A raffee sail is a triangular

topsail A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails. Square rig On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...

carried aboard certain sailing ships. Originally used in Ancient Rome to maneuver ships at sea, the raffee was eventually implemented as a downwind sail set below a

square-rig Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called ''yards'' and ...

ged yard to fill in areas needed for light airs. In later pilot

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

s, it was a triangular sail set above a yard from the masthead. Today a "raffee" is any square downwind sail set off the mast at a right angle.

References

Sailing rigs and rigging {{Sailing-stub