Peak halyard

File:Mainsail-edges.png

Halyards (and edges) on a gaff rigged sail

In sailing, the peak halyard (or peak for short) is a line that raises the end of a gaff further from the mast, as opposed to the throat halyard which raises the end nearer to the mast. Such rigging was normal in classic gaff-rigged schooners and in other ships with fore-and-aft rigging. It is absent in Bermuda rigged boats.

The peak halyard is either bent to the gaff itself or to a wire gunter depending upon the mode of rigging.