Terminology from the Age of Sail

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Search result for definition: sail
Sail: A piece of cloth or canvas, or a combination of pieces, cut and sewn together to the desired shape and size and attached to the spars and rigging of a vessel. A sail has the single purpose of catching the wind and propelling the vessel. Sails were often repaired at sea, or at anchor in a secluded bay a thousand miles from home, and thus could be quite a patchwork of different pieces of material. Something the head-seamstress at the Royal Dockyards would have surely disapproved of. Fore-and-aft Sails Lateen Sails Square Sails Flying Jib Headsail Jib Lugsail Mainsail Moonraker Royal Sail Skysail Spanker Spritsail Staysail Studding Sail Topsail Topgallant Sail Trysail Sail (sailcloth) making in the Age of Sail. Sail Iron - used to close and flatten seams and stitching. Dressing Sails.
Sail Burton: A block and tackle that extended from the head of a topmast to the deck in a square-rigged vessel, used for hoisting the sails aloft when they were bent to the yards.