Brails, in a sailing ship, are small lines used to haul in or up the edges ( leeches) or corners of

sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may ...

s, before furling.''Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary'', 1913. On a ship rig, these brails are most often found on the mizzen sail. The command is, ''hale up the brails'', or, ''brail up the sails''. 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.

References

Nautical terminology Sailing rigs and rigging Sailboat components Ropework {{Water-transport-stub

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References