Sailing ships, relying exclusively on the wind for motive power, were the sole means of trade and colonisation across the world's oceans for something like 5000 years. The great sailing ships of the nineteenth century were the pinnacle of achievement of a technology that has been in development longer than the recorded history of the human race.(Read
a potted history of sailing ships
for more information on this topic.)

Although sailing ships were superseded by the fuel-burning ships of the twentieth century, there has been a modern resurgence of interest in 'tall ships'. Many nations have sponsored the building of large sailing vessels, as have a variety of private corporations. Sailing ships today are active on all of the world's oceans, in greater numbers than they have been since before the first world war.

Between the five of us there was the strong bond of the sea, and also the fellowship of the craft, which no amount of enthusiasm for yachting, cruising, and so on can give, since one is only the amusement of life and the other is life itself. - Joseph Conrad in Youth

What is a Sailing Ship?

Technically, a ship is only a ship if it has at least three masts and all of them have square sails. Fewer masts, or different sail plan, means that your 'ship' is actually a schooner, brig, bark etc. For most people this is a needlessly pedantic definition and a sailing ship is distinguished from a sailing boat simply by being larger. Although the difference between ship and boat is largely a matter of opinion, one definition that is widely accepted is that ships are generally more than 30 metres in length. Another is that a boat can be carried on a ship, but not the other way around. Huge modern floating dry-dock ships are an exception to this rule,

Sailing ships rely on the wind to make them move, so they need some device to catch the wind. Generally this will be a sail, or combination of sails, although experiments have been carried out using wind turbines that drive a propeller. Whatever the method used to capture energy from the wind, a mast is invariably needed to hang it from. As mentioned, most sailing ships have several masts, which may support a variety of different types of sails. For more information on this topic, see
Sailing Ship Terminology
.

The other feature of sailing ships, the one that some purists get very vehement about, is that sailing ships shouldn't ever need an engine if sailed properly. An engine is therefore excess weight and should be dispensed with, at least if you are serious about sailing. This is probably taking things to extremes, an engine is occasionally a very useful thing to have, but sailing ships equipped with engines do seem to use them more than is absolutely necessary. Engines can seduce a lazy captain to the point that they become the principle means of propulsion and the sails are reduced to expensive accessories¹.

Most modern sailing ships have engines, electricity generators, and sophisticated modern bathrooms but are otherwise designed to be as much like their primitive forebears as possible.

Types of Sailing Ships

Sailing ships can be divided into two classes, those that are square rigged and another group who rely on only a fore and aft sails.

Square rigged ships have large sails that are mounted across the width of the ship extending past both sides of the ships, along with several fore and aft sails. The advantage of this rig is the tremendous power generated by the large sail area, especially when the wind is coming from behind the sails. The big disadvantage is when it is necessary to sail into the wind. Even the most advanced square riggers can only sail with the wind about 60 degrees on either side of the bow. Each time the ship turns through the wind hundreds of ropes have to be adjusted for each new course. In the age of sail most ships sailed hundreds of miles out of their way to find an area that usually had favourable winds.

All of the sails on a fore and aft ship (usually a schooner) are mounted along the centreline and shift from side to side as the ship turns through the wind. Although less powerful, the fore and aft sails allow the ship to sail as close as 45 degrees to the wind. Also each time the ship turns only a handful of lines need to be adjusted, on some simple vessels, such as a catboat, not a single rope needs attention.

There, of course, a few hybrid ships, such as the square top-sail schooner that can switch between the two common rigs to match their local conditions. There have also been a few attempts to capture the wind using turbines or wind-mill propellers, althogh interesting they are beyond our focus here.

Why do People Like Sailing Ships?

There are two reasons that people like sailing ships. The first is simply that they are great big toys, and playing with them can be loads of fun. Sailing ships appeal to the child inside all of us because there is an endless amount of things you can pull on to make interesting things happen. Entire 'stacks' of sails, a hundred feet high, can be raised, lowered, swung around, filled with wind, tilted, furled and adjusted in a hundred ways.

Where else can you get together with a bunch of your friends and, simply by hauling on a bunch of ropes, capture literally tens of thousands of horsepower of energy?

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And that's before you even climb into the rigging!

A sailing ship is a massive, and hugely exciting plaything. A plaything to share with your friends and make new friends while
learning a new skill
. If you really must you can even sing sea shanties at the same time, and celebrate the end of your day by dancing a hornpipe in the nearest pub. (Most types of boat are inexplicably moored very close to an establishment where nautical types can congregate and drink alcohol. No-one knows why this is but it adds to the fun.)

The second reason that people like sailing ships is that the merest sight of one immediately awakens all sorts of romantic longings in anyone with even a smidgin of imagination. As well as being a physical thing a sailing ship also embodies an idea, or a myth, that continues to fascinate people a hundred years after ceasing to be economically practical. Sailing ships conjure up dreams of adventure and discovery, of hardships willingly endured in personal contests with the sea, of the freedom to go anywhere the wind blows.

When
The Star of India
sailed from San Diego on 13/14 October 2001 she was accompanied by hundreds of small boats all loaded with wildly cheering members of the public.
) From Moby Dick and Long John Silver, to Fletcher Christian being seduced by dusky south sea maidens, to Sinbad's seven voyages, sailing ships are evocative of adventure and excitement.

But, to some, sailing ships also provide a link to something else - a way of living that is simpler and more rewarding than modern urban life.

Perhaps the clearest insight to this can be found in Joseph Conrad's short story 'Youth', which tells the story of a passage from England to the Far East in the late nineteenth century. Enduring storms, a collision, more storms, mutiny, fire at sea, and the eventual loss of the ship Judea, the author paints a marvellous word picture of a voyage that seems designed purely to illustrate the human spirit's ability to transcend adversity. Bound together by their struggle, the captain and crew rise to meet endless challenges with a futile tenacity and casual bravery that seems unbelievable in the modern world.

What modern crew would climb into the rigging of a burning ship as it is being taken under tow, knowing that the masts are being burned through beneath them? Who in their right mind, engulfed in clouds of noxious smoke, would take the time to furl sails neatly rather than lose the respect of his shipmates by doing a sloppy job? The pride and dedication shown by Conrad's 'Liverpool hard cases' is based on a true story, and illustrates a quality of spirit that reaches out across the centuries to an increasing number of people - spurring the construction of new tall ships, the restoration of old ones, and a never-ending stream of people wanting to sail them.

Where can I find a sailing ship to sail on?

The largest sailing ships ever built are modern 'cruise ships' sailing mostly in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and there are many smaller vessels operating from popular tourist centres around the world. These range from purpose-built luxury ships to 'The Atlantic Clipper', which was originally built to ferry Guinness around the Caribbean and now hosts dive tours on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Of course, this type of sailing always costs money.

Many governments have sponsored the construction of sail training ships, to promote teamwork and 'moral fibre' - particularly among young people. Depending on your nationality it may be possible to spend time learning the art of tall ship handling while in the navy, coast guard, or in juvenile detention. This may still cost you some money, and you can expect conditions to be considerably less comfortable than on a 'cruise' ship, but it beats watching TV any day.

There are also many older vessels owned by museums or preservation societies that will welcome volunteer help.

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You will probably be expected to give up a couple of days a month for 'maintenance', which may be anything from moving museum exhibits to re-rigging the ship, but that seems like a small price to pay for the opportunity to learn how to sail a tall ship. And if you do learn then there are an increasing number of jobs available. As more ships are built the number of skilled people required increases faster than the supply, which means that you could theoretically start a whole new career as a paid crew member on the biggest toy in town!