A lateen (from Latin) is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast, and running in a fore-and-aft direction.
The lateen rig is believed to have been in use for at least 2,000 years, and is probably of Arab origin. It is quite common in the Mediterranean, the upper Nile, and the northwestern parts of the Indian Ocean, where it is the standard rig for feluccas and dhows.
The European adoption of the lateen in the late Middle Ages made ships more maneuverable, thus permitting merchants to sail out of the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic Ocean; caravels typically mounted three or more lateens. However, the great size of the lateen yard makes it difficult and dangerous to handle on large ships in stormy weather, and by the 18th century the lateen was restricted to the mizzen mast, then by the beginning of the 19th century was supplanted by the driver or spanker.
However, the lateen survived as a rigging choice for mainsails of small craft where local conditions were favorable. For instance, bargelike vessels in the American maritimes north of Boston, called gundalows, carried lateen rigs throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Because the yard pivots on its point of attachment to the mast, the entire sail and yard can be swiftly dropped. This was an advantage when navigating the tidal riverways of the region, which often necessitated passage under bridges. Today, it can be seen as a simple rig for catboats and other small recreational sailing craft.
"We sailed away on a winter's day
with fate as malleable as clay
but ships are fallible I say
and the nautical, like all things fades
and I can recall our caravel
a little wicker beetle shell
with four fine masts and lateen sails
it's bearings on Cair Paravel"
- Joanna Newsom, "Bridges and Balloons"
