A brail is a rope used to reduce the area of a sail by pulling it up the mast. It passes through grommets and is attached to a longer rope towards the mast. Brail lines are used on certain types of sails and can be used to furl or reef a sail. The nautical command is “brail up the sails” or “hale up the brails”. To use brail lines, pull on the vertical string attached to the mast.
A brail, or brail line, is a nautical term referring to a small rope attached horizontally across a sail and used to pull the sail up the mast, reducing the area of the sail. Several sails are usually attached to a sail for this purpose and are part of a sailboat’s rigging, meaning its configuration of masts, sails, and ropes. Each brail passes through a grommet from the luff, the leading vertical edge of the sail closest to the wind, through the main body of the sail, through another grommet, and back into the luff. Towards the mast, the brails are attached to a longer rope that runs almost the entire length of the mast and is used to pull the brails in and fetch the sail. Brail lines are used only on certain types of sails on certain sailing rigs, most commonly called cursorsails, usually the topsail, mainsail, and mizzen.
There are various ways to reduce the area of a sail, or stow it, and if the sail has brails they are used to do this. A sail can be furled, meaning it’s folded, called flaking in nautical terms, or crated, meaning it’s stuffed into a container. For example, a spinnaker is often packed in a bag called a turtle. A sail can also be reefed, which is often done to increase control of the boat in stormy conditions. Reefing can involve lowering and lashing the sail, wrapping it around a jib or mast, or folding it in sections.
In the process of furling or furling a sail, brail lines can be used to meet at the sides and corners of the sail before more is stowed. These sides and corners refer to specific navigation terms. The luff is the vertical edge of the sail closest to the wind; the leech is the stern, the vertical edge furthest from the wind; and the foot is the lower horizontal edge of the sail. The nautical command to use the brails to furl or reef a sail is “brail up the sails” or “hale up the brails”.
To reef or furl a sail using brail lines, one must pull on the vertical string that runs up the mast to which the brails are attached. This pulls the sail towards the mast. The vertical rope is secured and the sail can be further stowed if required.
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