fore-and-aft topsail
- noun
- Specialized
:
trapo de proa a popa
- With a strong breeze, the crew hoisted the fore-and-aft topsail to increase the vessel's speed.
Examples
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The schooner set its fore-and-aft topsail to catch more wind during the afternoon crossing.
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Sailors adjusted the fore-and-aft topsail as the wind shifted to the north.
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The fore-and-aft topsail helps to improve the ship's speed.
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Many sailors prefer using a fore-and-aft topsail for better maneuverability.
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Sailors adjusted the fore-and-aft topsail as the wind shifted to the north.
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The schooner set its fore-and-aft topsail to catch more wind during the afternoon crossing.
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With a strong breeze, the crew hoisted the fore-and-aft topsail to increase the vessel's speed.
Synonyms
A triangular sail set above the gaff with its bottom on the gaff and its front edge along the topmast
A sail set along the length of a boat rather than across it
Surface Forms
Morphology
fore-and-aft + topsail
The compound is largely compositional: 'topsail' names the sail above the lower sail and 'fore-and-aft' describes its orientation along the ship's length, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it is a topsail rigged fore-and-aft. However, the precise technical details in the definition (triangular shape, gaff, luff/topmast attachment) are domain-specific and not fully predictable from the constituents, and the term 'fore-and-aft' itself may be unfamiliar to many learners, making the overall transparency partial.
Etymology
Fore-and-aft topsail describes a topsail placed fore-and-aft on a ship. A topsail is a sail set high on the mast. The words fore and aft mean front and back, so the name tells you it is 'a high sail set along the ship's length'.
