Reconsidering the Square rig

For 4,000 years, one basic sailboat design dominated the oceans of the West.

Article by Larry Brown

For 4,000 years, one basic sailboat design dominated the oceans of the West. Its hull was double-ended. A single square sail flew from a mast positioned amidship, or at the point of greatest beam if the hull was slightly fuller forward than aft. How tall was the mast? The Vikings had a rule of thumb. The height of the mast should be the same length as the circumference of the hull at its widest point. In lieu of a stern rudder, a pair of steering oars flanked the stern quarters in Mediterranean vessels and on the Red and Black Seas. The Vikings mounted a single steering oar on the aft starboard quarter and sailed the North Sea, the Baltic and the North Atlantic.