Fore-and-Aft : 281 



windward. Some readers will be quick to point out that many 

 square-rigged vessels, particularly those in the later days of the sail- 

 ing ships such as the packets and the clippers, had an ability to work 

 to windward. This was demonstrated repeatedly in their ability to 

 negotiate passages from Europe to America against the prevailing 

 westerlies and likewise their ability to beat around the Horn from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific against another and severer belt of wester- 

 lies. My statement has been phrased, therefore, so that it does not 

 deny these undoubted accomplishments. It only says that the fore- 

 and-aft vessel is greatly superior in this particular ability. This is bal- 

 anced by the fact that the square-rigged vessel enjoys advantages in 

 sailing with favoring or following winds. Since it is customary even 

 today for vessels sailing in deep waters and on long passages to seek 

 out well-known courses where winds and weather are generally favor- 

 able, this is no mean advantage. 



There is another special point of some importance. The so-called 

 fore-and-aft rigged vessels do not, as a rule, confine themselves to the 

 setting of fore-and-aft sails. They usually supplement their main 

 equipment with spinnakers, balloon jibs, raffees or other sails that 

 serve the same purpose as square sails. Likewise, for some centuries, 

 there have been few so-called square-riggers that are entirely depend- 

 ent upon square sail. 



The spinnaker, which is set on the aftermast of even a square-rigged 

 ship is in all respects a fore-and-aft sail like the mainsail of a schooner 

 and the staysails and jibs are, in effect, fore-and-aft sail. This we have 

 tried to recognize in saying that the fore-and-aft sails of the square- 

 rigger have been an important component in its ability to work to 

 windward. 



Nobody knows just where or when vessels were first built that 

 had the capacity to work to windward. None of the classic vessels of 

 the Mediterranean up to the time of Christ appear to have had this 

 ability. The galleys used for transport and for war carried sail which 

 was used when the winds were favorable. When the winds were un- 

 favorable, this sail was furled. Then the ship was either driven by 

 oars or anchored or it sought refuge in a harbor. 



In the Mediterranean no improvements in this respect were made 

 for many centuries; in fact, the galleys of the Venetians and the 

 Genoese, at the time of the Renaissance, while they were larger and 

 better built than the classic models, showed little improvement over 

 them when it came to sailing. The Romans, in the later days of the 

 empire, built large sailing ships to carry cargoes of grain from 



