In
sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...
, an extra is a sail that is not part of the working
sail plan
A sail plan is a description of the specific ways that a sailing craft is rigged. Also, the term "sail plan" is a graphic depiction of the arrangement of the sails for a given sailing craft.>
In the English language, ships were usually describe ...
.
The most common extra is the
spinnaker
A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually ny ...
. Other extras include
studding sail
A studding sail, or stun'sl (pronounced stuns'l ) is an extra sail on a square rigged vessel for use in fair weather. It is set outside the square sails, using stun'sl booms which run out along the yards. They came into use some time in the middle ...
s, the modern
spanker
Spanker can refer to:
* One who administers a spanking
* Spanker (horse), a famous 18th-century thoroughbred race horse
* Spanker, Ohio, an unincorporated community
* ''SS-17 Spanker'', the NATO reporting name for the MR-UR-100 Sotka intercont ...
(or tallboy), and some
staysail
A staysail ("stays'l") is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards) from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit, or to another mast.
Description
Most staysails are ...
s and
topsail
A topsail ("tops'l") 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 typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...
s.
In
yacht racing
Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or ...
, there are often separate divisions depending on whether extras are permitted. A race or division in which extras are not permitted is commonly called a ''non-spinnaker'' or ''no flying sails'' race or division.
Sailing ship components
Sailing rigs and rigging
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