Home > Bermuda rig

• A rig of mainsail or course that consists of a triangular sail set aft of the mast, with its head raised to the top of the mast, its luff running down the mast and normally attached to it for all its length, its tack attached at the base of the mast, its foot controlled by a boom, and its clew attached to the aft end of the boom, which is controlled by its sheet.
• A rig that uses such a bermuda mainsail.

This sail, whether set as a mainsail on the main mast or as the course (the principal sail) on another mast, is known as a bermuda sail. Originally developed for the bermuda sloop, it has largely replaced the older gaff rigged fore and aft sails.

A bermuda rigged sloop with exactly one jib is known as a bermuda sloop, marconi sloop or marconi rig. Bermuda sloop can also refer to a more specific type of vessel.

The foot of a bermuda sail may be attached to the boom along its length, or in more modern rigs the sail is attached to the boom only at its ends. This modern variation of a bermuda mainsail is known as a loose-footed main.

The main controls on a bermuda sail are:

• The halyard used to raise the head, and sometimes to tension the luff.
• The outhaul used to tension the foot by hauling the clew towards the end of the boom.
• The sheetIn sailing, a sheet is a line attached to the clew of a sail, and is the main control used in trimming the sail. sailing vessels and rigging. used to haul the boom down and towards the center of the boat.
• The boom vang or vangThe municipality Vang in the county of Oppland, Norway, has 1,641 inhabitants as of January 1, 2002. External links Municipalities of Norway. which runs between a point partway along the boom and the base of the mast, and is used to haul the boom down when on a run.

Minor (but vital when they are present) controls include:

• A downhaul on the boom at the mast end, used to set sail height and sometimes tension.
• A cunningham's eyeThis article is about the sailing term. For other uses, see Cunningham (disambiguation). In sailing, a cunningham or cunningham's eye is a device used on a bermuda rigged sailboat to change the shape of a sail. It consists of a line that is secured at one, particularly useful for getting a good shape in an older sail in medium to strong winds.
• A leach line , eased for lighter winds.
• Batten tension controls, eased for lighter winds but only accessible before the sail is raised.
• Reefing points and lines, used to reduce sail area in strong winds.
• A gybe preventerOne of the most dangerous things that can happen on a sailing boat, apart from falling overboard, is for someone to get caught up in the uncontrolled gybe of a sail. You may be hit by the boom, but even getting in the way of the sheet has been fatal., used when running.
• BackstayOn a sailing vessel, a backstay is a piece of standing rigging which keeps a mast from falling forewards. It is attached at the very top of the mast. The other end of the backstay is attached to the stern of the vessel. On modern yachts, the backstay is o tension controls to control mast bend.
• Running backstay s to fine tune the shape of the mast.

The tension of the jib halyard(s) will also particularly affect the shape of the mast and therefore the set of the bermuda sail, and of course the set of all other sails will have some affect on it.