- The principal sail of a vessel.
- A quadrilateral or triangular sail set from the after part of the mainmast on a fore-and-aft rigged vessel.
- A square sail set from the main yard on a square-rigged vessel.
Dictionary:
main·sail (mān'səl, -sāl') ![]() |
| 5min Related Video: mainsail |
| US Military Dictionary: mainsail |
2. the sail set on the after side of the mainmast in a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel.
See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.
| WordNet: mainsail |
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
the lowermost sail on the mainmast
| Wikipedia: Mainsail |
A mainsail is the most important sail raised from the main (or only) mast of a sailing vessel.
On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast.
On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest and often the only sail rigged aft of the main mast, and is controlled along its foot by a spar known as the boom. A sail rigged in this position without a boom is generally called a trysail, and is used in extremely heavy weather.
The modern Bermuda rig uses a triangular mainsail as the only sail aft of the mast, closely coordinated with a jib for sailing upwind. A large overlapping jib or genoa is often larger than the mainsail. In downwind conditions (with the wind behind the boat) a spinnaker replaces the jib.
Traditional fore-and-aft rigs used a four-sided gaff rigged mainsail, sometimes setting a gaff topsail above it.
A roll mainsail is furled by being rolled within (or around) the mast or boom.
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| Translations: Mainsail |
Français (French)
n. - grand-voile
Deutsch (German)
n. - Großsegel
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ναυτ.) πανί της μαϊστρας
Italiano (Italian)
vela maestra
Português (Portuguese)
n. - vela mestra (f) (Náut.)
Español (Spanish)
n. - vela mayor, vela principal
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - storsegel
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
大桅的帆, 大桅帆, 主帆
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大桅的帆, 大桅帆, 主帆
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大檣帆, メーンスル
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) الشراع الرئيسي
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - מפרש ראשי
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| main topsail | |
| mainsheet | |
| mainsheet |
Copyrights:
![]() | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | US Military Dictionary. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mainsail". Read more | |
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