Mast (Sailing) (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship. Nearly all sailing masts are guyed masts.Until the mid-19th century, all vessels' masts were made of wood. Originally, they were formed from a single piece of timber, typically the trunks of fir trees. From the 16th century, vessels were often built of a size requiring masts taller and thicker than could be made from single tree trunks. On these larger vessels, to achieve the required height, the masts were built from up to four sections (also called masts), known in order of rising height above the decks as the lower, top, topgallant and royal masts.