There are three main types of sails that can be seen on dinghies and yachts and that you will always here about in sailing. They look different and do completely different things. They are...
The Mainsail
The Genoa/Gib
The Spinnaker/Gennaker
The Mainsail
The mainsail is the work horse of the entire boat and provides the power for the boat to move. It must be properly trimmed at optimized to get the most out of it. If you are beating the sail should be fully in, reaching half in half out and if you are running fully out.
In order to optimize the sail correctly, simply let it out until it begins to flap and then bring it in a bit. It is now trimmed for this current course and with the current wind direction. If you change the boat's direction or if the wind direction changes, the main sail will have to be trimmed again.
This is a constant process that the helmsman must do in order to keep the boat moving at optimum efficiency and maximum speed.
The Genoa/Gib
The Genoa (and its smaller sibling, the Gib) is the secondary sail that provides the turning power and the extra speed that a two man boat needs. Without it, the boat tends to move very slowly, because it helps the mainsail stay aerodynamic.
It is also useful on close reaches, where it speeds up the boat considerably as it is like the mainsail, but not on a boom and so the entire sail shape is curved making it more aerodynamic than the main sail allowing for faster speed.
The Genoa must also be constantly trimmed by use of the tell tales. The rule of thumb is: where the outside tell tale flaps, let out the Genoa and when the inside tell tale flaps, pull in the Genoa.
The Spinnaker/Gennaker
The Spinnaker is a large bag shaped sail that is attached to the boat by a pole on the boom. The Gennaker is a much larger sail that is attached to the boat by a pole at the front. The Spinnaker works on a run, broad reach and beam reach. The Gennaker works on a broad reach, beam reach and close reach.
The Spinnaker is a bag that pulls the boat along when the wind pushes it. The Gennaker works like a large Genoa and is aerodynamically shapes like a Genoa (unlike the baggy spinnaker).
Knowing the three types of sail is very important and understanding how they work is critical to be able to sail fast and be able to optimize the sails correctly so that they provide the most power that they can in the amount of wind given.
PROFOLLICA
