- published: 22 Aug 2015
- views: 2761996
The term Bermuda rig refers to a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is also known as a Marconi rig; this is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats. This configuration was developed in Bermuda in the 17th century; the term Marconi was a much later reference to the inventor Guglielmo Marconi, whose wireless radio masts resembled Bermuda rigs. The Marconi Rig defines only the way a mast, is supported. This was devised by Marconi for his radio masts. It is a series of triangular wires in pairs either side of the mast, these sets of wires overlap each other
The rig consists of a triangular sail set aft of the mast with its head raised to the top of the mast; its luff runs down the mast and is normally attached to it for its entire length; its tack is attached at the base of the mast; its foot controlled by a boom; and its clew attached to the aft end of the boom, which is controlled by its sheet.
Originally developed for smaller Bermudian vessels, and ultimately adapted to the larger, ocean-going Bermuda sloop, the Bermuda sail is either set as a mainsail on the main mast, or as the course (the principal sail) on another mast. The Bermuda rigging has largely replaced the older gaff rigged fore-and-aft sails, except notably on schooners. The traditional design as developed in Bermuda featured very tall, raked masts, long bowsprits and booms (or omitted booms), and vast areas of sail. This is still seen, today, in the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy, which is raced in Bermuda, but elsewhere the design has omitted the bowsprit, and otherwise become less extreme (Bermuda sloops, especially the single-masted ones, were demanding vessels that required large, experienced crews. This fact was the reason the Bermuda Sloop Foundation chose a three-masted, rather than a single-masted, design for its newly-built Spirit of Bermuda, which is intended as a training ship for inexperienced youths).
Bermuda ( /bɜrˈmjuːdə/), officially the Bermudas or Somers Islands, is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about 1,030 kilometres (640 mi) to the west-northwest. It is about 1,373 kilometres (853 mi) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia and 1,770 kilometres (1,100 mi) northeast of Miami, Florida, USA. Its capital city is Hamilton.
Bermuda was discovered in 1505 by Spanish sea captain Juan de Bermúdez, after whom the islands are named. Apparently uninhabited, he claimed them for the Spanish Empire. Although he paid two visits to the archipelago, Bermúdez was persuaded never to set foot on any of the islands by the dangerous reef surrounding them. Subsequent Spanish or other visitors are believed to have released the feral pigs that were abundant on the island when settlement began. In 1609, the Virginia Company, which had established Virginia and Jamestown on the American continent two years earlier, established a settlement on behalf of the English colonial empire. Initially, it was administered as an extension of Virginia by the Company until 1614, before its successor, the Somers Isles Company, took over until 1684. Bermuda then became a British colony following the 1707 unification of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the unified Kingdom of Great Britain. After Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949, Bermuda became the oldest (and, since the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the most populous) remaining British overseas territory. Its first capital, St George's, was established in 1612 and is the oldest continuously-inhabited English town in the Americas.