Schooner A schooner is a type of sailing vessel with fore - and - aft sails on two or more masts , the foremast being no taller than the rear mast ( s ) . Such vessels were first used by the Dutch in the 16th or 17th century ( but may not have been called that at the time - see etymology , below ) . Originally schooners were gaff - rig ged , but modern schooners may be Bermuda - rigged . Schooners were further developed in North America from the early 18th century , and were more widely used in the United States than in any other country . The most common type of schooners , with two - masts , were popular in trades that required speed and windward ability , such as slaving , privateer ing , and blockade running . They were also traditional fishing boat s , used for offshore fishing . In the Chesapeake Bay area several distinctive schooner types evolved , including the Baltimore clipper and the pungy . Schooners were popular on both sides of the Atlantic in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries , but in Europe they gradually gave way to the cutter . Etymology . According to the 1911 " Encyclopædia Britannica " , the first vessel called a schooner was built by builder Andrew Robinson and launched in 1713 from Gloucester , Massachusetts . Legend has it that the name was the result of a spectator exclaiming " Oh how she scoons " , " scoon " being similar to " scone " , a Scots word meaning to skip along the surface of the water . Robinson replied , " A schooner let her be . " According to Walter William Skeat , the term " schooner " comes from " scoon " , while the " sch " spelling comes from the later adoption of the Dutch spelling ( " schoener " ) . Other sources state the etymology as unknown and uncertain . Schooner sail plan . Although a schooner may have up to six masts , the typical schooner has only two , with the foremast shorter than the mainmast . There may be a small bowsprit to help balance the rig . The principal issue with a schooner sail plan is how to fill the space between the two masts most effectively . Traditional schooners were gaff rig ged , and the trapezoid shape of the foresail occupied the inter - mast space to good effect , with a useful sail area and a low centre of effort . A Bermuda rig ged schooner typically has four triangular sails : a mainsail , a mainstaysail abaft the foremast , plus a forestaysail and a jib ( or genoa ) forward of the foremast . An advantage of the staysail schooner is that it is easily handled and reefed by a small crew , as both staysails can be self - tacking . The mainstaysail will not overlap the mainsail , and so does little to prepare the wind for the mainsail , but is effective when close - hauled or when on a beam reach . Although the mainstaysail has less area than an equivalent gaff sail , a loose - footed " fisherman " may be flown above the mainstaysail to maximise drive in light airs . The fisherman ' s staysail , a four - sided fore - and - aft sail , is not strictly a staysail , but is clewed abaft the foremast . An alternatively light - air sail is a triangular mule . Some Bermuda schooners have ( instead of a mainstaysail ) a triangular boomed sail clewed to the foremast ; but although it can be self - tacking , it will be smaller in area than a mainstaysail and its use complicates the flying a fisherman . Aesthetically , it can appear less attractive than a classic staysail schooner . Multi - masted schooner sailplan . Multi - masted staysail schooners usually carried a mule above each staysail except the fore staysail . Gaff - rigged schooners generally carry a triangular fore - and - aft topsail above the gaff sail on the main topmast and sometimes also on the fore topmast ( see illustration ) , called a gaff - topsail schooner . A gaff - rigged schooner that is not set up to carry one or more gaff topsails is sometimes termed a " bare - headed " or " bald - headed " schooner . A gaff schooner may carry a square topsail atop the foremast . A schooner with no bowsprit is known as a " knockabout " schooner . A " cat - rigged " schooner not only has no bowsprit but has no headsails , and has the foremast set as far forward as possible . Schooner rationale . Sailing vessels with a single mast will typically be sloops or cutters , either with a Bermuda or gaff mainsail . There is little justification for the cost and complexity of a second mast unless the vessel is reasonably large , ( say ) above 50 feet ( 15 m ) LOA . If a vessel ' s size requires a second mast , the sail plan will usually be a schooner , ketch or yawl , all of which are fore - and - aft rigged , although the " topsail schooner " variant carries one or more square topsails on its foremast . The two - topsail schooner variant carries square topsails on both the mainmast and the foremast . The schooner may be distinguished from both the yawl and the ketch by the disposition of its masts , and thus the placement of the mainsail . On the yawl and ketch , the mainsail is flown from the forward mast , or mainmast , and the aft mast is the mizzen - mast . A two - masted schooner has the mainsail on the aft mast , and its other mast is the foremast . Compared to a single - masted vessel , all the two - masted vessels can have a lower centre of pressure in the sail plan . Although the ketch ( and to a much lesser extent , the yawl ) is more popular than the schooner in Europe , the schooner is arguably more efficient . The schooner can carry a larger sail area , because of its much larger mainsail and the effective sail ( s ) between the masts . Also , in a schooner , all the sails work together in a complementary fashion , optimising airflow and drive . By contrast , on a ketch or yawl , the mizzen sail is of marginal use , being very small and frequently blanketed by the mainsail . Multi - masted schooners . There was no set number of masts for a schooner . A small schooner has two or three masts , but they were built with as many as six ( e . g . the wooden six - masted " Wyoming " ) or seven masts to carry a larger volume of cargo . The only seven - masted ( steel hulled ) schooner , the " Thomas W . Lawson " , was built in 1902 , with a length of , the top of the tallest mast being above deck , and carrying 25 sails with of total sail area . It was manned by a crew of only sixteen . A two or three masted schooner is quite maneuverable and can be sailed by a smaller crew than some other sailing vessels . The larger multi - masted schooners were somewhat unmanageable and the rig was largely a cost - cutting measure introduced towards the end of the days of sail . Construction . Essex , Massachusetts was the most significant shipbuilding center for schooners . By the 1850s , over 50 vessels a year were being launched from 15 shipyards and Essex became recognized worldwide as North America ’ s center for fishing schooner construction . In total , Essex launched over 4 , 000 schooners , most headed for the Gloucester , Massachusetts fishing industry . Bath , Maine was another notable center , which during much of the nineteenth century had more than a dozen yards working at a time , and from 1781 to 1892 launched 1352 schooners , including the " Wyoming " . Operation . Schooners were used to carry cargo in many different environments , from ocean voyages to coastal runs and on large inland bodies of water . They were popular in North America . In their heyday , during the late 19th century more than 2 , 000 schooners carried on the Great Lakes . Three - masted " terns " were a favourite rig of Canada ' s Maritime Provinces . The scow schooner , which used a schooner rig on a flat - bottomed , blunt - ended scow hull , was popular in North America for coastal and river transport . Schooners were used in North American fishing , especially the Grand Banks fishery . Some Banks fishing schooners such as Bluenose also became famous racers . Two of the most famous racing yachts , " America " and " Atlantic " , were rigged as schooners . They were about in length .