- 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.
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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.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
the lowermost sail on the mainmast
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 trisail, 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 gaff to control the top of the mainsail, sometimes setting a topsail above it.
| Sails, spars and rigging | |
|---|---|
| Sails | Course | Driver | Extra | Genoa | Gennaker | Jib | Lateen | Mainsail | Moonsail | Royal | Skysail | Spanker | Spinnaker | Spritsail | Staysail | Studding | Tallboy | Topgallant | Topsail | Trysail |
| Sail anatomy and materials | Clew | Foot | Head | Leech | Luff | Roach | Tack | Dacron | Kevlar | Twaron |
| Spars | Boom | Bowsprit | Fore-mast | Gaff | Jackstaff | Jigger-mast | Jury Rig | Main-mast | Mast | Mizzen-mast | Masthead truck | Spinnaker pole | Topmast | Yard |
| Rigging components | Backstay | Block | Boom vang | Braces | Buntlines | Cleat | Clevis pin | Clewlines | Cunningham | Downhaul | Forestay | Gasket | Gooseneck | Guy | Halyard | Outhaul | Parrel beads | Peak | Preventer | Ratlines | Running rigging | Shackle | Standing rigging | Sheet | Shroud | Stay mouse | Stays | Throat | Topping lift | Trapeze |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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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Copyrights:
![]() | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. 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 GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mainsail". Read more | |
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