Sloops - Sails Carried

Sails Carried

To maximize the amount of sail carried, the classic sloop may use a bowsprit, which is essentially a spar that projects forward from the bow of the boat. For downwind sailing, the typical foresail may be replaced (or sometimes supplemented) by larger curved sails known as spinnakers or gennakers. The typical foresail, known as the jib, which does not overlap the mast more than 10 to 20 percent, may be replaced by a genoa, which overlaps the mast by some 55 to 100 percent, for racing rules, and sometimes even more. The genoa's large overlap behind the mainsail helps to guide the airflow and thereby makes the mainsail more effective.

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