foresheet

• Well, we hoisted our jib, drew aft our foresheet, and were soon clear of the harbour; but we found that there was a devil of a sea running, and more wind than we bargained for; the brig came out of the harbour with a flowing sheet, and we lowered down the foresail to reef it--father and brother busy about that, while I stood at the helm, when the agent said to me, `When do you mean to make a voyage?' —  Olla Podrida
• I did not intend to deceive Captain Booden, but being anxious to work my way down to San Francisco, I had shipped as "able seaman" on the Lively Polly, though it was a long day since I had handled a foresheet or anything bigger than the little plungers which hover about Bolinas Bay, and latterly I had been ranching it at Point Reyes, so what could I know about the bar and the shoals of the harbor, I would like to know? —  Stories by American Authors (Volume 4)
• We'll draw the foresheet, and stand in now, if you please It was about dusk, for the days were now short, and the cutter was eight miles off the land. —  Snarley-yow or The Dog Fiend
• Let draw the foresheet-hands make sail. —  The Three Cutters
• We reefed the foresail and set him, and hauled aft the foresheet; the helm was hard-a-weather. —  The Junior Classics — Volume 5

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms