Afore-and-aft rig is asailing shiprig withsails set mainly in themedian plane of thekeel, rather thanperpendicular to it, as on asquare-rigged vessel.[2]
Fore-and-aft rigged sails includestaysails,Bermuda rigged sails,gaff rigged sails,gunter rig,lateen sails,lug sails,tanja sails, thespanker sail on asquare rig, andcrab claw sails.
Fore-and-aft rigs include:
Barques andbarquentines are partiallysquare rigged and partially fore-and-aft rigged.
A rig which combines both on a foremast is known as a hermaphroditic rig.
The fore-and-aft rig is believed to have been developed independently by theAustronesian peoples some time after 1500 BC with the invention of thecrab claw sail. It is suggested that it evolved from a more primitive V-shaped "square" sail with two spars that come together at the hull. Crab claw sails spread fromMaritime Southeast Asia toMicronesia,Island Melanesia,Polynesia, andMadagascar via the Austronesian migrations.[3] Austronesians in Southeast Asia also later developed other types of fore-and-aft sails, such as thetanja sail (also known as the canted square sail, canted rectangular sail, or the balance lug sail).[3]
Their use later spread into theIndian Ocean since the first millennium, among vessels from theMiddle East,South Asia, andChina.[4][5]
The lateen was developed in the Mediterranean as early as the 2nd century AD, during Roman times. It became common by the 5th century.[6]
The square rig had predominated in Europe since the dawn of sea travel, but in the generally gentle climate of southern Europe and theMediterranean Sea during the last few centuries before theRenaissance the fore-and-aft began to replace it. By 1475, its use increased, and within a hundred years the fore-and-aft rig was in common use on rivers and in estuaries in Britain, northern France, and the Low Countries, though the square rig remained standard for the harsher conditions of the openNorth Sea as well as for trans-Atlantic sailing.
