Topsail

A topsail which is fore-and-aft rigged is usually also triangular, but has its longest edge oriented vertically rather than horizontally as seen in the raffee sail.

Although the early Romans used a sort of fore-and-aft rigged topsail on some vessels, this sail came into prominent use in Europe some time in the 15th century.

Competing versions of this double topsail were invented by Robert Bennet Forbes and Captain Frederic Howes.

On a gaff-rigged sailing boat, topsails may take a few different forms: On rigs having multiple jibs or staysails of which at least one is set high, such as many late 19th and 20th Century racing cutters, the uppermost of these, set flying or on a topmast stay, is often called the jib topsail.

Topsails (Greek: sipharos; Latin: siparum) in the form of an isosceles triangle set above the square mainsail were used in Roman navigation.