There were many different variants of this type of ship, from small pleasure yachts used by individuals for short excursions to the moons of Bajor, to large freight hauling models. They all had a basic design lineage, consisting of some sort of a crew or cargo section along with some sort of sailing device attached to it. The sails came in just as many different configurations as the ships themselves. Many of the smaller vessels, as pictured above, used sails that were mounted to the side of the ship. Other larger vessels used sails that were tethered to the front of the crew compartment, which would serve to pull the vessel.

Solar sail vessels work on the principle that light itself can exert a force on matter. Because this force is so small, large, highly reflective sails had to be used. And, as logic would dictate, the larger the craft, the larger the sails would have to be. Some of the large freight ships had sails that extended for kilometers.

In addition to the solar sails, most of these vessels usually had some form of auxiliary propulsion. This usually came in the form of small chemical thrusters that were used for both reaction control and for minor maneuvering. Some models, though, relied on gyroscopic stabilizers to move about their axiis, but they also usually featured some sort of maneuvering thruster system for those times when the solar sails were unusable.

Because the speed of light is finite, the solar sail ships were limited to it as well. In fact, most solar sail ships could not be expected to go much faster than 0.001c. But, as was found out forty years ago by Captain Benjamin Sisko, one solar sail vessel was able to break the light barrier.

Sometime in the 1500's, a solar sail vessel was passing through Bajor's Denorias Belt when it encountered a tachyon eddy. The superluminal tachyons hit the solar sails with such force that it was flung into warp speed. The vessel was then able to travel great distances, untill it stopped in the Cardassian system. According to Cardassian archeological records, the solar sail ship crashlanded on Cardassia. There has been no evidece, though as to the fate of its crew.

This information would not have been uncovered, though, if Capt. Sisko had not built a sailing vessel of his own and traced that perilous flight to Cardassia. The Cardassians had always dismissed the stories and myth and legend. But, once they were faced with the fact that Capt. Sisko's tiny vessel was sitting in their space, they knew that they had no choice but to admit the truth, and they even revealed the existance of the archaological dig that uncovered the original vessel on Cardassia Prime.