Main vs Mizzen jib

[Franklin]

It sure would not sail the way you described a schooner of sailing. It sails like a ketch, so yes, in name it is a schooner but it sails more like a ketch.

 

[capta]

It sure would not sail the way you described a schooner of sailing. It sails like a ketch, so yes, in name it is a schooner but it sails more like a ketch.

Gee, have you ever sailed one? I've crossed the Atlantic on a steel equal height masted schooner, from the Balearic Islands to the Canaries, through the West Indies to Fla. It sailed just like a schooner. Do you want to know why? It was a schooner with a high aspect rig, something that wasn't around back in the day when schooners looked like YOU think they all should look! Short booms and tall rigs were all the rage, back when, even on ketches.

 

[uralite]

Correct. This is good. My only addition is that on a topsl’ schooner we did not call it golly wobbler, we referred to it as a fisherman’s topsl’ . Google schooner Adventure (old when she flew it) or the Nathaniel Bowditch also used to fly one too. If you google ketch Angelique you will see a topsl’ ketch. We sailed 65-70 foot gaff rigged schooners with 1 crewman because so many sails let less crew manage big main with multipart hauling tackles to allow for single person to manage. Much easier to use crew. American Eagles main boom was 70 feet long of solid Douglas fir, that was not a 1 man job! They sail like a witch. IMHO Upwind beating sucks on any boat, if I had the gumption I’d have a gaff rig on Catalina 30 tr

I'm sorry, but there is no MIZZEN on a schooner unless she has three or more masts. A two-masted schooner has a foremast and a main mast. The sail on the foremast is called the foresail, then the after mast is the main mast with the mainsail.
Though the replica Schooner America is of a fast design, she is far from as fast as she could be, with her bald headed rig and trailing two propellers, two struts, and shafts. Generally, the gaff schooner is fastest on a broad reach, where square foot of sail to sail, they are hard to beat. They are not especially great windward boats but ease them off a few degrees and they can hold their own over the long run.
However, as beautiful as the rig is under sail (my absolute favourite), it is a very labor intensive rig to handle. Each gaff rigged sail has two halyards and two topping lifts, and there is rarely a halyard winch to be found. That means you would need a block and tackle on the halyards, sometimes up to 5 parts on the throat and 3 on the peak. Given a 50-foot throat haul, that would give you a bit over 250 feet of throat halyard! They were excellent cargo and fishing vessels because the equal length boom and gaff of the foresail could be used in a union purchase to load or offload cargo from the hold amidships. The main could be rigged that way too if there was a hold aft.
The gaff schooner rig allows for a lot of small but useful sails to be added to her compliment of working sails, such as topsails and the oddly named gollywobbler.
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[Will Gilmore]

three masted schooner. Masts and sails all the same size. The main sits on the cabin top so was a little higher.
There are advantages and disadvantages to every rig. If high performance and simply the fastest speed under the largest range of conditions is what you want, go for a sloop. Fractional rigs are best for that fine tuning. Otherwise, sailing also includes rigging for light handed performance, bridged river and inlet navigation, shallow (thin water) sailing in wide or flat bottomed hulls, inexpensive and diy, experimentals and just plane beauty. Frankly, since I don't race, there is rarely a time when I set out on a sailboat that I can't take the time to make sure it is with beauty.

Simon, I'm impressed.

- Will (Dragonfly)