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Sloop
Sail boat with a single mast and a fore-and-aft rig

A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast and typically one headsail in front and one mainsail behind the mast, featuring a fore-and-aft rig. The mainsail is often a Bermuda rig but can also be gaff or gunter rigged. The naval term sloop-of-war refers to the ship's purpose rather than its sail plan. Regionally, mast placement affects classification; for example, a forward mast and fixed bowsprit with two headsails may still define a sloop, as seen in the Friendship Sloop.

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Origins

The name originates from the Dutch sloep, which is related to the Old English slūpan, to glide.3 The original Dutch term applied to an open rowing boat.4: 49  A sloop is usually regarded as a single-masted rig with a single headsail and a fore-and-aft mainsail. In this form, the sloop is the commonest of all sailing rigs – with the Bermuda sloop being the default rig for leisure craft, being used on types that range from simple cruising dinghies to large racing yachts with high-tech sail fabrics and large powerful winches.5: 48–53 If the vessel has two or more headsails, the term cutter is usually applied, though there are regional and historic variations on this. A boat with a forward mast placement and a fixed bowsprit, but more than one headsail, may be called a sloop. The Friendship sloop is an example of this. Particularly with historic craft, categorisation as a cutter may rely on having a running bowsprit.6: 49–55 

Variations

Before the Bermuda rig became popular outside of Bermuda in the early 20th century, a (non-Bermudian) sloop might carry one or more square-rigged topsails which will be hung from a topsail yard and be supported from below by a crossjack.7

A sloop's headsail may be masthead-rigged or fractional-rigged. On a masthead-rigged sloop, the forestay (on which the headsail is carried) attaches at the top of the mast. On a fractional-rigged sloop, the forestay attaches to the mast at a point below the top. A sloop may use a bowsprit, a spar that projects forward from the bow.

See also

  • Mast aft rig, a single mast rig with a mast further back than a sloop or cutter
  • Chialoup, an historical type of sloop produced in the East Indies
  • Bermuda sloop, originally used for a type of sea-going, sloop-rigged vessel. Today used for any Bermuda-rigged sloop
  • Bermuda Fitted Dinghy: a scaled-down sloop used for racing in Bermuda

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sloops.

References

  1. "SLOOP | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 2019-05-12. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sloop ↩

  2. Bennett, Jenny (2005). Sailing Rigs, an Illustrated Guide. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-243-7. 1-86176-243-7 ↩

  3. "Sloop". dictionary.com. Retrieved 12 May 2019. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sloop ↩

  4. Bennett, Jenny (2005). Sailing Rigs, an Illustrated Guide. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-243-7. 1-86176-243-7 ↩

  5. Bennett, Jenny (2005). Sailing Rigs, an Illustrated Guide. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-243-7. 1-86176-243-7 ↩

  6. Bennett, Jenny (2005). Sailing Rigs, an Illustrated Guide. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-243-7. 1-86176-243-7 ↩

  7. Fallows, Samuel (1885). Progressive Dictionary of the English Language. Progressive. p. 148. ↩