boom
ship part
Learn about this topic in these articles:
use with fore-and-aft sails
- In fore-and-aft sail
The mainsail always has a boom, pivoted on the mast. Historically, it represented an important advance over the ancient square sail; it first appeared in the Mediterranean as the lateen sail. Full-rigged ships carried both types of sail; modern sport sailing craft carry fore-and-aft sails exclusively because of their ready…
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