What is a Schooner?

The schooner sail-plan has two or more masts with the forward mast being shorter or the same height as the rear masts. A two-masted schooner is technically a yacht, as a sailing ship must have at least three masts. Most schooners are either gaff or schooner rigged. Alternatives include the topsail schooner with one or two square rigged topsails on the foremast, and the staysail schooner with staysails only on the foremast.

There was no set maximum number of masts for a schooner. A small schooner has two or three masts, but they were built with as many as six 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 395 ft (120 m) and carrying 25 sails with 43,000 ft² (4,000 m²) of sail. A schooner is quite maneuverable and can be sailed by a smaller crew than some other sailing vessels.

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