Bermuda rig in the context of "Marine cordage"

A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.

Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support and control a sailing ship or sail boat's masts and sails. Standing rigging is the fixed rigging that supports masts including shrouds and stays. Running rigging is rigging which adjusts the position of the vessel's sails and spars including halyards, braces, sheets and vangs.

In modern usage, a sloop is a sailboat with a single mast generally having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail abaft (behind) the mast. It is a type of fore-and-aft rig. The mainsail may be of any type, most often Bermuda rig, but also others, such as gaff or gunter.

In naval terminology, "sloop-of-war" refers to the purpose of the craft, rather than to the specific size or sail-plan, and thus a sloop should not be confused with a sloop-of-war. As with many rig definitions, it was some time before the term sloop referred to the type of rig.

A schooner (/ˈskuːnər/ SKOO-nər) is a type of sailing vessel defined by its fore-and-aft rig on all of two or more masts and the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. The most common variants are gaff-rigged and staysail schooners, with the topsail schooner carrying a square topsail on the foremast, and Bermuda and junk-rigs being rarities.

A gaff vang is a line on a gaff rig sailboat used to exert lateral force on the gaff and thus control the shape of the sail. Rarely used now they are commonly shown on old pictures and drawings. Typically separate port and starboard vangs were fitted. The primary purpose of the gaff vang is to reduce the twist in the sail caused by the gaff "sagging away to leeward". This sag is the main cause of the gaff rig's poor performance to windward relative to the Bermuda rig.

The gaff vang "works well on a ketch or schooner, but is often found to be unleadable on a cutter"

Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the gaff. Because of the size and shape of the sail, a gaff rig will have running backstays rather than permanent backstays.

The gaff enables a fore-and-aft sail to be four sided, rather than triangular. A gaff rig typically carries 25 percent more sail than an equivalent Bermuda rig for a given hull design.

Gunter rig is a configuration of sail and spars used in sailing. It is a fore and aft sail set abaft (behind) the mast. The lower half of the luff (front) of the sail is attached to the mast, and the upper half is fastened to a spar which is approximately vertical and reaches above the top of the mast. This spar is called a "yard", but it is common for some to confuse it with a "gaff" (as in gaff rig). The overall shape of a gunter sail is roughly triangular, so having a superficial resemblance to Bermuda rig.

A gunter sail may also be called a "gunter lug" - a name which suggests developmental origins from increasing the angle of a high peaked standing lug. Gunter sails are sometimes described as "sliding gunter".