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> The main reasons square-rigged ships fell out of fashion, as far as I know, are mostly logistically. True, but it gets more complicated than that. For fast l
by BerislavLopac 7y ago
> The main reasons square-rigged ships fell out of fashion, as far as I know, are mostly logistically.
True, but it gets more complicated than that. For fast long-distance commercial travel they were replaced by the steam and later diesel propulsion, which both a) were faster and b) required less crew (so were logistically superior).
On the other hand, where sailing is still used (and that's mainly sport and leisure) the square rig is still here, only in an evolved form: the spinnaker. But whenever the speed is not the primary factor, fore-and-aft rigs (primarily Bermuda) is preferred because it requires far less crew. And then again, when the goal is to have plenty of crew -- like in some navy office training -- classical square rig is still highly merited [1].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Training_ship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Training_ship
- scooble 7y ago> preferred because it requires far less crew I think that only really applies when the sails were set from aloft. I'm familiar with square-rigged cargo vessels of around 60ft in the UK that were crewed by 2.
- BerislavLopac 7y agoYes, more modern versions of square rigs (using motors, or designed without the yards -- again, spinnakers) do have vastly reduced need for the crew. But I was focusing on traditional rigs.
- scooble 7y agoThe vessels I was thinking of, Humberkeels, are traditional.
- Plough_Jogger 7y agoBeyond the spinnaker, there are several yachts using a modern square rig: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_Falcon_(yacht) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_Falcon_(yacht) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Pearl_(yacht) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Pearl_(yacht)