What kind of sail is this and what is it for?

[seamaiden]

Originally Posted by Breaking Waves

^^ the sail panels should almost certainly be horizontal, not vertical as in the way you hoisted it.

Which is the longest edge - that should probably be the front edge (tack to halyard).

Attachment 204501

Agree with Breaking Waves. If you can't find a match in Table of Sails then I'd say it is a badly, wrongly cut flying jib.

[sailorladd]

Yes, I would second guess it to be a trysail, looks pretty stout and I have one on my boat too...

[MalteseFalcon]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Trysail?

Too big for a tri-sail

[dbraymer]

My best guess: that is a Chute for a smaller boat that the previous owner had.
Ran into the same thing myself. On this boat this would have made a simple fishing sail. In light or moderate winds, one could have used it to move the vessel slowly while fishing, or in waterways where maneuverability was limited, and you wanted to go downwind slowly, and be able to douse the sail quickly.

[dbraymer]

You might wish to call this a "distress sail". We blew an oil line once and had to navigate a very small marina entry. We took down all the large sails and put up the storm sail in the cutter position. This gave us easy sail handling and full maneuverability with a top speed of about a knot and one half on a nice gentle day....