects may be more effective than its aerodynamic ones.
Because they are so low down, they do not pull as hard as you might hope, but in races they have a shattering psychological effect on the opposition. To see a long boomed gaffer overtaking from dead upwind with spinnaker on one side, and main, topsail and watersail on the other, is devastating. She seems to fill the sky, while the air for 50yds ahead of her is so still that the victim's pipe-smoke goes straight up as his yacht is inexorably overhauled.
— Cunliffe, Tom, (1992). Hand, Reef and Steer, Adlard Coles Nautical, London
March 14, 2024
watersail, this, article, does, cite, sources, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, 2019, learn, when, remove, this, templa. This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Watersail news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message A watersail is a sail hung below the boom It is used mostly on gaff rig boats for extra downwind performance when racing Often a watersail will be improvised from an unused foresail Its psychological effects may be more effective than its aerodynamic ones Because they are so low down they do not pull as hard as you might hope but in races they have a shattering psychological effect on the opposition To see a long boomed gaffer overtaking from dead upwind with spinnaker on one side and main topsail and watersail on the other is devastating She seems to fill the sky while the air for 50yds ahead of her is so still that the victim s pipe smoke goes straight up as his yacht is inexorably overhauled Cunliffe Tom 1992 Hand Reef and Steer Adlard Coles Nautical London Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Watersail amp oldid 896447551, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
