Topsail

A topsail is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails.

On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a square sail rigged above the course sail and below the topgallant sail where carried. A full rigged ship has either single or double ("split" upper and lower) topsails on all masts, the single or lower topsail being the second sail above the deck and the upper topsail where so rigged being the third.

Although described as a "square" sail, this term refers not to a sail's shape but to it and its yard being rigged square to the keel of the vessel rather than in line with it or "fore and aft"; the topsail was and is always trapezoidal, the lengths of the upper yards being progressively smaller the higher they are. The bottom edge (foot) of the topsail, like that of other square sails, is slightly concave.

Although topsails of a kind were used at least as early as Roman times, they first came into use in Europe some time in the 15th century. Initially small and carried only on main and fore masts, they gradually increased in size and importance until by the middle of the 17th century and were the principal and largest sails of the ship, the first sails to be set and the last to be taken in. It was quite common for a ship to sail with topsails and jibs alone; the position of the topsails well above the sea ensured that they received a steady breeze even if the seas were rough.

The larger topsails were difficult and dangerous to handle in strong winds. Sometime in the 1680s, reef-bands were introduced to tie up part of the sail, with topsails eventually getting four of these, and reefing the sails became a regular occupation of sailors. In the mid 19th century, topsails of merchant vessels were split into separate upper and lower topsails that could be managed separately and far more easily by smaller crews.

Competing versions of the double topsail were invented by Robert Bennet Forbes and Captain Frederic Howes. Although Forbes strove to defend his rig, the Howe rig dominated. In the Forbes rig, both topsail yards are fixed vertically. In the Howe rig, the upper topsail yard slides on the topmast so it can be lowered in a few seconds to close reef the upper topsail. Howe had the foot of the upper topsail closely attached to the lower topsail yard. In 1865 the British clipper Ariel introduced a gap there. Forbes first tried his rig in the topsail schooner Midas in 1844.The clipper Climax built in 1853 under the supervision of Howes was the first ship with Howe rig.

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Wikipedia