Brail

{{Short description|Line used to haul in the leech of a sail}} {{for-multi|the village in Engadine, Switzerland|Zernez|the tactile alphabet|Braille|the clamp on a diving helmet|braile}} thumb|right|300px {{wiktionary}} '''Brails''', in a sailing ship, are small lines used to haul in or up the edges (leeches) or corners of sails, before furling.<ref name="webster">{{Gutenberg|no=660 |name=Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (section A & B) |bullet=none|year=1913|publisher=C. & G. Merriam Co|location=Springfield|access-date=29 January 2025}}. See entries for Brail ''n.'' and 2. ''pl. (Naut.)'', and Brail, ''v. t. (Naut.)''.</ref> On a ship rig, these brails are most often found on the mizzen sail. To haul and furl the sails, the command used in the early 18th century was ''hale up the brails'' or ''brail up the sails''.<ref name="cyclopaedia">{{cite Cyclopaedia 1728|title=Brails|url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A4C5AV6Q7LZ5DY8E/pages/AFC443OTWD3U4Z8Y|volume=1|pages=121{{ndash}}122|location=London|access-date=29 January 2025|via=University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center}}</ref>

The word '''brail''' comes from Middle English ''brayle'', from Anglo-French ''braiel'' belt, strap, brail, alteration of Old French ''braiuel'' belt, probably ultimately from Latin ''braca'' pant.

A brail net is a type of net incorporating brail lines on a small fishing net on a boat or castnet. A brail net used for casting is also referred to as an English net as opposed to a Spanish net.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5uMaBwAAQBAJ&q=brail+net&pg=PA257|title=The Florida Folklife Reader|first=Tina|last=Bucuvalas|date=18 October 2011|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|page=257|isbn=9781617031427|accessdate=2 January 2019|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==See also== *{{annotated link|Clewlines and buntlines}} *{{annotated link|Reefing}} *{{annotated link|Guy (sailing)}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Nautical terminology Category:Sailing rigs and rigging Category:Sailboat components Category:Ropework