3193: Sailing Rigs

2026-01-15T02:07:02Z

2601:647:4180:CFD0:C7D:E54F:34C6:E01B:

{{comic
| number = 3193
| date = January 12, 2026
| title = Sailing Rigs
| image = sailing_rigs_2x.png
| imagesize = 508x822px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I wanted to make the world's fastest yawl, so I made the aft sail bigger, but apparently that means it's not a yawl anymore! It's a real ketch-22.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by the birds flying in my kite. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic shows the side profiles of a variety of different sailing boat/ship rigs, starting with six real ones, but then moving mostly into ones imagined by [[Randall]], with varying levels of absurdity. The [[#The Rigs|table below]] explains each type depicted.

The title text is a pun on {{w|Catch-22 (logic)|Catch-22}}, a term taken from the {{w|Catch-22|novel of the same name}} for a situation where success is impossible because it requires meeting self-contradictory conditions. For example, the novel introduces the term for a pilot who requests mental evaluation for insanity, hoping to be found not sane enough to fly and thereby escape dangerous missions, but who demonstrates his own sanity by creating the request and thus cannot be declared insane. Per the main panel, a ketch is similar to a yawl but has a larger aft sail, so increasing the aft sail of a yawl effectively turns the yawl into a ketch, effectively making it impossible to build a faster yawl. (However this is not technically true, as the distinction between a {{w|yawl}} and {{w|ketch}} is based on whether the aft sail is mounted forward or aft of the rudder post, although a yawl with a large aft sail [https://www.woodenboatstore.com/products/hand-reef-and-steer-2nd-edition would probably be difficult to control.])

==The Rigs==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Type
!Image
!Real?
!Description 
!Explanation 
|-
|{{w|Lateen}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Lateen.png|x75px]]
|{{Yes}}
|A single triangular sail.
|The triangular sail is affixed to a long yard or crossbar, mounted at its middle to the top of the mast and angled to extend aft far above the mast and forward down nearly to the deck. The sail, its free corner secured near the stern, is capable of taking the wind on either side, and, by enabling the vessel to tack into the wind, the [https://www.britannica.com/technology/lateen-sail lateen] immensely increases the potential of the sailing ship. 
|-
|{{W|Bermuda rig|Bermuda rigged sloop}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Bermuda.png|x86px]]
|{{Yes}}
|A front and rear triangular sail share a mast.
|A {{w|sloop}} has one mast, typically with two sails mounted on the mast, one ahead and one behind.
|-
|{{w|Ketch}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Ketch.png|x101px]]
|{{Yes}}
|A sailboat with two masts, where the main mast is taller than the mizzen (or aft mast), and the mizzen is forward of the rudder post
|Similar to a yawl (below), but with the mizzen (aft) mast mounted forward of the rudder post and its sail typically larger.
|-
|{{w|Gaff rig|Gaff rigged sloop}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Gaff Sloop.png|x87px]]
|{{Yes}}
|A front triangular sail shares a mast with a rear quadrilateral sail.
|A sloop is a sailboat with one mast, typically with two sails mounted on it — one ahead and one behind. A [https://nauticalknowhow.mysailingcourse.com/glossary/gaff-rig/ gaff rig] is a sailing rig where one sail is four-sided and controlled by a spar (the gaff) at its top, which is hoisted at an angle to the mast.
|-
|{{w|Yawl}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Yawl.png|x100px]]
|{{Yes}}
|Two triangular sails share a front mast, and a much smaller aft mast holds a small aft sail.
|A yawl is sailboat with two masts, where the main mast has two sails (one in front of the mast and one behind, known as {{w|Fore-and-aft rig|fore-and-aft rigging}}, and the mizzen (aft) mast is mounted aft of the rudder post, leading the mizzen sail to typically be small. Similar to a ketch.
|-
|{{w|Schooner}}
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Schooner.png|x102px]]
|{{Yes}}
|A sailboat with two or more masts, where all have {{w|Fore-and-aft rig|fore-and-aft rigging}}, and where the foremast is typically smaller than the main mast
|-
|Ketch-rigged gaff
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Ketch Gaff.png|x98px]]
|{{No}}
|Resembles a gaff, with the aft sail reduced and two triangular sails mounted above. The resulting shape resembles a vertical ketch.
|The first fictional rig. It might be capable of functioning like a sloop, but its rigging would be more complicated and it is likely less efficient at catching the wind.
|-
|Kloop-rigged sketch
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Kloop.png|x100px]]
|{{No}}
|Four or five sails mounted in a nonsensical configuration, with elements from the schooner, ketch, and gaff
| A mixture of the names of {{w|ketch}} and {{w|sloop}}, poking fun at the unfamiliar and odd-sounding names of some rigs. Adding to the absurdity, the kloop-rigged sketch is neither a sloop nor a ketch. However it is technically a {{w|Sketch (drawing)|sketch}}, as "sketch" can mean "drawing"
|-
|Bunkbed rig
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 100% more boat.png|x118px]]
|{{No}}
|A gaff-rigged sloop mounted on top of a second hull.
|The name refers to a {{w|bunkbed}}, where one bed is mounted directly above another. Bunk-style sleeping arrangements are sometimes used on boats for reasons of space efficiency. It applies this idea to the whole ship, mounting one hull directly above another. While {{w|Multihull|boats with multiple hulls}} do exist, these are commonly mounted side-by-side to guarantee stability. Mounting one hull above another, however, is a design aspect used in the '{{w|small-waterplane-area twin hull}}' concept, usually ''along with'' side-by-side multihulling. It's possible that this 'bunk hulled' design normally floats with the upper hull astride the water-level, though needing a greater depth of water for the 'keel hull', but that {{w|hydrofoil|at speed}} (and/or by carefully pumping ballast water out of the two hulls, and increasing overall buoyancy) it can rise up to present only the thin connectors to the sea surface. Though the stability of such a system, in an otherwise singular bunk-hull, would seem to be a problem when running with any amount of side-wind, {{w|Foilboard|in principle}} it seems more than managable with the right design and use.
Notably, this ship's ''rigging'' is mundane; the connection between hulls seems to be structural. It may be more accurate to refer to it as a bunkbed ''hull''.
|-
|Flettner rig
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Flettner.png|x94px]]
|{{Yes}}, though not typically called a rig
|The rectangular outline of a cylinder with motion lines around it, indicating a {{w|Flettner rotor}}
|A Flettner rotor is a right circular cylinder with disc end plates which is spun along its long axis. As air passes across it the {{w|Magnus effect}} causes an aerodynamic lift force to be generated in the direction perpendicular to both the long axis and the direction of airflow. In a {{w|rotor ship}}, the rotors stand vertically and lift is generated at right angles to the wind, to drive the ship forwards.

Flettner rotors were previously mentioned in [[3119]]
|-
|Oops, all spinnakers
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Spinnakers.png|x78px]]
|{{No}}
|Three masts each with a sail billowing in front
|A {{w|spinnaker}} is a real type of sail, where a boat is propelled by a large sail directly pulled by the wind, similar in principle to a parachute. However, "Oops, all spinnakers" is not real, as spinnakers are only practical for smaller craft, and if multiple spinnakers are mounted in a row the earlier ones may disrupt the airflow to the later ones. It does not appear that there are any real boats propelled by more than one spinnaker.
The name of the rig is a reference to the {{w|Cap'n Crunch}} cereal type that became a meme, [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/oops-all-berries-box-parodies ''Oops! All Berries''], which has also been referenced in [[2256]] and [[2719]].
|-
|Keel rig
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Keel.png|x98px]]
|{{No}}
|Three sails in a ketch arrangement, but mounted to the keel, which would typically put the ''sails underwater''.
|The book {{w|Heaven (Stewart and Cohen novel)|''Heaven''}}, by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, features an aquatic protagonist who is introduced as sailing a surface craft with underwater 'sails' (and above-water 'keel'), due to the switched nature of his usual environment.
|-
|Kite rig
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Kite.png|x109px]]
|{{Maybe|Kind of}}
|All sails are replaced by two groups of kites, each tied to the mast with their own independent line.
|A {{w|kite rig}} is a real thing, where a kite is deployed from a boat or ship to catch the wind and pull the vessel along. This rigging is used in various types of vessel, most commonly {{w|kite surfing}}, but occasionally other vessels too, up to [https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/30/travel/airseas-giant-kites-ships-slash-carbon-emissions-scn-climate-spc trials with cargo ships].
However, the real kite riggings typically use one large kite optimised for catching the wind, rather than many small kites optimised for flying (as depicted) which would likely get tangled and not pull much on the ship.
|-
|Longsail rig
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Longsail.png|x93px]]
|{{Maybe|Kind of}}
|A Bermuda rigged sloop with the aft sail extending ~5 times as far back, well beyond the end of the hull.
|While not technically impossible, such a long sail would likely be susceptible to damage from the wind, as well as potentially making it hard to control the boat.
This is reminiscent of the Sandbagger sloops of the mid- to late-1800s. The foresail was on a very long bowsprit and the boom extended past the stern by up to the length of the boat.

This design could be a reference to "{{w|Cargo bike#Longtail bicycle|long-tail bikes}}", a type of cargo bicycle useful for hauling heavy or voluminous charges at the cost of higher weight and reduced maneuverability.
|-
|Deckhand obliterator
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Deckhand Obliterator.png|x86px]]
|{{No}}
|All sails replaced by an anchor that swings from the mast on a chain.
|Any deckhands (crew) on the deck could be knocked off or fatally hurt if the anchor passes through their space and collides with them. While most captains would consider this counterproductive, it might be effective at its stated purpose.
There is a risk that the anchor might damage the mast in a collision or get wrapped around it. It would most likely be of little use as propulsion.
|-
|Offset rig
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Offset.png|x108px]]
|{{No}}
|Gaff rigged sloop sails are mounted on a mast that is offset (forward) from the hull via an underwater extension of the keel.
|The extreme mechanical advantage of the sail, potentially combined with the uneven weight, would make this rigging hard if not impossible to control.<br>
There are in fact [https://junkrigassociation.org/technical_forum/470838 sail configurations] called [https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/gaffs-balanced-lugs-hoyt-offset-rig-etc.53504/ offset rigs] but they aren't like the one shown here.
|-
|Mastless rig
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Mastless.png|x59px]]
|{{Maybe|Kind of}}
|A single sail is attached directly to the hull of the boat, without any mast to give it form.
|As depicted, the sail would provide little to no useful propulsion, as it would not be high enough to effectively catch the wind, and would, in any case, flap unpredictably.
However, ships do exist without masts, such as ships not powered by wind or, more rarely, inflatable sails (e.g. [http://inflatedwingsails.com/en/concept/ this concept]), which use air, rather than a mast, for rigidity. While not intentional, it is conceivable that the drawing depicts an inflatable sail in its deflated state.
|-
|Unclassifiable chaos rig
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:3193 Unclassifiable Chaos.png|x86px]]
|{{Maybe|Arguably}}
|Includes elements of the schooner, yawl, lateen, and possibly others, including a sail mounted in an unusual position beneath the prow.
|While this specific rig is almost certainly fictional, there are many ways to rig a ship, some of which are chaotic and difficult to classify.
|}

==Transcript==
:[The comic shows five rows of silhouettes of different sail boats as seen from the side. In total 18 different boats are shown, three rows with four each and three in each of the two bottom rows. Each boat has a different sailing rig. All boats are oriented to the left of the comic, and beneath each boat there is a label. At the top of the panel there is a large heading:]
:<big>Common Sailing Rigs</big>

:[Here follows a list of the 18 boats with a description and then their label:]

:[A single triangular sail.]
:Lateen

:[A front and rear triangular sail share a mast.]
:Bermuda rigged sloop

:[Two triangular sails as above, with an additional triangular sail on a second rear mast.]
:Ketch

:[Front triangular sail shares mast with rear quadrilateral sail.]
:Gaff rigged sloop

:[Two triangular sails share front mast and a much smaller aft mast holds a small aft.]
:Yawl

:[Two triangular front sails share forward mast with quadrilateral center sail. An aft mast supports a quadrilateral aft sail.]
:Schooner

:[Resembles a gaff, with the aft sail reduced and two triangular sails mounted above. The resulting shape resembles a vertical ketch.]
:Ketch-rigged gaff

:[Includes elements of ketch and sloop.]
:Kloop-rigged sketch

:[A gaff-rigged sloop is mounted on top of a second hull.]
:Bunkbed rig

:[The rectangular outline of a cylinder with motion lines around it.]
:Flettner rig

:[Three masts each with a sail only attached to the top.]
:Oops, all spinnakers

:[Three sails in a ketch arrangement, but mounted to the keel.]
:Keel rig

:[All sails are replaced by two groups of kites, each tied to the mast with an independent line.]
:Kite rig

:[Bermuda rigged sloop with the aft sail extending ~5 times as far back, well beyond the end of the hull.]
:Longsail rig

:[All sails replaced by an anchor that swings around the mast on a chain, similar to tetherball.]
:Deckhand obliterator

:[Gaff rigged sloop sails are mounted on a mast that is offset (forward) from the hull via an underwater extension of the keel.]
:Offset rig

:[A single sail is attached where the mast would normally be mounted, flapping around freely.]
:Mastless rig

:[Includes elements of the schooner, yawl, lateen, and possibly others.]
:Unclassifiable chaos rig

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Sailboats]]
[[Category:Kites]]
[[Category:Puns]]

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3193: Sailing Rigs