Spritsail (square-rigged)
On large sailing ships a spritsail is a square-rigged sail carried on a yard below the bowsprit. One of the earliest depictions of a spritsail is carved on Borobudur ship carving in Borobudur temple, Indonesia.
In some languages it is known as a "blind" because it effectively blocks forward vision when set.
Spritsails were commonly used on sailing vessels from the first carracks until about 1800. Until the mid-18th century, most ships also flew a sprit-topsail from the short sprit topmast that rose vertically above the fore end of the bowsprit.
The full-rigged ships of the golden age of sail had no spritsails, as the area under the bowsprit was instead occupied by rigging that reinforced the bowsprit and jib-boom against the forces of an increasing number of jibs.
