Spanker (sail)
Encyclopedia
A spanker is either of two kinds of sail
Sail
A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...

.

On a square rig
Square rig
Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called yards and their tips, beyond the last stay, are called the yardarms...

ged ship, the spanker is a gaff rig
Gaff rig
Gaff rig is a sailing rig in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar called the gaff...

ged fore-and-aft
Fore-and-aft rig
A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing rig consisting mainly of sails that are set along the line of the keel rather than perpendicular to it. Such sails are described as fore-and-aft rigged....

 sail set from and aft of the aftmost mast
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...

. Almost all square rigs with more than one mast have one or two spankers, which evolved from the driver sail
Driver (sail)
A driver is a kind of sail used on some sailboats. Smaller than a fore and aft spanker on a square rigger, a driver is tied to the same spars....

. Some also carry a topsail
Topsail
A topsail is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails.- Square rig :On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a square sail rigged above the course sail and below the topgallant sail where carried...

 above the uppermost or only spanker, called the gaff sail. A spanker in this situation is often 'soft footed' in that it has no boom to which it is attached at its foot.

On a racing or cruising yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

, a spanker is an additional headsail
Headsail
A headsail of a sailing vessel is any sail set forward of the foremost mast. The most common headsails are staysails, a term that includes jibs and the larger genoa...

 set beside and to leeward of a spinnaker
Spinnaker
A spinnaker is a special type of sail that is designed specifically for sailing off the wind from a reaching course to a downwind, i.e. with the wind 90°–180° off the bow. The spinnaker fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat when it is deployed, called flying. It is constructed of...

when running downwind. It is often of bright colours to match the particular spinnaker with which it is designed to be used, is relatively narrow, and is sometimes called a tallboy or blooper.
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