Yard (Spar)

A spar set across a mast to support and spread a square sail or another transverse sail arrangement.

A square sail’s head is bent or attached along the yard, whose braces rotate it horizontally and whose lifts and halyards support or raise it according to the rig. Yards may be fixed, lowered, hoisted or sent down and can be timber, metal or composite.

The spar, parrel, truss, lifts, braces, footropes and attachments carry high and changing loads. Work aloft and swinging or lowering a yard require coordinated control and exclusion from the drop and sweep zones.