Stunsail

Studding sails, bonnet, skyscraper, watersail and other light weather sails.

Lightweather sails

Lightweather sails are only rigged when there is light weather and the ship is sailing on long straight courses, as most of them need to be taken down to deck before a ship can gibe or tack. Unless off course you are racing your ship, then you hoist every piece of sail area that you think will give you an advantage, even if it's just for a minute.

Studding sails

Studding sails, or Stuns'ls are additional sails hoisted to the side (Can be either or both port and starboard) of square-rigged sails. Often depicted in artwork, because they create a dramatic effect. Sometimes they are also called lee(ward)sails as they are generally first rigged on the leeward side of the ship. Only when the wind decreases more they also go up on the windward side.

The Sunset Dawn has three (or six, if you count port and starboard separately) stuns'ls. Being from deck to mast top: Fore studding sail, Fore top studding sail, and the Fore topgallant studding sail.

Water sail

Water sails are sails that a ship with a fore-and-aft sail on a boom can rig under the boom, so that the sail hangs down next to the hull of the ship. Very close to the water, hence the name. These sails can only be rigged when there are minimal waves and the ship isn't rolling. Because if they were to catch water they will be ripped from the boom, and maybe even take the boom with them.

The Sunset Dawn has two water sails, the main water sail and the mizzen water sail. They are triangular in shape, with the narrow tip close to the mast and the broad bottom of the triangle out on the far end of the boom, to catch as much of the light wind as possible.

Ringtail

A ring tail is a sail that extends the fore-and-aft rigged sail towards the aft. Often it is a tall rectangular sail, but they can be triangular too. They can either be rigged to the boom and gaff or mast top. Or on the afterdeck and gaff or mast top.

The Sunset Dawn can rig two ringtails. Main ring tail and mizzen ring tail.

Bonnet

A bonnet is an oldfashioned sail. It's a piece of sail bend to the bottom of the fore course. To extend the sail downwards. These bonnets were used up untill the 15^th century. Later courses were extended all the way down to deck, and shortend by reefing to the yard.

But the Sunset Dawn was built as a superyacht, and for appearance, clear decks, visibilty from the bridge and manouvering station, and a good view around for the passengers. It was choocen to keep the fore course well clear of the deck. The Pirate crew fashioned themselves a bonnet to extend this sail down, to get more sail area lower in the rigging.

More sail area lower in the rigging will lower the Sail Point of a ship. Improving the stability, if you remove that area high in the rigging. The Sunset Dawn didn't remove any sail area high up. The sail area increased. But the hull was stable enough to handle it.

The Bonnet of the Sunset Dawn is rigged almost permanently, and only comes down in the foulest of weather.

Gaff-topsail

For ships where the fore-and-aft sails have a gaff along the head of the sail, there can be hoisted a gaff-topsail to fill out that triangle between the gaff and the mast top. Some gaff-topsails have spars of their own that are hoisted with the sail to extend the gaff-topsail out over the top of the mast and beyond the reach of the gaff.

Skyscraper

A sail only found on square-rigged ships, it is triangular of shape, and hoisted above the highest sail to fill the space between the yard and the mast top.

The Sunset Dawn does have one of these sails in their sail locker but the pirates rarely use it as they find the benefits are very minimal.

Fisherman

A four-sided sail of irregular shape, hoisted between two masts, where it fills the same space as a gaff-topsail would fill. But isn't connected to the gaff.

The Sunset Dawn being equipped with gaff-topsails means it doesn't have fisherman sails. the Narwhal has a Fisherman sail, but it doesn't have any of the other above mentioned sails.

Spinnaker

A spinnaker is a very large free flying head sail, used for downwind sailing on yachts and dingies. The triangular shaped sail is connected tot he mast at the top. On the windward side there is a freely rigged boom, holding it out from the mast or the boat's toe rail. On the leeward side, there are only lines controlling it.

Gennakker

A Gennakker is basically the same as a spinnaker but the windward corner is not held out by a freely rigged boom, but by the bowsprit or [tooltip:Bowsprit extension.]jib boom[tooltip]. The Narwhal is equipped with a Gennakker and is using it often.

Additional

Between gennaker and jib fit a wide variety of triangular shaped bow sails of different cut and designs, too many to fit into this article.

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