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Sailing Rigs

|< < Prev #3193 (January 12, 2026)

Title text: 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.

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Explanation

This is incomplete: This page was created by the birds flying in my kite. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

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 table below explains each type depicted.

The title text is a pun on Catch-22, which is a term (taken from the novel of the same name) for a situation where success is impossible because it requires meeting contradictory conditions. For example, in the novel, the term was used by military pilots who qualified to be released from combat duty, but were ordered to fly additional missions, and were told that disobeying those orders was grounds to have their releases revoked, which would require them to fly additional missions anyway.

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 yawl and 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 may be difficult to control).^{[actual citation needed]}

The Rigs

Type	Image	Real?	Description	Explanation
Lateen		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 lateen immensely increases the potential of the sailing ship.
Bermuda rigged sloop		Yes	A front and rear triangular sail share a mast.	A sloop has one mast, typically with two sails mounted on the mast, one ahead and one behind.
Ketch		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
Gaff rigged sloop		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 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.
Yawl		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 fore-and-aft rigging, and the mizzen mast is mounted aft of the rudder post, leading the mizzen sail to typically be small. Similar to a ketch.
Schooner		Yes	A sailboat with two or more masts, where all have fore-and-aft rigging, and where the foremast is typically smaller than the main mast
Ketch-rigged gaff		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		No	Four or five sails mounted in a nonsensical configuration, with elements from the schooner, ketch, and gaff	A mixture of the names of ketch and 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 sketch, as "sketch" can mean "drawing"
Bunkbed rig		No	A gaff-rigged sloop mounted on top of a second hull.	The name refers to a 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 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 '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 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, 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		Yes, though not typically called a rig	The rectangular outline of a cylinder with motion lines around it, indicating a 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 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 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		No	Three masts each with a sail billowing in front	A 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 Cap'n Crunch cereal type that became a meme, Oops! All Berries, which has also been referenced in 2256 and 2719.
Keel rig		No	Three sails in a ketch arrangement, but mounted to the keel, which would typically put the sails underwater.	The book 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		Kind of	All sails are replaced by two groups of kites, each tied to the mast with their own independent line.	A 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 kite surfing, but occasionally other vessels too, up to 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		No	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 design could be a reference to "long-tail bikes", a type of cargo bicycle useful for hauling heavy or voluminous charges at the cost of higher weight and reduced manoeuvrability.
Deckhand obliterator		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. 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 be of little use as far as propulsion is concerned.
Offset rig		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. There are in fact sail configurations called offset rigs but they aren't like the one shown here.
Mastless rig		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. 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		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:]

Common Sailing Rigs

[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

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Discussion

Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.

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This is a test. PoolloverNathan^{[stalk the blue seas]} 20:48, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

This is not. —While False (museum | talk | contributions | logs | rights | printable version | page information | what links there | related changes | Google search | current time: 19:09) 18:38, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

A foreign student asked me to help fight against his math teacher. That was unusual. He was in that class for just a couple of weeks. The teacher's phone number was sent to me. The student asked me to spam-call the teacher. 172.71.155.55 22:58, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

here i'm just messing around in html, ignore this

^furhhfghure _{guyrburgryhuyvfr} "rvhru"

interesting way of writing quotations xd

hmmm this one of putting "<p>" in a line break will come in handy for when i want it to start at the same place than the first line

Please beware that <p> on mediawiki also disables automatic paragraph breaks, so you need a closing </p> or you'll break automatic paragraph formatting for the rest of the page. Zmatt (talk) 22:06, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

edit: da hek did that "</div>" come from An user who has no account yet (talk) 14:14, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

hi uh its hard to get here. is this a reference to undocumented feature??? hmm... this is interesting.
108.162.241.216 02:05, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

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	Soup

	Soup

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yum yum [citation needed]

Hiuiedeixgeyceiyedhcdiedcve {{trout}}

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Recent comments:

14 January 2026

		17:32	Talk:3193: Sailing Rigs‎‎ (22 changes | history) . . (+11,793)‎ . . [98.110.175.81‎; Kynde‎ (2×); 82.132.238.61‎ (3×); JohnHawkinson‎ (4×); DollarStoreBa'al‎ (6×); 82.13.184.33‎ (6×)]
			17:32 (cur | prev) . . (+134)‎ . . 82.132.238.61 (talk)
			17:28 (cur | prev) . . (+2,406)‎ . . 82.132.238.61 (talk)
			16:56 (cur | prev) . . (+118)‎ . . 98.110.175.81 (talk)
			16:35 (cur | prev) . . (+1,231)‎ . . Kynde (talk | contribs) (→‎Cropped images)
			16:21 (cur | prev) . . (+8)‎ . . 82.13.184.33 (talk)
			16:19 (cur | prev) . . (+474)‎ . . Kynde (talk | contribs)
			16:13 (cur | prev) . . (+1,445)‎ . . JohnHawkinson (talk | contribs) (→‎Cropped images: r^n)
			15:46 (cur | prev) . . (+7)‎ . . 82.13.184.33 (talk) (→‎Cropped images)
			15:45 (cur | prev) . . (-42)‎ . . 82.13.184.33 (talk) (→‎Cropped images)
			15:43 (cur | prev) . . (+546)‎ . . DollarStoreBa'al (talk | contribs)
			15:36 (cur | prev) . . (+622)‎ . . DollarStoreBa'al (talk | contribs) (It's long now. You happy?)
			15:33 (cur | prev) . . (-1)‎ . . 82.13.184.33 (talk)
			14:53 (cur | prev) . . (+962)‎ . . JohnHawkinson (talk | contribs) (→‎Cropped images: r, I am sorry this got tiresome.)
			14:30 (cur | prev) . . (+392)‎ . . DollarStoreBa'al (talk | contribs)
			14:28 (cur | prev) . . (+14)‎ . . DollarStoreBa'al (talk | contribs)
			14:28 (cur | prev) . . (+386)‎ . . DollarStoreBa'al (talk | contribs) (Resize quote.)
			14:24 (cur | prev) . . (+980)‎ . . JohnHawkinson (talk | contribs) (→‎Cropped images: r (sigh))
			14:12 (cur | prev) . . (+1,002)‎ . . 82.132.238.61 (talk)
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			08:06 (cur | prev) . . (+330)‎ . . JohnHawkinson (talk | contribs) (→‎Cropped images: r)
			00:50 (cur | prev) . . (+543)‎ . . DollarStoreBa'al (talk | contribs)

		13:53	Talk:3192: Planetary Alignment‎‎ (3 changes | history) . . (+475)‎ . . [82.132.238.61‎; 82.13.184.33‎ (2×)]
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09:46

Talk:78: Garfield‎ (diff | hist) . . (+303)‎ . . 2a05:6e02:1113:d510:d826:b6f4:564c:9add (talk) (Added direct link to paywalled material)

09:12

Talk:3191: Superstition‎ (diff | hist) . . (-25)‎ . . 82.13.184.33 (talk)

13 January 2026

		23:33	Talk:3193: Sailing Rigs‎‎ (20 changes | history) . . (+8,023)‎ . . [46.114.57.23‎; Philhower‎; 2600:4040:2c96:4700:953d:b3cc:b3db:2c2e‎; 2001:861:3f07:a020:d17c:74a0:94ef:9dad‎; 198.180.154.20‎; 130.76.187.47‎; D5xtgr‎ (2×); 64.201.132.210‎ (2×); JohnHawkinson‎ (3×); 92.23.2.208‎ (3×); Martin‎ (4×)]
			23:33 (cur | prev) . . (+236)‎ . . Martin (talk | contribs)
		m	22:26 (cur | prev) . . (+80)‎ . . Martin (talk | contribs) (adding my sig to my last comment)
			22:24 (cur | prev) . . (+513)‎ . . Martin (talk | contribs) (definition of fore-and-aft rigging)
			22:15 (cur | prev) . . (+348)‎ . . Martin (talk | contribs) (discussion of ketch vs yawl definition)
			22:05 (cur | prev) . . (+85)‎ . . 64.201.132.210 (talk) (sign, as of the date of this edit)
			22:04 (cur | prev) . . (+204)‎ . . 64.201.132.210 (talk) ("Real: No" should be "Real: Not as of the date of this comic")
			21:49 (cur | prev) . . (+219)‎ . . JohnHawkinson (talk | contribs) (→‎Cropped images: DollarStoreBa'al disagrees.)
			21:30 (cur | prev) . . (+1,297)‎ . . 2001:861:3f07:a020:d17c:74a0:94ef:9dad (talk)
			20:42 (cur | prev) . . (+1,218)‎ . . JohnHawkinson (talk | contribs) (→‎Cropped images: r^2 and some template thoughts. also fix a missing elipsis from my 1529 remark.)
			20:04 (cur | prev) . . (+1,203)‎ . . 92.23.2.208 (talk)
			15:48 (cur | prev) . . (+203)‎ . . 198.180.154.20 (talk)
			15:29 (cur | prev) . . (+614)‎ . . JohnHawkinson (talk | contribs) (→‎Cropped images: new section)
			15:23 (cur | prev) . . (+171)‎ . . 46.114.57.23 (talk) (Yawl wrong)
			15:19 (cur | prev) . . (+467)‎ . . 2600:4040:2c96:4700:953d:b3cc:b3db:2c2e (talk) (Added a comment about speed record sailboats)
			14:50 (cur | prev) . . (-2)‎ . . 92.23.2.208 (talk)
			14:44 (cur | prev) . . (+344)‎ . . 92.23.2.208 (talk)
			14:09 (cur | prev) . . (+210)‎ . . D5xtgr (talk | contribs)
			14:03 (cur | prev) . . (+294)‎ . . D5xtgr (talk | contribs) (Troubleshooting)
			13:44 (cur | prev) . . (+176)‎ . . Philhower (talk | contribs) (It's just the pun)
			12:57 (cur | prev) . . (+143)‎ . . 130.76.187.47 (talk)

		20:10	Talk:578: The Race: Part 2‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (+585)‎ . . [92.23.2.208‎; 47.221.232.138‎]
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14:29

Talk:3182: Telescope Types‎ (diff | hist) . . (-1)‎ . . 92.23.2.208 (talk) (Proper indent (assumed reply to the "flunked out of freshman physics" and thus continuation of the open-ended "Various designs", rather than replying to the "Various designs" itself).)