The History of Sailmaking
Sails were an early invention of mankind and have been moving ships since ancient times. In the beginning sails were traditionally made of cloth or papyrus; and secured to the mast on a ship to catch the wind and propel the craft through the water. The dimensions and taper of the cloth varied from ship to ship. There is evidence to support that the sail originated in both Egypt or Indonesia at around 3,500 B.C. Sail-making has been around as long as sails themselves have.
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Early Sails
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Chinese sails and sail-making emerged around 3,000 B.C. quickly following their Egyptian and Indonesian counterparts by a mere 500 years. The Arabs soon developed their own sails in approximately 2,000 B.C. The Egyptians spread the new technology to Crete, Phoenicia and Greece. The Greeks were the first people known to work in sail-making as a trade and they operated around the Mediterranean in 1,200 B.C.
The West
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In the West square sails were more popular, although they were inefficient unless the wind happened to be blowing in the right direction. After 200 B.C. lateen sails, or triangular sails, became prevalent in the Mediterranean areas. These were introduced by the Arabs. These sails had the ability to "tack" (or turn) into the wind. This increased the ship's traveling range. Combining the triangular sail along with a square sail helped ships sail great distances.
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The East
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In 1,000 A.D. China became a force upon the water due to the development of a special ship called the junk. Junks were most often five-masted ships that were rigged with lugsails. Lugsails are trapezoidal sails that were strengthened by bamboo strips. Junks were also used another special invention, the rudder. The combination of the lugsails and rudders made them efficient sailing vessels able to gain power from even slight winds.
Sails For Distance
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In the mid-1400s the Western Europeans used square and lanteen sails combined with a deep-hull and a stern-hung rudder to produce the deep-hulled carrack. This was a major advance in naval exploration because this ship was the first to make long voyages with stopping. This lead to voyages of discovery like Columbus made in 1492.
Modern Sails
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The technology of sails and sail-making reached a new high in the late 19th century, when clipper ships were the epitome of sailing vessels. The ships had masts that were the length of the keel and bristling with sails. These ships were long and low on the water and built for speed. When the age of iron and steam took hold the era of the large sailing ships began to fade. For over a century sails were relegated primarily to leisure use. Sailing boats became the pastime of the affluent, and racing these boats became a sport. Changes in the designs of sails came from the pursuit of speed. Then in 1980 sails made a return to more commercial use on a Japanese tanker: The ship's computer-controlled sails enabled the ship to reduce the power used by the main engine, which in turn cut its fuel consumption.
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References
- Photo Credit sails in london image by thomas owen from Fotolia.com
