What is square rig?
Q: What is square rig?
A: Square rig is a type of sail and rigging where the sails are mounted on horizontal spars.
Q: How do square-rigged ships differ from other types of ships?
A: The number of masts, the square sails and how the yards (spars) are set out distinguishes a square-rigged ship.
Q: What is an example of a square-rigged ship?
A: A classic example of a square-rig is a three masted fully rigged ship.
Q: What is the origin of square-rig?
A: The square-rigger descends from the lateen-rig. Its angled sails became square sails.
Q: What is a full-rigged ship?
A: A full-rigged ship is a ship with square-rigged sails on all its masts.
Q: What are the advantages of square-rigged ships?
A: In the trade winds, square-rigged ships have an advantage, especially in deep water.
Q: What is the challenge of handling a square-rigged ship?
A: The square rig with all its sails and rigging is hard to handle when tacking or "coming about".
