A sail is a tensile structure , which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships , sailboats , windsurfers , ice boats , and even sail-powered land vehicles . Sails may be made from a combination of woven materials—including canvas or polyester cloth, laminated membranes or bonded filaments, usually in a three- or four-sided shape.
61-400: A sailmaker makes and repairs sails for sailboats , kites , hang gliders , wind art, architectural sails, or other structures using sails. A sailmaker typically works on shore in a sail loft ; the sail loft has other sailmakers. Large ocean-going sailing ships often had sailmakers in the crew. The sailmaker maintained and repaired sails. This required knowledge of the sailmaker's craft and
122-405: A lateral force, resisted by the underwater foils, ice runners, or wheels of the sailing craft. For apparent wind angles aligned with the entry point of the sail, the sail acts as an airfoil and lift is the predominant component of propulsion. For apparent wind angles behind the sail, lift diminishes and drag increases as the predominant component of propulsion. For a given true wind velocity over
183-414: A line or a hook may pass, as on Bermuda mainsails. Fore-and-aft sails may have tell-tales —pieces of yarn, thread or tape that are affixed to sails—to help visualize airflow over their surfaces. The lines that attach to and control sails are part of the running rigging and differ between square and fore-and-aft rigs. Some rigs shift from one side of the mast to the other, e.g. the dipping lug sail and
244-439: A mast to support the airfoil and are beyond the scope of this article. Sailing craft employ two types of rig, the square rig and the fore-and-aft rig . The square rig carries the primary driving sails on horizontal spars , which are perpendicular or square , to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called yards and their tips, beyond the lifts , are called the yardarms . A ship mainly so rigged
305-561: A mast. They are typically raised by a line, called a halyard , and their angle with respect to the wind is usually controlled by a line, called a sheet . In use, they may be designed to be curved in both directions along their surface, often as a result of their curved edges. Battens may be used to extend the trailing edge of a sail beyond the line of its attachment points. Other non-rotating airfoils that power sailing craft include wingsails , which are rigid wing-like structures, and kites that power kite-rigged vessels , but do not employ
366-420: A sail is defined by its edges and corners in the plane of the sail, laid out on a flat surface. The edges may be curved, either to extend the sail's shape as an airfoil or to define its shape in use. In use, the sail becomes a curved shape, adding the dimension of depth or draft . Sail characteristics derive, in part, from the design, construction and the attributes of the fibers, which are woven together to make
427-471: A sail to reinforce it, or to fix the sail into a groove in the boom, in the mast, or in the luff foil of a roller-furling jib. They may have stiffening features, called battens , that help shape the sail, when full length, or just the roach, when present. They may have a variety of means of reefing them (reducing sail area), including rows of short lines affixed to the sail to wrap up unused sail, as on square and gaff rigs, or simply grommets through which
488-709: A sea barrier that has persisted, as far as is known, even at the lowest sea levels of glacial maxima of the Pleistocene and the Holocene . Therefore we know when watercraft of some (admittedly unknown) description must have been used by humans to cross the sea. As of 2017, there were over 540 million people living in the region, with the most populated island being Java . The people living there are predominantly from Austronesian subgroupings and correspondingly speak western Malayo-Polynesian languages . This region of Southeast Asia shares social and cultural ties with both
549-582: A shape that does not lie flat. Conventional sail panels are sewn together. Sails are tensile structures, so the role of a seam is to transmit a tensile load from panel to panel. For a sewn textile sail this is done through thread and is limited by the strength of the thread and the strength of the hole in the textile through which it passes. Sail seams are often overlapped between panels and sewn with zig-zag stitches that create many connections per unit of seam length. Whereas textiles are typically sewn together, other sail materials may be ultrasonically welded ,
610-401: A technique whereby high frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations are locally applied to workpieces being held together under pressure to create a solid state weld . It is commonly used for plastics , and especially for joining dissimilar materials . Sails feature reinforcements of fabric layers where lines attach at grommets or cringles . A bolt rope may be sewn onto the edges of
671-492: Is a transitional zone adjacent to the Wallace Line that is termed Wallacea . This is a zone where examples of animal and plant species from both sides can be found, but, particularly on smaller islands, there may be a greatly reduced number of terrestrial species. The biographical division of the region is important for understanding the spread of both modern and archaic humans into the region. The Wallace Line represents
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#1732797631768732-412: Is called a square-rigger . A fore-and-aft rig consists of sails that are set along the line of the keel rather than perpendicular to it. Vessels so rigged are described as fore-and-aft rigged . The invention of the sail was a technological advance of equal or even greater importance than the invention of the wheel. It has been suggested by some that it has the significance of the development of
793-410: Is often constrained by the sailing craft's orientation to the wind or point of sail . On points of sail where it is possible to align the leading edge of the sail with the apparent wind, the sail may act as an airfoil , generating propulsive force as air passes along its surface, just as an airplane wing generates lift , which predominates over aerodynamic drag retarding forward motion. The more that
854-471: Is usually a "flow through" structure) and a number of intervisible islands create both an invitation to travel and an environment where advanced navigation techniques are not needed. Alongside this, the Nile has a northward flowing current with a prevailing wind in the opposite direction, so giving the potential to drift in one direction and sail in the other. Many do not consider sails to have been used before
915-433: Is very little stress at the tack, whereas head sails (spinnakers and jibs) are more likely to be tri-radial, because they are tensioned at their corners. Higher performance sails may be laminated, constructed directly from multiple plies of filaments , fibers , taffetas , and films , instead of woven textiles that are adhered together. Molded sails are laminated sails formed over a curved mold and adhered together into
976-724: The Lesser Sunda Islands region, where most volcanoes over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) are situated. Tectonic uplifts also produced large mountains, including the highest in Mount Kinabalu in Sabah , Malaysia, with a height of 4,095.2 m (13,436 ft) and Puncak Jaya on Papua, Indonesia at 4,884 m (16,024 ft). Other high mountains in the archipelago include Puncak Mandala , Indonesia at 4,760 m (15,620 ft) and Puncak Trikora , Indonesia, at 4,750 m (15,580 ft). The climate throughout
1037-462: The Philippines . Stretching for several thousand kilometres, the area features a very large number of islands and boasts some of the richest marine, flora and fauna biodiversity on Earth. The main demographic difference that sets Maritime Southeast Asia apart from modern Mainland Southeast Asia is that its population predominantly belongs to Austronesian groups. The region contains some of
1098-523: The Song dynasty passed decrees enabling private trade fleets. Demand for Southeast Asian products and trade was partially driven by the increase in China's population in this era, whereby it doubled from 75 to 150 million, as well as the loss of access to the northern Silk Road . The first record of Chinese trading ships venturing to Southeast Asia (which they called Nan Hai ) appear by the 11th century, though
1159-572: The caravel in Northern European waters from about 1440 made lateen sails familiar in this part of the world. Additionally, lateen sails were used for the mizzen on early three-masted ships, playing a significant role in the development of the full-rigged ship . It did not, however, provide much of the propulsive force of these vessels – rather serving as a balancing sail that was needed for some manoeuvres in some sea and wind conditions. The extensive amount of contemporary maritime art showing
1220-399: The linear mass density of fibers). Cross-cut sails have the panels sewn parallel to one another, often parallel to the foot of the sail, and are the least expensive of the two sail constructions. Triangular cross-cut sail panels are designed to meet the mast and stay at an angle from either the warp or the weft (on the bias ) to allow stretching along the luff, but minimize stretching on
1281-504: The 11th into the 19th centuries. Materials used in sails, as of the 21st century, include nylon for spinnakers, where light weight and elastic resistance to shock load are valued and a range of fibers, used for triangular sails, that includes Dacron , aramid fibers including Kevlar , and other liquid crystal polymer fibers including Vectran . Woven materials, like Dacron, may specified as either high or low tenacity , as indicated, in part by their denier count (a unit of measure for
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#17327976317681342-618: The 5th millennium BCE. Others consider sails to have been invented much earlier. Archaeological studies of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture ceramics show use of sailing boats from the sixth millennium BCE onwards. Excavations of the Ubaid period (c. 6000–4300 BCE) in Mesopotamia provide direct evidence of sailing boats. Sails from ancient Egypt are depicted around 3200 BCE, where reed boats sailed upstream against
1403-686: The Imperial Court, but the Hokkien diaspora facilitated informal trade and cultural exchange with Southeast Asia, settling among Southeast Asian polities during this time period. Despite not having the official sanction of the Chinese government these communities formed business and trade networks between cities such as Melaka , Hội An and Ayutthaya . Many of these Chinese businesspeople integrated into their new countries, becoming political officials and diplomats. Trade with China ceased after
1464-582: The Philippines. In the natural sciences, the region is sometimes known as the Maritime Continent . It also corresponds to the biogeographical region of Malesia (not to be confused with "Malaysia"), with shared tropical flora and fauna . Geologically, the archipelago is one of the most active volcanic regions in the world, producing many volcanoes , especially in Java , Sumatra , and
1525-585: The River Nile 's current. Ancient Sumerians used square rigged sailing boats at about the same time, and it is believed they established sea trading routes as far away as the Indus valley . Greeks and Phoenicians began trading by ship by around 1200 BCE. V-shaped square rigs with two spars that come together at the hull were the ancestral sailing rig of the Austronesian peoples before they developed
1586-410: The angle of attack diverges from the apparent wind as a sailing craft turns downwind, the more drag increases and lift decreases as propulsive forces, until a sail going downwind is predominated by drag forces. Sails are unable to generate propulsive force if they are aligned too closely to the wind. Sails may be attached to a mast , boom or other spar or may be attached to a wire that is suspended by
1647-659: The archipelago is tropical, owing to its position on the Equator . Island Southeast Asia is crossed by the Wallace Line . This line divides the flora and fauna of Asia from that of Australia and New Guinea with stretches of water that have always been too wide for plant and animal species to cross readily. The gaps are considered to be large enough to make accidental rafting from one side to another to be unlikely events. Apart from birds, species that have managed to cross this line include those that have been moved by humans. There
1708-553: The collapse of the Song dynasty due to invasions and famine. It was restored during the Ming dynasty from the 14th to 16th centuries. The naval expeditions of Zheng He between 1405 and 1431 also played a critical role in opening up of China to increased trade with Southeast Asian polities. The Maritime Silk Route was disrupted by the colonial era in the 15th century, essentially being replaced with European trade routes. Shipbuilding of
1769-399: The design's likely results, before sails are ever cut. Sail A sail provides propulsive force via a combination of lift and drag, depending on its angle of attack , its angle with respect to the apparent wind . Apparent wind is the air velocity experienced on the moving craft and is the combined effect of the true wind velocity with the velocity of the sailing craft. Angle of attack
1830-736: The first millennium AD. It continued up to historic times. By around the 2nd century BCE, the Neolithic Austronesian trade networks in Southeast Asia connected with the maritime trade routes of South Asia , the Middle East , eastern Africa , and the Mediterranean , becoming what is now known as the Maritime Silk Route (or Maritime Silk Road). In addition to Austronesian sailors, the route
1891-525: The following. Sails on high-performance sailing craft. Sails on craft subject to low forward resistance and high lateral resistance typically have full-length battens. Island Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei , Indonesia , Malaysia , the Philippines , Singapore , and East Timor . The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given
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1952-444: The force component in the direction of the apparent wind and lift , the force component normal (90°) to the apparent wind. Depending on the alignment of the sail with the apparent wind, lift or drag may be the predominant propulsive component. Total aerodynamic force also resolves into a forward, propulsive, driving force, resisted by the medium through or over which the craft is passing (e.g., through water, air, or over ice, sand) and
2013-503: The fore-and-aft crab claw , tanja and junk rigs . The date of introduction of these later Austronesian sails is disputed. Lateen sails emerged by around the 2nd century CE in the Mediterranean. They did not become common until the 5th century, when there is evidence that the Mediterranean square sail (which had been in wide use throughout the classical period ) was undergoing a simplification of its rigging components. Both
2074-538: The formerly dominant Southeast Asian trading ships ( jong , the source of the English term "junk") declined until it ceased entirely by the 17th century. Although Chinese-built chuán survived until modern times. There was new demand for spices from Southeast Asia and textiles from India and China, but these were now linked with direct trade routes to the European market, instead of passing through regional ports of
2135-480: The increasing popularity of the lateen and the changes to the contemporary square rig are suggested to be cost saving measures, reducing the number of expensive components needed to fit out a ship. It has been a common and erroneous presumption among maritime historians that lateen had significantly better sailing performance than the square rig of the same period. Analysis of voyages described in contemporary accounts and also in various replica vessels demonstrates that
2196-432: The islands of Maritime Southeast Asia , then later sailed further onwards to Micronesia , Island Melanesia , Polynesia , and Madagascar , eventually settling a territory spanning half the globe. The proto- Austronesian words for sail, lay(r) , and some other rigging parts date to about 3000 BCE when this group began their Pacific expansion. Austronesian rigs are distinctive in that they have spars supporting both
2257-533: The lateen mizzen on 16th and 17th century ships often has the sail furled. Practical experience on the Duyfken replica confirmed the role of the lateen mizzen. Austronesian invention of catamarans , outriggers , and the bi-sparred triangular crab claw sails enabled their ships to sail for vast distances in open ocean. It led to the Austronesian Expansion . From Taiwan, they rapidly settled
2318-401: The lateen. The lines can be categorized as those that support the sail, those that shape it, and those that control its angle to the wind. Fore-and-aft rigged vessels have rigging that supports, shapes, and adjusts the sails to optimize their performance in the wind, which include the following lines: Square-rigged vessels require more controlling lines than fore-and-aft rigged ones, including
2379-524: The later 19th-century term " Malay Archipelago " are also used to refer to Maritime Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, the Old Javanese term " Nusantara " is also used as a synonym for Maritime Southeast Asia. The term, however, is nationalistic and has shifting boundaries. It usually only encompasses Peninsular Malaysia , the Sunda Islands , Maluku , and often Western New Guinea and excludes
2440-616: The latter groups (Micronesian and Polynesian groups) being from this region. The maritime connectivity within the region has been linked to it becoming a distinct cultural and economic area, when compared to the 'mainland' societies in the rest of Southeast Asia. This region stretches from the Yangtze delta in China down to the Malay Peninsula , including the South China Sea , Gulf of Thailand and Java Sea . The region
2501-422: The luff and foot, where the fibers are aligned with the edges of the sail. Radial sails have panels that "radiate" from corners in order to efficiently transmit stress and are typically of higher performance than cross-cut sails. A bi-radial sail has panels radiating from two of three corners; a tri-radial sail has panels radiating from all three corners. Mainsails are more likely to be bi-radial, since there
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2562-660: The material cultures of India and China. Indonesians , in particular were trading in spices (mainly cinnamon and cassia ) with East Africa using catamaran and outrigger boats and sailing with the help of the Westerlies in the Indian Ocean. This trade network expanded to reach as far as Africa and the Arabian Peninsula , resulting in the Austronesian colonization of Madagascar by the first half of
2623-420: The neolithic lifestyle or the first establishment of cities. Yet it is not known when or where this invention took place. Much of the early development of water transport is believed to have occurred in two main "nursery" areas of the world: Island Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean region. In both of these you have warmer waters, so that use of rafts is possible without the risk of hypothermia (a raft
2684-752: The peoples of mainland Southeast Asia and with other Austronesian peoples in the Pacific . Islam is the predominant religion, with Christianity being the dominant religion in the Philippines and East Timor. Buddhism , Hinduism , and traditional Animism are also practiced among large populations. Historically, the region has been referred to as part of Greater India , as seen in Coedes' Indianized States of Southeast Asia , which refers to it as "Island Southeast Asia"; and within Austronesia or Oceania , due to shared ethnolinguistic and historical origins of
2745-585: The performance of square rig and lateen were very similar. Lateen provided a cheaper rig to build and maintain, with no degradation of performance. The lateen was adopted by Arab seafarers (usually in the sub-type: the settee sail ), but the date is uncertain, with no firm evidence for their use in the Western Indian Ocean before 1500 CE. There is, however, good iconographic evidence of square sails being used by Arab, Persian and Indian ships in this region in, for instance, 1519. The popularity of
2806-476: The rest of Austronesia , crab claw sails were mainly for double-outrigger ( trimarans ) and double-hulled ( catamarans ) boats, which remained stable even leeward. In western Island Southeast Asia , later square sails also evolved from the crab claw sail, the tanja and the junk rig , both of which retained the Austronesian characteristic of having more than one spar supporting the sail. Aerodynamic forces on sails depend on wind speed and direction and
2867-443: The sail cloth. There are several key factors in evaluating a fiber for suitability in weaving a sail-cloth: initial modulus , breaking strength (tenacity) , creep , and flex strength . Both the initial cost and its durability of the material define its cost-effectiveness over time. Traditionally, sails were made from flax or cotton canvas , although Scandinavian, Scottish and Icelandic cultures used woolen sails from
2928-447: The sail. Once the design is complete, the sailmaker can now use a low-power laser to cut the material to the exact shape. Sailmakers have recently started using Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the study of the flow of fluids over or through physical objects, in order to create more efficient sail or foil shapes in the design process. After CFD analysis is run, complex data sets can be rendered graphically to enhance understanding of
2989-436: The same meaning as Maritime Southeast Asia. Other definitions restrict Island Southeast Asia to just the islands between mainland Southeast Asia and the continental shelf of Australia and New Guinea. There is some variability as to whether Taiwan is included in this. Peter Bellwood includes Taiwan in his definition, as did Robert Blust , whilst there are examples that do not. The 16th-century term " East Indies " and
3050-445: The speed and direction of the craft. The direction that the craft is traveling with respect to the true wind (the wind direction and speed over the surface) is called the "point of sail". The speed of the craft at a given point of sail contributes to the apparent wind ( V A ), the wind speed and direction as measured on the moving craft. The apparent wind on the sail creates a total aerodynamic force, which may be resolved into drag ,
3111-551: The surface, a sail can propel a craft to a higher speed, on points of sail when the entry point of the sail is aligned with the apparent wind, than it can with the entry point not aligned, because of a combination of the diminished force from airflow around the sail and the diminished apparent wind from the velocity of the craft. Because of limitations on speed through the water, displacement sailboats generally derive power from sails generating lift on points of sail that include close-hauled through broad reach (approximately 40° to 135° off
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#17327976317683172-402: The tools of the sailmakers loft on shore. Today, one of a sailmaker's important jobs is to teach people how to set and trim their sails to get the most out of them. Sometimes a sailmaker will accompany the client out on the water and adjust the sails. The modern sailmaker uses computer-aided design and manufacturing tools. Computer graphics allow the sailmaker to produce a "lines drawing" of
3233-399: The trade routes during this period remained dominated by Srivijaya . The Chinese development of their own maritime technologies led to the establishment of Chinese trading colonies in Southeast Asia, a boom in the maritime trade, and the emergence of the ports of " Chinchew " ( Quanzhou ) and " Canton " ( Guangzhou ) as regional trade centers in China. Chinese trade was strictly controlled by
3294-545: The upper and lower edges of the sails (and sometimes in between). The sails were also made from salt-resistant woven leaves, usually from pandan plants. Crab claw sails used with single-outrigger ships in Micronesia , Island Melanesia , Polynesia , and Madagascar were intrinsically unstable when tacking leeward. To deal with this, Austronesians in these regions developed the shunting technique in sailing, in conjunction with uniquely reversible single-outriggers. In
3355-652: The various combinations of sail proposed for a sailing ship . Sail plans may vary for different wind conditions—light to heavy. Both square-rigged and fore-and-aft rigged vessels have been built with a wide range of configurations for single and multiple masts with sails and with a variety of means of primary attachment to the craft, including: High-performance yachts, including the International C-Class Catamaran , have used or use rigid wing sails , which perform better than traditional soft sails but are more difficult to manage. A rigid wing sail
3416-405: The wind). Because of low friction over the surface and high speeds over the ice that create high apparent wind speeds for most points of sail, iceboats can derive power from lift further off the wind than displacement boats. Each rig is configured in a sail plan , appropriate to the size of the sailing craft. A sail plan is a set of drawings, usually prepared by a naval architect which shows
3477-643: The world's most highly urbanized areas—the Greater Manila Area , Greater Jakarta , Singapore , and Greater Kuala Lumpur —and yet a majority of islands in this vast region remain uninhabited by humans. The land and sea area of Maritime Southeast Asia exceeds 2 million km . These are more than 25,000 islands of the area that comprise many smaller archipelagoes. The major groupings are: The seven largest islands are Borneo , Sumatra , Sulawesi and Java in Indonesia; and Luzon and Mindanao in
3538-458: Was a significant export of east Africa, leading some authors to label the western leg of the trade route as the "Maritime Ivory Route". The Maritime Silk Route flourished until around the 15th century CE. Han and Tang dynasty records mention large Southeast Asian ships (that they called the kunlun po , 崑崙舶, "ships of the kunlun ") visiting coastal Chinese cities regularly to trade from as early as 3rd century CE. By around 900 to 1000 CE,
3599-641: Was also heavily used by Tamil , Persian , and Arab sailors. It allowed the exchange of goods from East and Southeast Asia on one end, all the way to Europe and eastern Africa on the other. Although usually spoken of in modern times in the context of Eurocentric and Sinocentric luxury goods, the goods carried by the trading ships varied by which product was in demand by region and port. They included ceramics, glass, beads, gems, ivory, fragrant wood, metals (both raw and finished goods), textiles (including silk), food (including grain, wine, and spices), aromatics, and animals, among others. Ivory , in particular,
3660-523: Was dominated by the thalassocratic cultures of the Austronesian peoples . The first true long-distance maritime trade network in the Indian Ocean was by the Austronesian peoples of Island Southeast Asia. They established trade routes with Southern India and Sri Lanka as early as 1500 BC, ushering an exchange of material culture (like catamarans , outrigger boats , lashed-lug and sewn-plank boats , and paan ) and cultigens (like coconuts , sandalwood , and sugarcane ); as well as connecting
3721-424: Was used by Stars and Stripes , the defender which won the 1988 America's Cup , and by USA-17 , the challenger which won the 2010 America's Cup . USA 17' s performance during the 2010 America's Cup races demonstrated a velocity made good upwind of over twice the wind speed and downwind of over 2.5 times the wind speed and the ability to sail as close as 20 degrees off the apparent wind. The shape of
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