Faucets

Which sail is better latin or oblique. Examples of designs for collapsible sailing ships

Were the Arabs the inventors of the Latin sail?.

It is known that one of hallmarks medieval galleys had the presence of Latin sailing weapons. We will definitely talk about the emergence of Latin sails on galleys, but now I would like to say a few words about the history of the emergence of oblique, including Latin, sails in general. Who and when invented the Latin sail is unknown. Therefore, as usual in such cases, there is no shortage of hypotheses, sometimes mutually exclusive, colored by poorly hidden attempts to establish national priorities (the postulate “Russia is the birthplace of elephants” applies not only to Russia and not only to elephants). The principle of operation of the Latin sail is fundamentally different from the principle of the direct sail. It is installed not across, but practically along the wind, and the driving force is a component of the pressure difference between the concave and convex parts of the sail, in exactly the same way as the lift force of an aircraft wing is formed. The main advantages of a latin sail are that it offers less resistance to movement, is used more efficiently in light winds and allows you to sail steeper into the wind than with a straight sail. So why did the dominance of the direct sail lasted so long?

There was only one reason why the large rectangular sail remained for many, many centuries on ships that sailed the Nile. This river is known to flow from south to north while the prevailing winds blow from north to south. Consequently, when the ship went downstream, the spars were cut down and the rowers took over. On the way back, a steady tailwind was blowing, which did not require tacking to follow upstream. Simplicity in the design of direct sails and their management contributed to their long dominance on Egyptian, and then other Mediterranean ships. A straight sail does not need to change from tack to tack with a slight change in the direction of the tailwind, while the use of oblique sails in this case requires constant attention from the crew.

The most likely transition from straight to latin sail is as follows. Using a straight sail, navigators have noticed that when the ship is not sailing exactly in the gybe, the effectiveness of the sail can be increased by turning it so that it is perpendicular to the wind. If this technique is used when the ship has a keel or a steering gear (or better, both), then it is possible to choose a ship's course relative to the wind in a wider range, and not just move along the direction of the wind.

If the wind direction approaches the beam, i.e. the ship goes close to the backstay course, this technique starts to work worse, however, the drop in driving force can be partially compensated if the windward leech of the sail is directed towards the wind. This method works well if the windward leech is taut, which can be achieved by tilting the windward portion of the top yard (or hafel) down. The use of a square sail in this way is a direct route to the invention of the latin sail, perhaps through the intermediate use of a quadrangular batten (luger) sail (when the quadrangular sail is attached with the luff to the rail, with the batten and lower soft leech of the sail protruding ahead of the mast). Campbell in his study Latin sail in world history” (Journal of World History, Spring 1995), considers that the specific shape of the Latin sail of the Indian Ocean increases the plausibility of this hypothesis: the short edge of the windward leech is possibly a remnant of the original leech of the direct sail. However, this remains only a hypothesis, not supported by material evidence. The development of skew rigging in the Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia followed its own paths, independent of the development of the sail in the Mediterranean, which confirms the hypothesis of two, and possibly three independent directions in the development of the latin sail.

The most heated debate revolved around the question of whether the Latin sail is of Mediterranean origin or whether it originally appeared in the Indian Ocean and was brought to the Mediterranean by the Arabs. Proponents of the second version cite the following arguments in support of it. The Latin sail was universally known by the name of the "Arabian sail", by borrowing which the navigators of the West greatly increased the efficiency of their fleet. Further, there is no evidence of the presence of Latin weapons in the Mediterranean before the end of the ninth century, i.e. after almost two centuries since the beginning of the operation of Arab ships in the Mediterranean (George F. Hourani, ArabSeafaringintheIndianOceaninAncientandEarlyMedievalTimes(Princeton, 1951)).

Our Arabist Shumovsky T.A. unequivocally solves this issue. In his book " Arabs and the sea(1964, p.173) he writes:

“Transferred by Arab sailors from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and became the property of Europe, the bow-stern triangular sail revolutionized European sailing. The transition from the primitive single-masted ship with a rectangular sail to the three-masted ships with the Arabian triangle made it possible for a sailing ship to go against the wind, that is, practically in. any direction favorable to him, from where the technical possibility arose to carry out the expeditions of Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan and their successors.

R. Bowen (Richard LeBaron Bowen, “Arab Dhows of Eastern Arabia,” TheAmericanNeptune 9 (1949): 92) also believes that the Indian Ocean is most likely the birthplace of the Latin sail, since in the evolution of sailing rigs from direct to Latin considered above, it is in the Indian Ocean that intermediate changes in the sail are present between them. In the Mediterranean, however, no sails have been found that could be considered the forerunners of the Latin. At the same time, R. Bowen believes that it would be wrong to attribute the invention of the Latin sail to the Arabs. He believes that the Arabs proved to be seafarers too late to be considered the inventors of the Latin sail. According to this authoritative scholar, the Arabs adopted the knowledge of maritime affairs from the Persians, along with maritime dictionary, principles of navigation and, possibly, Latin sailing weapons. And then the Arabs moved the Latin sail to the Mediterranean Sea. This hypothesis is allegedly confirmed by the fact that the first images of the Latin sail in the Mediterranean fine arts appeared in the ninth century. In this regard, it is appropriate to cite Van Doorninck's remark, cited in the collection AHistoryofSeafaringbasedonunderwaterarchaeology,(ed. George F. Bass (London, 1972), p. 146) that manuscript illustrators tended to work with traditional stereotypical forms and rarely innovated in their art. So triangular Latin sails may have appeared long before their images were used in illuminated handwritten texts. Consequently, this fact gives grounds for the statement only that Latin sails appeared in the Mediterranean Sea " no later than in the ninth century. But the main difficulty in advancing this hypothesis lies in the fact that, as the same Bowen stated in an earlier study, there is not a single evidence of the use of the Latin sail in the western Indian Ocean before the arrival of the Portuguese there. True, there were suggestions that a raked (luger) sail could have been brought to the western part of the Indian Ocean by Greek merchants trading with India during the era of Roman domination. And yet, despite the most thorough scientific searches, it was not possible to find a single literary or pictorial evidence of the types of sailing equipment used in the western part of indian ocean before 15th century. Cited by J. Hourani in support of the hypothesis that the Arabs used the Latin sail, evidence from Arabic poetry of the 9th-10th centuries. can't stand any criticism. Poetic images compare ship's sail in the distance with a whale's fin or a fountain released by it. On this basis, J. Hourani concludes that he means more Latin than a straight sail. But the whale doesn't have a dorsal fin, and the whale's fountain looks more like a cloud of steam than any particular shape. This is rather a purely romantic image that does not give a clue to the shape of the sail. The surviving characteristics of the sails of Arab ships, which Ibn Majid (XV century) cites, do not clarify the issue either. He indicates that the ratio of the length of the windward to the length of the leeward is 10:13.5, i.e. the sail is almost straight, and this is more of a luger than a latin sail ( ArabNavigationintheIndianOceanbeforetheComingofthePortuguese(London, 1971), p. 52.)

For the auxiliary purpose of the sail, Latin armament is especially convenient. It can be used with equal success both on kayaks and on rowing boats for swimming in open water under favorable weather conditions. The kayak, armed with a Latin mainsail, even competes in speed with the Meva dinghy on full courses to the wind.

The recommendations of the sailing tourist Yu. Kuzhel will help to make a Latin sail on your own (Latin sail. "Tourist", 1978, No. 5). The Latin sailing rig (Fig. 33) has a free, without shrouds, mast (2), on which a sail (6) is suspended with the help of a halyard (1) and a tack guy (4). The sail is stretched with slats (3, 5) inserted into pockets along its front and bottom luffs. Various tackle is attached to the spars with carbines. On fig. 34 shows a working drawing of a sail with an area of 4.5 m 2. The correct shape of the sail is ensured by the configuration of the pockets and the luff. The halyard and clew corners are reinforced with halyard planks.

Rice. 33. Latin weapons

Rice. 34. Working drawing of a Latin sail

Having become acquainted with this design, it is easy to be convinced of the simplicity of working with a latin sail. It can be raised and removed, and, lowered, it does not interfere with rowing. The mast in the kayak is installed in a regular place at the beginning of the cockpit. It is useful to equip kayaks with such sailing equipment with daggerboards and one transverse beam with inflatable containers at its ends. The centerboard assembly is conveniently located behind the back of the front crew seat. Under the conditions of a hike, the simplest transverse beam is an ordinary kayak paddle with inflatable balls tied to its blades (Peregudov V. Gliding floats from a kayak paddle. “Boats and Yachts”, 1975, No. 3).

For rowing boats, it is necessary to additionally manufacture a steering device. The mast is installed on the bottom of the rowing boat and is pressed against the transverse beam with a clamp.

The history of the origin of the Latin (oblique) sail is lost in the depths of time. It appeared in the Mediterranean Sea from the Arabs, then it was borrowed by the Europeans. But the Arabs also borrowed it, most likely from the Persians. Here we recall the famous Sinbad the Sailor, who, according to his name, was neither an Arab nor a Persian, but a native of the Indian province of Sindh. This version has not yet been expressed anywhere, but I really like it. In this regard, it is interesting to reread the Arabic (?) tales told by Scheherazade. The name of this princess sounds interesting, it definitely has an Iranian origin. Thus, navigation in the Indian Ocean has its deep roots. But it was the oblique sail that allowed people to swim against the wind. The presence of currents and monsoons in the Indian Ocean should have stimulated the creators of this discovery. After all, it was thanks to the oblique sail that Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. The proposed article details the origin of the oblique sail.

"It is known that one of the hallmarks of a medieval galley was the presence of Latin sailing weapons. We will definitely talk about the emergence of Latin sails on galleys, but now I would like to say a few words about the history of the emergence of oblique, including Latin, sails in general. Who and when invented the latin sail - is unknown. Therefore, as usual in such cases, there is no shortage of hypotheses, sometimes mutually exclusive, colored by poorly hidden attempts to establish national priorities (the postulate "Russia is the birthplace of elephants" applies not only to Russia and not only to elephants). The principle of operation of a latin sail is fundamentally different from that of a straight sail.It is installed not across, but practically along the wind, and the driving force is a component of the pressure difference between the concave and convex parts of the sail, in the same way as the lift force of an aircraft wing is formed. Latin sail - it has less resistance The power to propel is more effective in light winds and allows you to sail steeper into the wind than with a straight sail. So why did the dominance of the direct sail lasted so long?

If the wind direction approaches the beam, i.e. the ship goes close to the backstay course, this technique starts to work worse, however, the drop in driving force can be partially compensated if the windward leech of the sail is directed towards the wind. This method works well if the windward leech is taut, which can be achieved by tilting the windward portion of the top yard (or hafel) down. Using a square sail in this way is a direct route to the invention of the latin sail, perhaps through the intermediate use of a quadrangular batten (luger) sail (when the quadrangular sail is attached with the luff to the rail, with the batten and lower soft leech of the sail protruding ahead of the mast). Campbell, in his study, The Latin Sail in World History (Journal of World History, Spring 1995), argues that the specific shape of the Latin sail of the Indian Ocean increases the plausibility of this hypothesis: the short edge of the windward leech is possibly a remnant of the original leech of the direct sail. However, this remains only a hypothesis, not supported by material evidence. The development of skew rigging in the Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia followed its own paths, independent of the development of the sail in the Mediterranean, which confirms the hypothesis of two, and possibly three independent directions in the development of the latin sail.

The most heated debate revolved around the question of whether the Latin sail is of Mediterranean origin or whether it originally appeared in the Indian Ocean and was brought to the Mediterranean by the Arabs. Proponents of the second version cite the following arguments in support of it. The Latin sail was universally known by the name of the "Arabian sail", by borrowing which the navigators of the West greatly increased the efficiency of their fleet. Further, there is no evidence of the presence of Latin weapons in the Mediterranean before the end of the ninth century, i.e. after almost two centuries since the beginning of the operation of Arab ships in the Mediterranean (George F. Hourani, Arab Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times (Princeton, 1951)).

Our Arabist Shumovsky T.A. unequivocally solves this issue. In his book The Arabs and the Sea (1964, p. 173) he writes:

“Transferred by Arab sailors from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and became the property of Europe, the bow-stern triangular sail revolutionized European sailing. The transition from the primitive single-masted ship with a rectangular sail to three-masted ships with an Arabian triangle made it possible for a sailing ship to go against the wind, that is, practically in. in any direction favorable to him, from where the technical possibility arose to carry out the expeditions of Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan and their successors.

R. Bowen (Richard LeBaron Bowen, “Arab Dhows of Eastern Arabia,” The American Neptune 9 (1949): 92) also believes that the Indian Ocean is most likely the birthplace of the Latin sail, since in the above evolution of sailing rigging from direct to Latin, it is in the Indian Ocean that there are intermediate modifications of the sail between them. In the Mediterranean, however, no sails have been found that could be considered the forerunners of the Latin. At the same time, R. Bowen believes that it would be wrong to attribute the invention of the Latin sail to the Arabs. He believes that the Arabs proved to be seafarers too late to be considered the inventors of the Latin sail. According to this authoritative scholar, the Arabs adopted the knowledge of maritime affairs from the Persians, along with the maritime vocabulary, the principles of navigation, and, possibly, the Latin sailing weapons. And then the Arabs moved the Latin sail to the Mediterranean Sea. This hypothesis is allegedly confirmed by the fact that the first images of the Latin sail in the Mediterranean fine arts appeared in the ninth century. It is pertinent in this connection to cite Van Doorninck's observation in A History of Seafaring Based on Underwater Archaeology, (ed. George F. Bass (London, 1972), p. 146) that manuscript illustrators tended to work with traditional stereotypical forms and rarely innovated in their art. So triangular Latin sails may have appeared long before their images were used in illuminated handwritten texts. Consequently, this fact gives grounds for the statement only that the Latin sails in the Mediterranean appeared "not later than" in the 9th century. But the main difficulty in advancing this hypothesis lies in the fact that, as the same Bowen stated in an earlier study, there is not a single evidence of the use of the Latin sail in the western Indian Ocean before the arrival of the Portuguese there. True, there were suggestions that a raked (luger) sail could have been brought to the western part of the Indian Ocean by Greek merchants trading with India during the era of Roman domination. And yet, despite the most careful scientific searches, no literary or pictorial evidence of the types of sailing equipment used in the western Indian Ocean before the 15th century could be found. Cited by J. Hourani in support of the hypothesis that the Arabs used the Latin sail, evidence from Arabic poetry of the 9th-10th centuries. can't stand any criticism. Poetic images compare a ship's sail in the distance with a whale's fin or a fountain released by it. On this basis, J. Hourani concludes that he means more Latin than a straight sail. But the whale doesn't have a dorsal fin, and the whale's fountain looks more like a cloud of steam than any particular shape. This is rather a purely romantic image that does not give a clue to the shape of the sail. The surviving characteristics of the sails of Arab ships, which Ibn Majid (XV century) cites, do not clarify the issue either. He points out that the ratio of the length of the leech to the length of the lee is 10:13.5, i.e. the sail is almost straight, and it is more of a luger than a latin sail (Arab Navigation in the Indian Ocean before the Coming of the Portuguese (London, 1971 ), p. 52.)"

Putting an object in motion.

Generally, a sail is used to propel watercraft, to which it is attached with spars and rigging. However, there is evidence of the use of sails in land transport - for example, the sail was widely used to provide auxiliary propulsion on wagons in China.

The simplest sail is a piece of fabric made from natural or synthetic materials. Larger sails are sewn together from several pieces. Before stitching, the panels are shaped in such a way that the finished sail, installed in its place and filled with wind, has a well-streamlined convex-concave shape, resembling a bird’s wing in a section, and develops the greatest useful force.

Synthetic fabrics are used to make modern sails. In some cases (for example, for the manufacture of sails for windsurfers), not a fabric is used, but a durable film. There are also more complex and expensive sail manufacturing technologies, in which the entire sail is made not from pieces of fabric or film, but from high-strength synthetic threads placed between two layers of film along the lines of action on the sail of the greatest loads.

There are also structures that are completely different from an ordinary sail, representing a vertically set wing and using the power of the wind for the same purposes as the sail. Such structures are sometimes installed, for example, on sports boats (also, by the way, quite different from ordinary boats familiar to most) in order to achieve speed records on the water. Having very little in common with a stretched piece of matter, these wings, however, are called by inertia either a "rigid sail" or a "wing sail".

sail types

Straight sails - sail, which are placed across the vessel and attached to the yardsrising on the masts and topmasts. They look like an isosceles trapezoid. They arm large sailing ships: ships, barques, barkentines, brigs and brigantines.

It looks like a right triangle. The upper side (hypotenuse) is attached to the rail, tilted forward. The front end of the rail reaches the deck; tack is taken for him.

bermuda sail

bermuda sail- a triangular sail stretched between the mast and the horizontal boom.

On the this moment is the most common type of sail. In terms of ease of control, setting and traction characteristics, it is the undisputed leader.

Luger (rake) sail- a kind of oblique sail.

Sail most often in the form of an irregular trapezoid, the upper luff is attached to the rail, the lower - to the boom.

Other

Sail parts

Drawing showing the names of the sail parts.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "Latin sail" is in other dictionaries:

One of the types of slanting sails; it is cut in the form of a right triangle, and is laced along the hypotenuse to the rail. The latter, for the most part flexible, is hung in the middle to the mast, obliquely forward, so that the front end reaches the deck; ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

This term has other meanings, see Sail (meanings). Sailing vessel A sail is a fabric or plate attached to a vehicle that converts wind energy into translational energy ... Wikipedia

However, there is evidence of the use of sails in land transport - for example, the sail was widely used to create an auxiliary driving force on wagons in China, it also drives wheeled and ice floats.

The simplest sail is a piece of matter (see canvas). Larger sails are sewn together from several pieces. Before stitching, the panels are shaped in such a way that the finished sail, set in its place and filled with wind, has a well-streamlined convex-concave shape, resembling a bird’s wing in a section, and develops the greatest useful force.

There are also structures that are completely different from an ordinary sail, which are a vertically set wing and use the power of the wind for the same purposes as the sail. Such structures are sometimes installed, for example, on sports boats (also, by the way, quite different from ordinary boats familiar to most) in order to achieve speed records on the water. Having very little in common with a stretched piece of matter, these wings, however, are called by inertia either a "rigid sail" or a "wing sail".

Sail history

People learned to use the sail about 5.5 thousand years ago. Judging by the surviving drawings and the results of excavations, the Egyptians were the first to use the sail. [ ]

Types of sails

Straight sails

Straight sails- sails that are placed across the ship and attached to the yardsrising on the masts and topmasts. They look like an isosceles trapezoid. The control of a direct sail is carried out by turning the yard with braces and sheets in a horizontal plane. On sharp tacks, the windward luff of a straight sail is pulled into the wind with a special tackle called a spruit.

Large sailing ships are armed with direct sails: ships, barques, barquentines, brigs and brigantines. Direct sails became widespread due to the ability to obtain huge sailing areas by means of a combination of small sails. No person can cope with a sail whose area exceeds a certain limit (approximately 5-8 square meters for one person).

slanting sails

At the moment, it is the most common type of sail on yachts. In terms of ease of control, setting and traction characteristics, it is the undisputed leader.

A yacht with properly tuned Bermuda sails can be steered for long periods by just one person. Such a maneuver as a tack turn can be performed without calling a watch at all, by shifting the rudder.

Vessel Reaper with luger sailing equipment

Luger (rake) sail- a kind of oblique sail.

The sail is most often in the form of an irregular trapezoid, the upper luff is attached to the rail, the lower - to the boom.

Sprint sail- a quadrangular oblique sail, stretching diagonally with a thin pole (sprint or spprint), resting on its upper corner at one end and lower part masts - to others.

gaff sail

Jib

Staysail

Other types of sails

blooper

gennaker

Spinnaker

Tallboy

Sail parts

Names of sail parts

In sailing, all parts of the sail have their own names. Triangular sails are the most commonly used, and therefore six terms are used for most of them - one for each corner and side of the sail. The side of the sail is generally called leech . Distinguish front, back, lower luffs. The front is considered to be the luff adjacent to the mast. Sail angles triangular shape called tack , halyard and clew . The lower one, adjacent to the mast, is the tack angle, the upper one, adjacent to the mast, is the head angle, and the rear one, adjacent to the boom, is the clew angle.

The luffs and corners of the sail, as the most loaded sections of the sail, are made out by various reinforcements made of fabric using the so-called " practical things». Corner reinforcements are called boats and bows . Lash reinforcements, as a rule, do not have special names.