3193: Sailing Rigs

2026-01-13T08:45:11Z

2A02:3100:B00D:3600:8DB0:682D:2C88:AFC7:

{{comic
| number = 3193
| date = January 12, 2026
| title = Sailing Rigs
| image = sailing_rigs_2x.png
| imagesize = 508x822px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I wanted to make the world's fastest yawl, so I made the aft sail bigger, but apparently that means it's not a yawl anymore! It's a real ketch-22.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by the birds flying in my kite. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic shows the side profiles of a variety of different sailing boat/ship rigs, not all of which are real. The first six which are listed are real, as well as the tenth, but none of the others are. A {{w|Flettner rotor}} (shown in the tenth one) is a cylinder with disc end plates which is spun along its long axis, generating force at a right angle to the direction of the wind.

*Lateen: a single triangular sail.
*Bermuda rigged sloop: a front and rear triangular sail share a mast.
*Ketch: two triangular sails as above, with an additional triangular sail on a second rear mast.
*Gaff rigged sloop: front triangular sail shares mast with rear quadrilateral sail.
*Yawl: two triangular sails share front mast and a much smaller aft mast holds a small aft.
*Schooner: two triangular front sails share foreward mast with quadrilateral center sail. An aft mast supports a quadrilateral aft sail.
*Ketch-rigged gaff: The first fictional rig. Resembles a gaff, with the aft sail reduced and two triangular sails mounted above. The resulting shape resembles a vertical ketch.
*Kloop-rigged sketch: A mixture of the names of ketch and sloop, poking fun at the unfamiliar names of some rigs.
*Bunkbed rig: A gaff-rigged sloop is mounted on top of a second hull.
*Flettner rig: The rectangular outline of a cylinder with motion lines around it, indicating a {{w|Flettner rotor}}.
*Oops, all spinnakers: three masts each with a sail only attached to the top.
*Keel rig: three sales in a ketch arrangement, but mounted to the keel, which would typically put the **sails underwater**.
*Kite rig: all sails are replaced by two groups of kites, each tied to the mast with an independent line.
*Longsail rig: bermuda rigged sloop with the aft sail extending ~5 times as far back, well beyond the end of the hull.
*Deckhand obliterator: all sails replaced by an anchor that swings around the mast on a chain, similar to tetherball. Any deckhands (crew) on the deck could be knocked off or fatally hurt if the anchor passes through their space.
*Offset rig: gaff rigged sloop sails are mounted on a mast that is offset (forward) from the hull via an underwater extension of the keel.
*Mastless rig: a single sail is attached where the mast would normally be mounted, flapping around freely. This provides much less propulsion or steering.
*Unclassifiable chaos rig: includes elements of the schooner, yawl, lateen, and possibly others.

The title text is a pun on a {{w|Catch-22 (logic)|Catch-22}}, a no-win situation in which the thing needed to succeed would cause it not to succeed or not to be necessary. For instance, "the only way to qualify for a loan is to prove to the bank that you do not need a loan." Per the main panel, a ketch is similar to a yawl but has a larger aft sail, so increasing the aft sail of a yawl effectively turns the yawl into a ketch.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[The comic contains views from the side of boats, each with a different sailing rig. All boats are oriented to the left of the comic.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Sailboats]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3193: Sailing Rigs