Popular Types of Sailboats Illustrated and Described in Detail Site Guide The Different Types of Sailboats If you’re a sailboat fanatic like me, all types of sailboats will attract your attention. Some more so than others admittedly, but all will have something about them that catches your eye. If you’re not a fanatic (not yet, that is) but just an interested observer, then the first thing you’ll notice about a sailboat will be how many masts it has and the configuration of its sails - in other words, its 'rig'. This observation alone will enable you to identify the five main types of sailboats — sloops, cutters, ketches, yawls and schooners - all of which are described here. Most sailboats will have a single hull and are known as monohulls. Other types of sailboats will have two hulls (catamarans) and three hulls (trimarans). Monohulls are featured here, but you can read about multihulls elswhere on this site. Sloops A single-masted sailboat with just two sails — a foresail (aka headsail or jib) and a mainsail — is a sloop, the purest type of sailboat.

The sloop rig can also be described as a Bermuda rig, Bermudian rig or Marconi rig. A Cat-Ketch Yawls Yawls have their origins as old-time sail fishing boats, where the small mizzen sail was trimmed to keep the vessel steady when hauling the nets. Much like a ketch, the difference being that the yawl has the mizzen mast positioned aft of the rudder post whereas the ketch has its mizzen mast ahead of the rudder post. You’ll not be surprised to learn that a yawl with a staysail is known as cutter-rigged yawl. A Yawl - mizzen mast aft of the rudder post Schooners A schooner is a two-or-more masted sailboat, in which the aft-most mast - the mainmast - is the same height or taller than the foremast. The one shown here is gaff cutter rigged, with a topsail set on the mainmast. Many sailors agree that of all the different types of sailboats, a schooner under full sail is one of the most beautiful sights afloat.

A two-masted Schooner Gaffers Gaffed-rigged sailboats, or 'gaffers', have their mainsail supported by a spar - the 'gaff' - which is hauled up mast by a separate halyard. Often these types of sailboats are rigged with a topsail, as shown here and in the gaff schooner above, which really adds some grunt in light airs. All this comes at a price of course, both in terms of material cost and weight aloft, which is why very few modern yachts are fitted with gaff rigs these days. A Gaff Cutter with topsail All artwork on this page is by Andrew Simpson Examples of the Various Types of Sailboats... What is a two masted sailing vessel called? | Reference.com What is a two masted sailing vessel called? A: Quick Answer A two-masted sailing vessel is commonly known as a ketch or a brig. The term was also used as shorthand for brigantine in the 1700s, but the ships eventually had different specifications that led to the specific use of the word "brig." Other names also include yawl and schooner.

Full Answer Brigs were two-masted ships with square sails on both masts, developed as a variant of brigantines. They had fore-and-aft boom-sails on the rear mast. These types of ships belong to a larger category of sea vessels called "tall ships". Brigs were commonly used as warships, and were favored by pirates due to their maneuverability and fast speed. They were capable of carrying 10 to 18 guns, and were used in many naval battles, such as the Battle of Lake Erie between the British and America. ketch - definition and meaning ketch Definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition n. Nautical A two-masted fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel with a mizzenmast stepped aft of a taller mainmast but forward of the rudder. from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License n. A fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with two masts, main and mizzen, the mizzen being stepped forward of the rudder post. v. Eye dialect spelling of catch.. v. To hang. from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English n.

An almost obsolete form of sailing vessel, with a mainmast and a mizzenmast, -- usually from one hundred to two hundred and fifty tons burden. n. In modern usage, a sailing vessel having two masts, with the main mast taller than the aftermost, or mizzen, mast. n. A hangman. See jack ketch. transitive v. To catch. from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia n. An obsolete or dialectal form of catch. n. A small, strongly built, twomasted vessel, usually of from 100 to 250 tons burden, but sometimes of less. n. A variant of keech. from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. n. a sailing vessel with two masts; the mizzen is forward of the rudderpost Etymologies from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition Middle English cache, from cacchen, to catch; see catch. from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License See catch from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License From Jack Ketch, a hangman of the 17th century. Examples "Yes, Madam Budd, yes; we have them sort of catches, too; but I now mean the vessel with a peculiar rig, which we call a ketch, you know." What kind of ship is that What kind of ship is that? Sailing ships are usually classed by the number of masts, sail plan, and sometimes by hull shape and armament. There are many categories of ships, too many for an exhaustive list here, but we have covered some of the most commonly encountered types. Bark A sailing ship with from three to five masts, all of them square-rigged except the after mast, which is fore-and-aft rigged. Barkentine A sailing ship with from three to five masts of which only the foremast is square-rigged, the others being fore-and-aft rigged. Brig A brig is a two masted sailing ship, square-rigged on both masts. Fast and fairly maneuverable, they were used in naval and merchant applications.

Brigantine A two-masted sailing ship, square-rigged on the foremast and having a fore-and-aft mainsail with square main topsails. Frigate A high-speed, medium-sized sailing war vessel of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Frigates usually had three masts. They were used for scouting, screening convoys or task groups, and for independent missions in locations remote from a fleet or home base. Think of them as the ocean-going equivalent of cavalry. Modern engine-powered frigates continue to play a similar role, but depend more upon missiles than guns. Galleon A large three-masted sailing ship with a square rig and usually two or more decks, used from the 15th to the 17th century (especially by Spain) as an armed merchant ship or warship. Galley From a Greek word meaning "oared ship", the galley is a warship propelled by rowers. They also were equipped with a simple set of sails for use when winds were favorable. Early galleys rammed their enemies or carried marine infantry to board and capture a ship.

Later versions carried guns, but these (except for small swivel guns) had to point fore and aft to avoid interfering with the oars. Ketch A two-masted fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel with a mizzenmast stepped aft of a taller mainmast but forward of the rudder post. Pilot boat A boat to carry harbor pilots to and from large ships entering or leaving port. It could be rowed, sailed or powered depending upon the historical era, size of harbor and the types of ships serviced. Speed and the ability to handle rough weather well are desired characteristics. Schooner From the Dutch "schoon", to move smoothly and quickly. A fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel having at least two masts, with a foremast that is usually smaller than the other masts. Schooners were usually civilian vessels, but armed schooners were popular with pirates (who usually couldn't handle or navigate larger ships)and often were used as privateers in times of war. They first appeared in the late 16th century. Scow schooner A wide, flat sailing boat with gaff-rigged sails.

Sloop (From Dutch "sloep")A single-masted fore-and-aft rigged vessel setting a mainsail and generally a single jib, or headsail (sometimes double ie: double-headsail sloop). Sloop and cutter are very similar, generally a sloop has her mast located more forward than a cutter, about a third of the distance back from the bow. The term "sloop" is also applied to a class of small warships often used for courier or patrolling purposes, and had little to do with the actual rig of the sails. Both sail and steam versions existed, the steam version being the forerunner of the corvette and the modern-day powered frigate. Ship-of-the-line A warship having at least two gun decks, armed powerfully enough to take a position in the line of battle. Replaced by battleships in the age of steam. Ships-of-the-line were classed by "rate", depending upon the number of guns carried. Yawl A two masted ship similar to the ketch, but with the mizzenmast mounted behind the rudder post.

This page last updated: October 29, 2007 Original content: Copyright © 2000 - 2007 Museum of American Heritage Trademarks are the property of their owners Types of Sailboat Riggs, your online guide to Charleston, South Carolina Types of Modern Sailboats Cutter: (a) A single-masted, fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel with two or more headsails and a mast set somewhat farther aft than that of a sloop. (b) A fast sailing vessel with one mast, rigged in most essentials like a sloop. A cutter is narrower and deeper than a sloop of the same length, and depends for stability on a deep keel, often heavily weighted with lead. CNY 44 Cutter pictured at right. Schooner: (a) A fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel having at least two masts, with a foremast that is usually smaller than the other masts. (b) Originally, a small, sharp-built vessel, with two masts and fore-and-aft rig. Sometimes it carried square topsails on one or both masts and was called a topsail schooner.

About 1840, longer vessels with three masts, fore-and-aft rigged, came into use, and since that time vessels with four masts and even with six masts, so rigged, are built. Schooners with more than two masts are designated three-masted schooners, four-masted schooners, etc. Pictured at right is a 48' Murray Peterson design built by Peter Matheson in the North of Scotland. Ironwork and running rigging by Classic Marine in the UK. Sloop: A vessel having one mast and fore-and-aft rig, consisting of a boom-and-gaff mainsail, jibs, staysail, and gaff topsail. The typical sloop has a fixed bowsprit, topmast, and standing rigging, while those of a cutter are capable of being readily shifted. The sloop usually carries a centerboard, and depends for stability upon breadth of beam rather than depth of keel. The two types have rapidly converged since 1880. One radical distinction is that a sloop may carry a centerboard. Pictured left is the 35' sloop Columbia yacht, designed by Alan Payne.

(From US Sailing) Masthead Sloop: Both the Mainsail and Jib go to the top of the mast. Fractional Sloop: The Mainsail goes to the top of the mast, but the Jib stops short of the top of the mast. Ketch: A two-masted fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel with a mizzenmast stepped aft of a taller mainmast but forward of the rudder. Pictured is the 23 meter ketch, Barbarossa, sailing in the islands of Malta. Yawl: A two-masted fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel similar to the ketch but having a smaller jigger- or mizzenmast stepped abaft the rudder. Note how much smaller and further aft the mizzenmast is compared to the ketch. Pictured at right is the classic yawl Chimera, running the Jazz Cup race from Treasure Island to Beniciain San Francisco. Chimera is a Ted Hood (former America's Cup skipper and sail maker) designed 47-foot centerboard yawl made of Corten steel in Holland by Frans Maas over 41-years ago.

(Thanks Grant!) sailing boat rigs 21-foot catboat Gaff vs. Bermudan The gaff rig and the Bermudan are the two major rigs today. Each has its advantages, but truly they operate on different planes. The racing sailor and the average yachtsman stay with the Bermudan rig, while the gaff is favoured by a few diehards and is used, of course, for character boats and replicas. The gaff rig does feature a lower centre of effort for a given sail area and so develops less heeling moment. This is partly offset by the heavier weight of the spars, but the weight of the gaff comes down as the sail is reefed. Furthermore, a quick "reef" can be achieved in a squall by dropping the peak halyard to scandalize the sail and immediately reduce the effective mainsail area by 30 to 40 percent. The gaff sail itself is slightly more effective off wind than the Bermudan as it presents a flatter area to the breeze and, in addition, the gaff can be fitted with a vang to reduce twist.

More important to the serious cruising sailor is that the gaff rig is simpler and cheaper to set up, less sensitive to bad tuning, and generally simpler to repair if something goes wrong at sea. The gaff rig hasn't had the advantage of the development that has gone into the Bermudan rig in the past 50 years. The British designer, J. Laurent Giles, showed the gaff rig the way over a half-century ago with the lovely 47-foot gaff cutter Dyarchy. Her single-spreader rig supported a tall, wooden, pole mast with an unusually large main topsail's luff rope sliding up into a groove. Despite Dyarchy's success, this did not stir interest in further development unfortunately, so the gaff rig of today is little changed from that of a century ago with the exception of synthetic sails and, possibly, aluminium tube spars. The contemporary, highly developed Bermudan rig, with its lighter spars, higher-aspect-ratio sail, inboard chainplates, close jib-sheeting angles, and so on, has much the better windward ability.

Also the development of the spinnaker and (more importantly to the cruising sailor, the asymmetrical spinnaker) has more than offset the gaff rig's advantage downwind. A major feature of the Bermudan rig, of course, is that a permanent backstay can be fitted, adding to safety and reducing the need for running backstays. For these and other reasons, such as rating handicaps and manufacturing economy, the Bermudan rig is vastly in the majority today for cruising and racing, while new gaff-rigged craft are few and far between. Still, the gaff rig finds favour with those who love traditional craft and replicas of the working sail of yesteryear. I've been fortunate to have been commissioned to design a wide range of gaff-rigged yachts, from 25-foot catboats and Bahama sloops to 70-foot schooners, and I know that our waters would be very dull indeed if the gaff rig ever vanished completely.

42-foot double-headsail sloop Efficiency In the 1960s, the Royal Ocean Racing Club of Great Britain developed a handicap rule that estimated the efficiency of the various rigs: Rig 81 In effect, the rule said that a gaff ketch rig has only 81 percent of the efficiency of a Bermudan sloop or cutter of the same sail area, but that was with other things being equal. That's not always the case, and it is obvious that a gaff ketch with a well-designed hull and a slick bottom can sail circles around a poorly designed Bermudan sloop with ratty sails and a rough bottom. Also, the cruising sailor must consider that efficiency is not necessarily handiness or safety. Safety in cruising is having sufficient windward ability to claw off a lee shore in a gale, but only if the rig can be handled by a short-handed crew. If a sloop's sails are too large for the crew to change or reef under storm conditions, then you have no safety and would be better off with a divided rig with its smaller sails and greater ease of handling.

Rigs Until the 1980s, the cat rig was limited to small character boats, usually gaff-rigged, and designed along the lines of the Cape Cod model. Now we have beamy fin keel/spade rudder Nonsuch catboats in sizes to 36 feet, spreading over 700 square feet in one huge sail. I know from racing against them that these new catboats sail well to windward, certainly much better than the old gaff-rigged cats, but how much of that is due to the rig and how much to the modern hull design is open to question. Cat rigs The cat rig is certainly suitable for coastal cruising, with an eye on the weather, but I don't consider any single-masted cat rig, not even the most modern, to be a true bluewater cruiser. Someone will cross an ocean on one, probably has already; oceans have been crossed in all manner of small craft, from rowboats to sailing canoes . . . just not with me aboard! 37-foot triple-headsail sloop Sloops and cutters The sloop rig and the cutter are almost indistinguishable today.

If the boat sets only a single headsail, she is a sloop, of course. With or without a bowsprit, if the mast is set well aft, abaft 40 percent of the waterline length, and the boat carries two or more headsails, she is a cutter. Confusion arises when a boat has her mast located forward but sets several headsails. Many will call her a cutter but she is, in reality, a double-headsail sloop. Even with a short bowsprit she'll be a sloop unless the foretriangle is larger than the mainsail. The sloop and cutter are the most efficient of all rigs. Indeed, a sloop with a self-tending jib would be as easy to handle as a catboat and a better all-round performer. The single-headsail sloop usually has a slight edge over the double-headsail rigs, as the staysail is not an easy sail to trim for maximum performance. Properly set up, either rig is simple to handle, and with modern (and very expensive) gear they are suited to cruising yachts up to 50 feet or more.

46-foot cutter without a bowsprit 38-foot cutter An important point with cutters and most double-headsail rigs is that running backstays are required to properly tension the staysail stay. Often, you'll find an intermediate shroud fitted, running from the point where the staysail stay intersects the mast to a chainplate just abaft the aft lower shroud. The angle this shroud presents with the mast is far too small to tension the staysail stay, so all it really does is add undesirable mast compression. On many designs I have fitted a heavy tackle to the lower end of the intermediate shroud so it can be left set up as an intermediate in light air and, when it breezes up, brought aft as a runner, properly tensioning the staysail stay and reducing mast panting at the same time. Don't cross an ocean without one! It should be noted that the most efficient setup for a given sail area is a sloop with a large mainsail and a non-overlapping jib. The big 150-percent masthead genoa jib beloved of modern racers only pays off under handicap rules that do not penalize the extra area of the overlap.

In class racing where every square foot of sail area is counted, such as the 5.5-Meter class, the rigs quickly settle down to using the largest permissible main and the smallest jib to make up the allowed area. Such a rig can make good sense for the coastal cruiser also, as it simplifies handling. The main can be quickly reefed when it blows, eliminating the need for a headsail change. Tacking with the smaller jib is much easier on a husband/wife crew than handling a whopping big genoa. Such rigs were once common but are now out of style in this era of masthead sloops. 52-foot yawl 44-foot ketch with a small mizzen Yawls Despite the efficiency of the single-masted rigs, my own preference for bluewater cruisers over 40 feet is a divided rig, the yawl or ketch. A true yawl has the mizzen set abaft the rudderpost and the sail area about 10 to 15 percent of the total. It's a useful rig wit h some of the advantages of both the sloop and ketch.

It is almost as weatherly as a sloop and, like the ketch, can set an easily handled mizzen staysail to increase area in light air or jog along under jib and mizzen in a blow. At anchor, if you leave the mizzen set with a reef or two, the boat points quietly into the wind and no longer sails around its mooring. The yawl's mizzen must be strongly stayed so the sail can be set to balance the jib in heavy weather and, in a real gale, to keep the yacht head-to-wind with a sea anchor off the bow. It's difficult to design a yawl today, though, as the rudders on contemporary yachts are usually so far aft that you'd have to tow the mizzen in a dinghy for it to be abaft the rudderpost. Ketches Double-headsail ketch with a bowsprit The ketch has her mizzen forward of the rudderpost, and the sail area is comparatively larger than that of the yawl's mizzen, up to 20 percent or more of the total.

As a result, the ketch is slower and not as weatherly as the yawl because the large mizzen is partially back winded by the main when beating to windward. The answer is to design ketch rigs with a smaller mizzen, closer to yawl proportions. This makes a good compromise rig with some of the advantages of both. The mizzen mast can be well stayed, and the mizzen sail is not so large that it unduly affects performance. Both the ketch and yawl can be balanced under a wide variety of reduced sail combinations in a blow and, to many cruising skippers, this handiness more than offsets the loss of a fraction of a knot to windward. Both rigs can be built in smaller sizes, of course. I've owned a 22-foot ketch and 22-foot, 25-foot, and 30-foot yawls. Still, it is generally considered that over 40 feet is the proper size for the rigs, although I would not dismiss them in smaller sizes for extended bluewater cruising. The versatility and handiness of yawls and ketches can more than make up for an extra day or two at sea on a long voyage.

By the way, there is no such rig as a "cutter-ketch" but I've heard a Whitby 42 called that when one is fitted with a bowsprit and double headsails. The term makes about as much sense as calling a Maine Friendship a "cutter-sloop." The correct term is simply a ketch or, if you wish to be exact, a double-headsail ketch. Schooners The schooner rig is rarely seen today and, to my knowledge, there have been only two schooners in production in North America, the beautiful Cherubini 44 and my own little 32-foot Lazyjack (see January 2001 issue of Good Old Boat). The usual schooner is set up with one or more headsails, followed by a gaff foresail set on the foremast and either a gaff or Bermudan mainsail on the mainmast. The staysail schooner replaces the foresail with a staysail between the masts. Nina, a famous old staysail schooner, was winning silver from her first trans-Atlantic race in 1928 to her last Bermuda win in the late 1960s.

70-foot gaff topsail schooner A few schooners have been built with Bermudan sails on both masts. My Ingenue design was a CCA rule-beater of this type, winning a lot of silver in her day and beating many larger yachts boat-for-boat when the wind was free. Still, although the schooner is fast off the wind, she is not as weatherly as the sloop or yawl. A schooner can be a handy rig for cruising, though. A well-designed schooner can beat slowly to windward in a blow with only her foresail set and is well suited to handling in adverse weather by a short-handed cruising crew. Schooners have been built as small as 20 to 22 feet, and Murray Peterson designed many traditional beauties in the 30-foot range. The rig is best suited to larger craft, generally of 40 feet or more, but if you like the rig and want a small schooner, go for it. When I started in this business more than 40 years ago, the waters were dotted with schooners, ketches, yawls, cutters, and sloops of all types, sizes, and colours.

Today, unfortunately, rating rules and the economics of modern mass production have decreed that the sloop rig is the way to go. Over the years, the factories have turned them out by the thousands, usually with blue trim or, like the bathtub in my home, all white with no trim at all. As sailors, we have lost much of our heritage, and our waters are a great deal less interesting as a result. Is The Ketch Sailboat the Best Type of Sailboat for Offshore Cruising? Does A Ketch Sailboat Make A Good Cruising Boat? It's easy to confuse a ketch sailboat with a yawl so perhaps we should clear that up before we go any further. Both are two-masted rigs with a mainmast foremost and a smaller mizzen mast aft. It's generally accepted that the difference between the two types comes down to the location of the mast in relation to the rudder post. In a yawl the mizzen is aft of the rudder post and in the ketch, it's forward. But the real difference is one of purpose.

The mizzen on a yawl is intended to help trim the boat, in capable hands giving them the ability to follow a compass course despite minor wind shifts. This was a very handy feature in the days when commercial fishing was done under sail, but these days efficient autopilots and navigation aids have made this less important and the yawl has generally fallen out of favour. Ketch - Mizzen mast ahead of the rudder post Yawl - Mizzen mast aft of the rudder post The Mizzen Sail on a yawl or Ketch Sailboat The mizzen sail of a ketch is larger than that of a yawl and is there to add drive. And so it does - off the wind. On the wind though, the mizzen is likely to add nothing but drag, being back-winded most of the time by the mainsail. In these conditions the mizzen sail may as well be dropped, at which point the ketch becomes in effect an under-canvassed sloop.

An Allied Princess 36 Ketch makes good progress to windward The Mizzen Staysail Well off the wind, this Fisher 34 motorsailer combines a cruising chute with a mizzen staysail Off the wind a ketch is at its most efficient, particularly so if cutter rigged and with a mizzen staysail set. That's the sail set between the head of the mizzen mast and the foot of the main mast, as on the Fisher 34 shown here. But all the additional hardware - mizzen mast, sails, winches, standing and running rigging - comes with a considerable cost burden. But there are benefits to be had from a split rig of a ketch:~ First, they offer greater flexibility for sail reduction, allowing a jib and mizzen configuration in strong winds; secondly, at anchor where with the mizzen set as a steadying sail, the boat will lay comfortably head-to-wind.

This Amel 54 cutter-rigged ketch sports a triatic backstay between the main and mizzen masts The Staysail (Cutter Rigged) Ketch Although you'll see many ketch sailboats with a triatic backstay tensioned between the two mastheads, each mast should be stayed individually. Whilst this stay is ideally placed to act as an insulated SSB radio aerial, in the event of the loss of one mast it's almost guaranteed to result in the loss of the other. A staysail ketch like the Amel 54 shown above will carry the following suit of working sails:~ jib; mizzen staysail; mizzen; A cruising sloop of a similar size has only two sails to make up the same sail area, which would be considerably more difficult for a short-handed crew to handle. So in answer to the original question, although they're not the best choice for windward sailing, the ketch can make an ideal cruising sailboat. Lastly, the mizzen mast on a ketch sailboat provides an ideal place to mount your radar scanner and wind generator.

And as one old sea-dog once told me, a convenient thing to lean against when you're smoking your pipe. A Few Examples of Ketch Rigged Cruising Boats Sails, Masts, and Rigging - The Shipyard - Pyracy Pub The Shipyard Not recommended on shared computers Sign In · Report post As a pirate, I find myself to be somewhat underqualified. My sole sailing experience was in the summer of 1980. I was attending Tech School at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi. One of my fellow students owned an 18-foot fiberglass sailboat. In the afternoons and on weekends, weather permitting, we would sail the back bay and he taught me and several others the basics of sailing. This was all good fun, but a year later, a friend introduced me to the Horatio Hornblower series of books. Reading these novels, I learned there were such things as mainmasts, foremasts, mizzenmasts, sprits, and possibly many more bits of lumber from which one might spread sail. The boat I learned to sail didn't have a mainmast, just the only mast.

There were no stuns'ls, topgallants, etc., but just a lowly mainsail and jib. My request is this: Explain what the different masts and sails were, and where were they typically located. I'm sure they didn't hang all the canvas out at all times, so just how did they coordinate all that "laundry" and when was it used? Thanks in advance for what I'm sure will be an interesting discussion. -- Cap'n Bob P.S.: If anyone thinks of a related question I should'a asked, go ahead and answer it anyway. Share this post Interests:Nautical history of the 16-18th centuries and living history based thereon. Shooting pirates. · Report post Blimey Bob! That's a pretty tall order! OK, I'm gonna go for the basics, let someone else fill in the gaps. On a three masted vessel, from bow to stern the masts are fore, main, and mizzen. On a four masted vessel the bonaventure mizzen mast sits astern of the mizzen. On a two masted vessel the main mast is whichever is the tallest.

On a schooner for example the main mast is the aftermost, so a schooner has a main- and fore-mast. A ketch on the other hand has a main- and a mizzen mast. The spar which sticks out the bow of the vessel is the bowsprit. Schooner Ketch There are various different types of sail which fall broadly into two categories: Square sails, and "fore and aft" sails. Within the latter category there are several types - lug, sprit, gaff, lateen etc. Since we're talking GAoP I'm going to confine my descriptions to a square rigged vessel of that period. In the GAoP most "ships"* were three masted vessel, square rigged on the fore- and main-masts, lateen (a kind of triangular fore-and-aft sail) rigged on the mizzen, and with a square sail on the bowsprit. On the fore- and main-masts there were usually 2 or 3 sails, depending on the size of the vessel: from the deck up these were the course, topsail, and topgallant.

The sails were also distinguished by the mast they were on, thus the bottom sail on the fore-mast was the "fore-course", the second sail up on the main was the "main-top" etc. Usually only one lateen sail was carried on the mizzen, but larger ships sometimes also carried a square mizzen-topsail. Studding sails (or Stuns'ls) are those additional sails which are added onto the sides of square sails, suspended from "stuns'l yards" which are extensions of the yards. Bunt sails are extensions which are laced onto the bottom edge of a square sail to give it more area. Studding sails were just coming in during the GAoP, but were not widespread until after it. There, that's a start. *Technically most "ships" of the GAoP were what should technically now be termed "barques", but such nomenclature was not standardised during the era and they were usually described by contemporaries as "ships".

The idea of each distinct rig having a distinct name came about long after the GAoP, and during the earlier periods names given to vessels reflected more the use they were put to than the rig they carried Share this post Iron Age Hero Lost at Sea Member That should keep you busy for awhile. Share this post Gender:Male Location:Juneau, AK Interests:Nautical history, sailing (especially tall ships and my own 'Sanctioned Mistress'), shooting (of all eras and calibers), and homebrewing. I'll point you to this site. The picture at the top gives all the names of the common sails on a square rigger. One thing to note, in the GAoP, ships didn't have the split tops'ls. That is to say, instead of an upper tops'l and lower tops'l, there was just a tops'l, as in the picture below. Coastie Here's a little introductory guide I wrote some time ago to spars, sails and lines in the Golden Age of piracy. 1. SPARS Spars are the main timbers supported by the hull. As a rule, they are straight and round. They are mostly used to hold the sails up and hold each other up.

There are many kinds of spars. I do not know if spars were usually made of the same type of wood as hulls; hulls were usually made of oak in the Royal Navy, and of cedar for civilian ships. 1A. MASTS Masts are thick vertical spars. Every sailing ship must have at least one mast. Masts either stand on other masts or are fitted through holes in the decks into a supporting hole on the lower deck called a "step." The tallest mast on the ship is called the mainmast. On a two-masted vessel, the shorter mast is called the foremast if it is forward of the mainmast, or the mizzenmast if it is behind the mainmast. On a three-masted vessel, the mainmast is always in the center, with the foremast in front and the mizzenmast behind. On a four-masted vessel, the front mast is the foremast, the second mast is the mainmast, the third mast is the mizzenmast, and the rearmost mast is called either the bonaventure mizzen (on galleons and other old-style ships) or the jigger mast, in more modern ships.

Stepped masts usually stay where they are as long as the ship lasts; the other masts can be taken off and stored while the ship is harbor, which is called "striking" the mast." 1A(i). Topmasts. Topmasts sit on top of a stepped mast. A topmast sitting on the mainmast is called the maintopmast; a topmast sitting on the foremast is called the foretopmast, and so on. Most ships have at least one topmast . 1A(ii). Topgallant masts. Topgallant masts sit on top of topmasts. A topgallant mast sitting on the maintopmast is called the main topgallant mast, with other topgallant masts named in the same way. Many ships do not have topgallant masts. 1A(iii). Royal masts. Royal masts sit on top of topgallant masts. During the Golden Age of piracy, only a very few of the largest warships carried royal masts. Masts higher than the royal mast existed, but not until after the end of the Golden Age of piracy. 1A(iv). Spritsail topmast.

This was a special mast that sat on a platform at the tip of the bowsprit (see below). Spritsail topmasts were usually much shorter than the other masts. The spritsail topmast existed for only a brief time during the 17th and 18th centuries, but they were around during most of the Golden Age. Though they were common during that time, not all ships had them. 1B. YARDS. Yards are horizontal spars that are attached at their center point to the masts by fittings called "parrels." They are used to hang square sails from. Yards can be turned on the ship's vertical axis through a limited arc. Yards can also be raised and lowered on the mast through a limited range. Usually there is only one yard per mast. Yards are named according to which mast they are attached to: the yard on the main mast is the main yard, the yard on the foretopgallant mast is the foretopgallant yard, etc. The tip of a yard is called a yardarm. Some ships had extendable yardarms on which studdingsails (see below) could be set. 1B(i). Spritsail yard.

This is a special yard that is fitted on the underside of the bowsprit. Very common in the 17th century, gradually disappeared during the 18th. 1C. BOOM. This is a horizontal spar attached by one end to a hinge at the back of a mast, while the other end swings freely back and forth. It is used to hold the foot of a fore-and-aft sail. Since booms can swing freely, they tend to bop people on the head unexpectedly, with sometimes lethal results. 1D. GAFF. This is a spar much like a boom, except that is set higher on the mast and is used to hang a fore-and-aft sail from. The gaff must have a boom below it to hold the foot of the sail. But not all booms have gaffs; no gaff is needed if the fore-and-aft sail sail is triangular. While booms are almost always horizontal, gaffs may be angled upward from the mast. 1E. BOWSPRIT. There is only one bowsprit on any ship. The bowsprit is a thick, sturdy spar that protrudes forward and upward from the bow.

It is there so that stays (see below) can be tied to it. (It is not used as a battering ram, at least not on purpose). 1F. JIBBOOM. This is a spar lashed to the end of the bowsprit, parallel to the bowsprit and extending well beyond the end of the bowsprit. Its purpose is to hold the foot of a jib, particularly for a ship that has two or more jibs. Because it does not have to support stays that hold up masts, the jibboom does not have to be as thick or sturdy as the bowsprit. 1G. CATHEADS. Rhymes with "flat head," not with "math ed." These are short, thick spars that support the anchor when weighing or dropping anchor. There are usually two catheads, mounted near the bow where they protrude forward and outward. 2. SAILS Sails in the Golden Age of piracy were usually made of white canvas. Sails in the front part of the ship are caled headsails; while those in the back part of the ship are called aftersails. Sails come in two major types: square sails and fore-and-aft sails. 2A. SQUARE SAILS.

Square sails are misnamed, for they almost never square. They are typically trapezoids, wider at the base than the upper edge and often, but not always, wider than they are tall. By definition, however, a square sail must be four-sided. It also must be mounted roughly athwartships on a yard. As a rule, square sails are more powerful than fore-and-aft sails with the wind behind the ship, but are less effective than fore-and-aft sails when sailing upwind. The bottom edge of a square sail is called the foot, while the top edge is called the head. The side edges of the square sails are called leeches. The two bottom corners are called clews . 2A(i). Courses. Square sails mounted on the lower, stepped masts are called courses or simply sails. Thus, the square sail hanging from the main yard is called the main course or the mainsail, while the square sail hanging from the fore yard is the foresail or fore course. The courses are thicker, heavier, and often larger than the sails mounted on the masts above them. Unlike other square sails, courses are "loose-footed," i.e.

the bottom edge is not attached to a yard or other spar 2A(ii). Topsails. Square sails mounted on the topmasts. Named according to the position of the topmast; i.e. main topsail, fore topsail, etc. Pronounced "tops'ls" by seamen. 2A(iii). Topgallants. Square sails mounted on the topgallant masts. They are also called topgallant sails or "t'gans'ls" by especially salty seamen. 2A(iv). Royals. Square sails mounted on the royal masts. These were normall used only in light winds. They are called main royals, mizzen royals, or fore royals according to which royal mast they are mounted on. 2A(v). Bonnets. Wide, short square sails that could be "laced on" to the foot of a course sail to provide extra sailing power. Usually used in light winds. Bonnets began to disappear in the 1700s as they were replaced by studdingsails. (Foxe refers to these as bunt sails, a term I have not encountered in the Golden Age.

The 1707 Sea-Man's Vade Mecum calls them bonnets). 2A(vi). Studdingsails. These square sails are mounted next to the courses, topsails, topgallants, or royals, on the same yard, to provide extra sailing power. Usually used in light winds. Pronounced "stuns'ls" by seamen. 2A(vii). Spritsail. A square sail mounted on the spritsail yard on the bottom side of the bowsprit. In "The Great Age of Sail," E.W. Petrejus calls it "the dreaded spritsail, so difficult to handle that it was responsible for the death of many a sailor." 2A(viii). Spritsail topsail. This was the name for any sail mounted on the spritsail topmast or its yars (see above). It was not always a square sail; some ships called polacres mounted a triangular lateen sail here. The foot of a square spritsail topsail was normally tied to the spritsail yard below and behind. 2B. FORE-AND-AFT SAILS.

The fundamental difference between a fore-and-aft sail and a square sail is that a square sail is designed to take the wind from only one side; if it takes the wind from the wrong side, it will be ineffective at best, or at worst drive the ship backward and possibly damage itself or its mast. But fore and aft sails are designed to take the wind from either side. Although the name "fore-and-aft" implies that the sails are parallel to the ship keel, most can be set at a considerable angle to the keel when desired. Most fore-and-aft sails are triangular, but some are four-sided. 2B(i): Jibs. Jibs are triangular sails hung from jib halyards that run from the foremast or foretopmast to the bowsprit or jibboom. It is possible to mount two or three jibs on the same bowsprit and/or jibboom. If there are multiple jibs they are called, from aft to fore: the inner jib, the outer jib, and the flying jib. 2B(ii): Staysails.

These are are triangular sails that hang from the stays that run diagonally from the masts to the bowsprit, or from the masts to other masts. They are very little different from jibs. Special "storm staysails," thick and tough, could be used in heavy weather when other sails had to be furled. 2B(iii): Gaff sail. This is a four-sided fore-and-aft sail supported by a boom and a gaff (see above). If it is the rear-most sail on the ship, it is called the spanker. 2B(iv): Lateen sail. This is a triangular fore-and-aft sail hung from a special fore-and-aft yard that slopes diagonally instead of being horizontal like most yards. A very old sail that was used by Columbus, it hung around well into the 17th century, usually mounted on the mizzenmast, or on the bonaventure mizzen of a galleon. 3. LINES Lines are what sailors call ropes. They come in two flavors: standing rigging and running rigging. Today, standing rigging is usually made of metal wire while running rigging is made of nylon rope.

In the Golden Age, both standing and running rigging were made chiefly of rope (made of manila in the 19th century, although I don't know if this was used yet during the Golden Age), though some small portions of the standing rigging might be made from iron chain. All lines would be heavily smeared with tar to weatherproof them; unfortunately, this also made them very flammable. I am not discussing mooring lines or anchor lines. 3A. STANDING RIGGING Standing rigging consists of all the lines that just stand there and don't have to move around. Its purpose is to SUPPORT things, unlike running rigging whose purpose is to CONTROL things. 3A(i): Shrouds. When a landlubber says, "the rigging," the shrouds and ratlines are what he usually means. The shrouds run from each side of the mast down to the side of the ship, spreading out slightly as they descend. Each mast is supported on each side by several shrouds. In the case of shrouds above the stepped masts, they run not to the side of the ship but to "spreaders" or "crosstrees" mounted on top of the mast below.

They keep the masts from falling over to either side. Shrouds can be tightened or loosened by the deadeyes, which are three-eyed blocks that connect the shrouds to the side of the ship. Shrouds are named for the mast they are attached to and the side of the ship they are on: the port main shrouds run from the port side of the ship up to the port side of the mainmast; the starboard foretopmast shrouds run from the starboard side of the foretopmast down to the spreaders or crosstrees on top of the foremast. Likewise there are mizzen shrouds, main topgallant shrouds, and so on. 3A(i)-a: Futtock shrouds. These are very short shrouds that run from the crosstrees or spreaders down to the mast a few feet below. They meet the mast at a point just above where the regular shrouds are attached. Real sailors climb from the shrouds to the futtock shrouds to get onto the top of the mast. Lubbers climb through the "lubber hole" cut into the floor of the top.

3A(ii): Ratlines. Ratlines are horizontal lines that connect the shrouds together, forming a ladder for sailors to climb. Since they only have to support the weight of the sailors, they are much thinner than the shrouds. Seamen pronounce these as "rat-linns." 3A(iii): Stays. These lines keep the masts from falling over forward or backward. Each mast is typically supported by one stay, which runs forward, and two backstays, which run aft. The thickest and sturdiest stay holds up the mainmast and is called the mainstay, a word that is now part even of lubbers' language. The forestay, foretopstay and sometimes the foretopgallant stay are secured to the bowsprit, although the fore topgallant stay might be secured to the crosstrees instead. The mainstay, mizzenstay, main backstays and mizzenbackstays are most often secured to the deck below. Other stays, like the maintopstay, maintopgallantstay, mizzentopstay, maintop backstays, and so on, are secured to the mast in front or behind.

That is, the maintopstay is secured to the foremast, while the mizzentopstay is secured to the mainmast. Stays were not intended for sailors to climb on, but some sailors climb on them anyway, particularly when they want to get from one mast to another or get down quickly. (Sometimes they get down more quickly than they intended). 3A(iv): Bobstays. There are usually two bobstays, which run from the bowsprit aft to the bow. They keep the bowsprit stable. "Martingale stays" are essentially the same, except that they spread out to either side of the bow, while the bobstays usually run straight back to the stem of the ship. 3A(v): Footropes. These lines run along and below the yards, about three feet down. They provide sailors a place to stand on while furling, reefing, or otherwise messing with the sails. Footropes did not actually come along until the mid-17th century; pirates in Drake's or Hawkins' era had to straddle the yards while working on the sails. 3A(vi): Robands.

These short lines are used to tie (or "bend" as seamen say) the sails to their spars. 3A(vii): Wooldings. These lines are tied tightly around the masts, either to strengthen a sprung or cracked mast, or to hold in place a fish (piece of wood) that strengthens the spar. They gave their name to the buccaneers' practice of "woolding," which meant to tie a knotted line tautly around a prisoner's head and tighten it until his eyes burst out. 3A(viii): Catharpings. These lines connect the portside shrouds to the starboard side shrouds. This serves two purposes: making the shrouds tauter, and making them narrower so the yards can swing further to the side before they hit the shrouds. Catharpings are not often seen today, I don't know how often they were used in the Golden Age of piracy. 3B: RUNNING RIGGING. Running rigging consists of lines that the sailors must pull, coil, knot, untie, belay, and otherwise mess with to run the ship. Again, standing rigging SUPPORTS things, running rigging CONTROLS things.

When they are not being used, the working ends of many running rigging lines (many braces, sheets, tacks, halyards, and topping lifts, for instance) are kept tied to belaying pins on pinrails along the edge of the deck. Running rigging tends to be run (or "rove") through various pulleys called "blocks," without which the sailors could not work the lines. I have left out the blocks from these descriptions, because even if I understood them, they would unnecessarily complicate an already complex matter. 3B(i): Braces. These are connected to the ends of the yards and are used to turn the yards and their sails to port or starboard. Every yard has two braces, one on each side. They are named for the sail they control, rather than the yard they control: i.e. the brace attached to the port mainyard arm is the port main brace, not the port mainyard brace. To "splice a main brace" was a difficult job which traditionally was rewarded by an extra rum ration, so that splicing the main brace is today a landsman's phrase for getting drunk. 3B(ii): Sheets.

These are connected to the clews of the courses and run aft; if they are not tight, the sails will simply flap like laundry in the breeze. Jibs also have sheets, connected to the free-hanging corner ("clew") of the sail. As the jib sheet is hauled to the port side, the jib will take the wind on its starboard side; if the jib sheet is hauled to the starboard side, the jib will take the wind on its port side. Sheets are an eternal source of confusion to lubbers, who naturally assume that they are sails rather than lines. 3B(iii): Tacks. Tacks are connected to the clews of the courses, just like sheets, but they run forward instead of aft. They help pull the foot of the sail around when the yards are being turned from one side to another. Since the process of zig-zagging to windward requires the yards to be turned from one side to another frequently, the tacks have given their name to the process of "tacking." 3B(iv): Halyards. Also spelled "halliards." Their name is also their purpose: to haul the yards.

Unlike braces, halyards are used to hoist the yards up or lower them down on the masts. This is most often done in harbor, not at sea. The lines that haul up the head of a jib or staysail are also called halyards. 3B(v): Brails. These lines run from the yard down over the surface of the square sail to the foot of the sails. I3B(vi): 3B(vi): Gaskets. These are short lines that can be tied around a furled sail to bind it to the yard. 3B(vii): Reef lines. These lines occupy a lot of sailors' time. Horizontal rows of reef lines are punched through the sail, each one a short line that hangs out about two feet on each side of the sail. When shortening sail, the topmen pull the sail partway up, folding it like a pleated skirt as they pull it up, until the row of reef lines is right under the yard. Then they pull the ends of the reef lines around each side of the yard and tie them to each other with (what else?) a reef knot. (The reef knot is known as a square knot to Boy Scouts and other lubbers).

3B(viii): Downhauls. These are connected to the upper corner or "head" of a triangular sail like a jib or staysail. The downhaul is used to haul the sail down by its head when you want to stow it. 3B(ix): Lifts. These lines run from the yardarms slightly upward to the masts, and keep the yards at right angles to the masts when the wind is trying to force the yardarm downwards. Share this post I love it. A lot of the "pirates" I know firstly don't know a thing about boats and secondly, don't seem to care... I love that you're willing to ask, and that so many of you know! I'm going to be working on rigging a boat soon... I don't know much of the logistics. But by the time I'm done... We're also going to need to make all the sails.

Two books I would reccomend are John Leathers Gaff Rig Handbook (Can't give you the ISBN as the book is currently sitting in the bathroom at our rigging shop and I'm home sick) and Brion Toss's "The Riggers Apprentice" ISBN 0-87742-165-X. Also for logistical questions I reccomend Briot's website and his forum ( ) though beware - the forum has recently ended up on some spam lists and is constantly bombarded with viagra ads and the like though members on the forum list are not getting the same stuff in their personal mail. Sailcut ( ) is a free sail design software which includes gaff sails. That will get you started if you are doing it on your own though for a boat that size I would reccomend going to a real sail loft. Share this post

Question: How many masts does the vessel known as a Ketch have?
Answer: TWO