gaff topsail

American  

[gaf top-seyl, top-suhl] / ˈgæf ˈtɒpˌseɪl, ˈtɒpˌsəl /

noun

Nautical.

1. Also called fore-and-aft topsail.  a jib-headed fore-and-aft sail set above a gaff.

2. a quadrilateral fore-and-aft sail set above the spanker of a bark, between the gaff of the spanker and an upper gaff.

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gaff-topsail British  

noun

1. a sail set above a gaffsail

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Etymology

Origin of gaff topsail

First recorded in 1785–95

Example Sentences

The cutter at the time was reefed, but when she saw the lugger's topsail going up she shook out her reefs and set her gaff topsail.

From King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 by Chatterton, E. Keble (Edward Keble)

Papa, on this, ordered the gaff topsail to be taken in, and the jib shifted.

From A Yacht Voyage Round England by Kingston, William Henry Giles

The wind was light, and we spread more canvas than she did, having royals and sky-sails fore and aft, and ten studding-sails; while she, being an hermaphrodite brig, had only a gaff topsail aft.

From Two Years Before the Mast by Dana, Richard Henry

A belt of smoky red spread swiftly along the horizon, he heard the high gaff topsail flap, booms rattled and then the yacht got quiet.

From Wyndham's Pal by Bindloss, Harold

"Maybe," continued the mate, "she will soon have too much breeze; that gaff topsail is foolish in a boat with no deck and no sailor on board."

From Florence and Northern Tuscany with Genoa With Sixteen Illustrations In Colour By William Parkinson And Sixteen Other Illustrations, Second Edition by Hutton, Edward