Transport & space · c. 200 CE

Lateen sail

A triangular fore-and-aft sail lets ships sail closer to the wind.

The triangular lateen rig appears in the Mediterranean by the 2nd century CE and was spread widely by Arab and Byzantine sailors. Unlike square sails, it could work against contrary winds by tacking. Combined with square sails it gave the carrack and caravel their range.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 1

Sailing ships 3500 BCE

What it led to 1

Carrack 1400

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

World trade as a share of GDP since 1500 Latest: 1950-now (PWT): 57.8 % of GDP (2023) Source: Our World in Data

Transatlantic crossing time Latest: 3.5 hours (1976) Source: Wikipedia: Transatlantic crossing, duration list; Geography of Transport Systems: liner transatlantic crossing times