What is it with Bowsprits?
In the days before stainless rigging wire and metal masts, rigs were pretty low aspect. Without an engine, sailing vessels needed to spread as much sail as possible on this low rig. To this end, a bowsprit was a useful if unhandy and vulnerable addition to the mast, gaff and long booms. One or more extra staysails could be set in lighter winds. For fishing vessels, which often moored along tightly packed wharves, bowsprits were ‘reefable’, pulled back along the deck to protect them from damage. Modern racing boats have found a use for bowsprits by setting asymetric spinnakers on them, as do a few adventurous cruisers. However, these are mostly reefable ‘prods’ rather than true bowsprits. A walk along the dock in almost any marina on the west coast of the USA, shows that bowsprits are still apparently popular with cruising owners, if not with the dock-walkers who must dodge them. This is a puzzle. These boats all have powerful engines and most have reasonably tall rigs, held up with mod
