Apr 30, 2020 the shape of the lateen sail is triangular, or precisely that of a large foresail. The lateen sail, developed during the first millennium, was introduced to medieval europe where it revolutionized marine travel. A swivel attachment at the hounds at the top of the split. T the time of the great european excursion in the sixteenth century, the sail known as the lateen was in use in three different regions of the world. Lateen sails are triangular and are fundamentally different from square sails in functional principles. These sails were also quite mobile, making them an extremely useful sailing technology for seafarers to employ. This is the motive principle of foreandaft sails generally and is the basis for the idea that the lateen was the ancestral foreandaft sail. Development of the lateen sailoverviewthe lateen sail, developed. I dont think, however, that such a mast would be all that effective in keeping the sail off it in anthing lower than a close reach unless the boat in question is very wide like a catamaran. Man was a sailor long before he invented the wheel or straddled a horse, and his adventures at sea changed the course of history. Development of the lateen sailoverviewthe lateen sail, developed during the first millennium, was introduced to medieval europe where it revolutionized marine travel. The combination of both sails into one ship happened in iberia and led to the age of discovery, as it enabled oceanic expeditions to be undertaken. Lateen sails had to be changed according to the wind force and could require a certain amount of effort to change tack. Surviving byzantine sources, especially tactical manuals, are subjected to close literary and philological analysis.
The classic galleon, though, was a very large ship with very many men on it, and they could afford the manpower to work four lateen sails two courses and two topsails. A short history of the development of sails is a short, easytoread history of the development of sails through history. Im not convinced that the lateen sail is of more recent origin than the square. The triangular sail was affixed to a long yard or crossbar, mounted at its middle to the top of the mast and angled to extend aft far above the mast and forward down nearly to the deck. Lateen sail definition, a triangular sail set on a long sloping yard, used especially on the mediterranean sea. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing windward.
Their sails retained a luff at the fore part in proportion to the leech of roughly 16 in the. Historians are divided as to whether the dhow was invented by arabs or indians. It was used on seagoing ships of the phoenicians, egyptians, greeks and romans. Lateen sails finished last when pitched in at the deep end on his first run last year in the 2000 guineas,but bounced back with a win in the glasgow stakes at york. Lateen sails work in much the same way that most other triangular sails work. This file is licensed under the creative commons attribution 2. Their use in foreandaft rigged ships helped to launch an era of seagoing commerce. In northern europe at this time, they only used the square sail. A lateen or latinrig is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast, and.
Instead of cutting the sail at the mastline creating the split rig, the mast itself has, in effect, been cut in half and spread apart allowing the lateen to fly freely between its legs. Feel free to submit interesting articles, tell us about this cool book you just read, or start a discussion about who everyones favorite figure of minor french nobility is. Choose from our selection of readymade popular sail kits, or have a sail custom designed. The arab cargo vessels carried one or two huge sails bent to a yard resembling a gigantic fishingrod. Block begins with the ancient egyptians and describes the earliest sails and rigs and ends with 20th century sailing rigs. The claims rest mostly on the case john hobson, a political scientist, has made in his 2004 book. If youre talking about the earliest version of the standard square rig of the napoleonic period, the fluyt is probably the first ship to have it, where you have two entirely. The conventional view is that this acquisition endowed european ships with greater. This book contains latitude and longitude tables as well as drawings of the. Let us help you create a custommade sail for your boat. If the wind is behind the sail it will push the boatshipcraftvessel forward. The roman empire may have discovered them when they went into the middle east and egypt. Study ap world history ch 6 vocab flashcards at proprofs ap world vocab ch 678. The earliest foreandaft rig was the spritsail, appearing in the 2nd century bc in the aegean sea on small greek craft.
The lateen sail was the primary sailing rig of the mediterranean for the majority of. Lateen sail, triangular sail that was of decisive importance to medieval navigation. The ships of christopher columbus were sleek, fastand. The project gutenberg ebook of the book of the sailboat, by a. It is known that square sails with bonnets were easier to handle than the traditional lateen sails, at least on medium and large ships. Set sail for the darkest corners of the sea, battle forbidding creatures or risk an eternity trapped in the cold, black heart of curses. Black sails collects sixteen neverbeforeseen tales of pirate fantasy and horror inspired by the work of tim powers, hp lovecraft, robert louis stevenson and walt disney. In the middle ages the square sail was used in the atlantic cogs, whereas in the mediterranean the lateen sail was used due to its more flexible use. D i am just reading a passage in lionel cassons informed ships and seanmanship in the ancient world, and need your help for understanding a passage which casson interprets as evidence for a lateen sails with the romans. Sails may be made from a combination of woven materialsincluding canvas or polyester cloth, laminated membranes or bonded. The vikings optimized the performance of the square sail, and the dutch. The vessels usually had no deck and only one mast, often with a lateen or sprit sail. Lateen definition is being or relating to a rig used especially on the north coast of africa and characterized by a triangular sail extended by a long spar slung to a low mast. They loved the sailing but had already developed the island slows and didnt want to have to go to work again with the sheets and the halyards and the hassle, they called it, of doing it again.
Lateen sail definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Sails may be made from a combination of woven materialsincluding canvas or polyester cloth, laminated membranes or bonded filamentsusually in a three or. Campbell conventional interpretations give the lateen sail an important place in the history of navigation as a transitional saila link between square sails and foreandaft sailsthat europeans adopted from the arabs. As a reference book for the history buff, the book succeeds. The advantages of the lateen sail are that it offers less drag, can be used effectively in lighter winds, and allows a vessel to sail much closer to. Combined with the lessversatile square sail, the lateen sail was crucial to the development of navigable ships powered only by the wind. A sail is a tensile structuremade from fabric or other membrane materialsthat uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sailpowered land vehicles. This was even after the ships in the mediterranean were using the triangular lateen sails. The potential performance of ancient mediterranean sailing rigs.
Their sails retained a luff the edge of a foreandaft sail next to the mast or stay at the fore part in proportion to the leech slide of a sail of roughly 16 in the mainsail. Media in category lateen sails the following 68 files are in this category, out of 68 total. A quantitative look at mediterranean lateen and 37 square. In ancient history the square sail was used in the mediterranean. This was mainly because it allowed a boat to tack against the wind. The move to the pure sailing ship came with small but steadily increasing technical innovations that more often allowed ships to sail with the wind behind them. A square rig with the help of some foreandaft lateen mizzen sails as used on european sailing ships from the 15th century to the 19th century allows a 56 14 5 points to be obtained.
Because of the short mast needed for a lateen rig, it would be much easier to rase and lower than a conventional mast. Arrived a half hour later, lowered sail, swam, explored, then thought we were going to hoist sails again but our crew mutinied. Other than that, id move the lateen forward, make the jib smaller, and buy a good but not neccessarily powerful engine for light air work. Caravels were used by the portuguese and castilians for the oceanic exploration voyages. Typically sporting long thin hulls, dhows are trading vessels primarily used to carry.
A square sail catches a following wind and is dragged along by it. Sails changed from a large square canvas suspended from a single yard top spar, to complex arrangements intended to pivot on the mast depending on the direction and force of the wind. And so he balanced his gear in his schooner and hoisted the bright blue lateen sail. Lateen, lug, gunter, sprit, legomutton and other sails. The combination of both sails into one ship happened in iberia and led to the age of discovery, as it. Some larger vessels had a half deck or up to three masts. Dhow arabic dawa marathi daw is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the red sea and indian ocean region.
The triangular sail was affixed to a long yard or crossbar, mounted at its middle to the top of the. The ancient square sail permitted sailing only before the wind. Being, relating to, or rigged with a triangular sail hung on a long yard that is attached at an angle to the top of a short mast. Who first combined the lateen and square sails that led to. Caravels were used by the portuguese and castilians for the oceanic exploration voyages during the. It evolved out of the dominant square rig by setting the sails more foreandaft along the line of the keel rather than. While we usually think of a ships sails as a square or rectangle, not all sails follow this design because some are needed to steer the ship as well. In the context of historical voyages, a foul wind may be taken to mean that the. The shape of the lateen sail is triangular, or precisely that of a large foresail. Arab sailing vessels with triangular or lateen sails. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing windward beating.
It runs in a foreandaft direction dating back to roman navigation, the lateen became the favorite sail of the age of discovery. This design becomes almost a history lesson on probably how and why the lateen sail was replaced with the gaff rig. Zindell, david the broken god using an outrigger or second hull, the larger catamarans had decks, light deckhouses, and tall lateen sails that would send them skimming like windsurfers. Permission is granted to copy, distribute andor modify this document under the terms of the gnu free documentation license, version 1. It goes through the history of ww2 a couple months a time theatre by. The lateen sail used by arabs stops short of being completely triangular. The book is hefty, over three hundred and fifty pages, and hundreds of types illustrated, from the earliest examples of humans learning to harness wind and waves, to experimental sailing craft of the late twentieth century. Initially he was able to sail only downwind, but the cretans and phoenicians made design improvements to sails that permitted sailing across and eventually against the wind. He rounded the cape of good hope and was the first european to enter the indian ocean, but he came back as soon as he reached the indian ocean for several reasons.
Lateen sails on the other hand, were much more versatile, as they were triangular shaped and the sails free corner by the stern, allowing the sail to catch wind from either side. This manoeuvre entailed bringing the yard in, and rotating it near the foot and. The flying lateen has resurrected the old lateen sail by simply getting the mast out of the way. Black sails by sam hawken meet your next favorite book. Lately, the history section has been much remodelled to give rise again to the hypothesis of an arab origin of the lateen sail in the mediterranean andor indian ocean. An arab lateen rig gives the same angle when closehauled but since a greater area of sail catches the wind, it sails more swiftly and efficiently. The book contextualizes the technical characteristics of the ships within the operational history of byzantine fleets, logistical problems of medieval naval warfare, and strategic objectives. Dont waste time and money having a sail shop sew your sail.
You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any. A lateen from french latine, meaning latin or latinrig is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast. The lateen sails seem first to have been used on european medieval ships as mizzen sails, during and after the crusades. Lateen simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Presumably, the crusading sailors had seen them used by the arabs and liked what they saw. Remarks from a letter by synesius, bishop of ptolemais, in 404 ad p. Lateen sail definition and meaning collins english. Lateen sails article about lateen sails by the free dictionary. You can point the bow of the caravel with an angle of just 20 degrees off the wind and still get enough lift on the outer edge of. This is a loosefooted sail whose yard is designed to be lowered, dipped, sufficiently to bring the sail around to the leeward side of the mast when tacking to allow the sail to achieve a shape that is not influenced by the mast pressing into it. First i will compare the use of the square sail and the lateen sail, and end with a look at. Nov 12, 2006 because of the short mast needed for a lateen rig, it would be much easier to rase and lower than a conventional mast. Earth and environment history literature and the arts medicine.
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