The only thing wrong with this explanation is that we weren't sitting in a bay having this great conversation over a beer... Fascinating. Cheers.

I remember my drunk asf dad give me the exact same tirade under the Golden Gate Bridge when a regatta of ketches yawls and schooners came by. He gave me the exact same definition of each regarding the rudder post and misons. Spoken like a true sailor great video

To add... a couple of other advantages with the yawl rig... It will self steer at most reaching points of sail. Takes a little practice but if you get the boat balanced well you can lock the wheel and the mizzen will self steer the boat very reliably at a set angle to the wind. Does not consume your battery power like your autopilot does. In heavy winds with the mizzen and a very small amount of jib rolled out (roller furler) you can sail very comfortably and safely to windward in 30+ knots of breeze with little stress on the rig. Off the wind in heavy wind it is easy to reach hull speed with the mizzen and a little handkerchief of a jib rolled out. Very comfortable, safe, and easier on the rig. It is a very versatile rig. Offers lots of options for different conditions.

All kidding aside, there are two significant reasons why a cruising sailor might wish to consider a yawl rig particularly or a ketch generally. The proper way to think of the mizzen sail on a yawl is as a 'balancing sail,' a sail that allows you to balance the trim of the boat at minimal expense of windage. Even though the mizzen on a yawl is very small, typically about 15% of sail area, because it is placed so far aft it has a great deal of mechanical advantage. Thus under any heading other than to windward the mizzen keeps the helm balanced so that you don't need much helm input to stay on course, very advantageous over long voyages. For a cruising sailor this can be a significant advantage because allows you to install a smaller and less expensive auto-pilot, and generally saves wear and tear on your self-steering gear especially if you are using a servo-pendulum type of self-steering gear. Also, like a cutter rig, running 'jig and jigger' [foresail and mizzen only] keeps the center-of-effort of the rig low to the deck and centered near the center-of-lateral-resistance of the hull. Jony Pearce puts it like this, "Much as we enjoy the prettiness and practical aspects of our ketch, the ability to sail ‘jib and jigger’ outweighs all other benefits. For those lazy days when we can’t be bothered with the mainsail or when the wind is higher than for comfort we love to sail with just a foresail and mizzen sail. It does away with the big heavy flappy mainsail attached to a heavy boom crashing from side to side and leaves us with a beautifully balanced sail plan that we can easily control without leaving the cockpit..." For free I'll also mention that the mizzen mast can also serve as a more convenient alternative to the mainmast for mounting things like: radar, antennas, and wind generators, and can serve as an handy crane for your dinghy.

Re Schooners , the famous Schooner Bluenose out of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Capt. Angus Walters was part owner and Captain. He said “ a schooner was the most beautiful thing ever invented by man that has a utilitarian purpose!”

Took me til about 2:18 to notice the bird. Completely caught me by surprise! Great info thanks for the video! 🤣

I own an F &C 44 ketch. It's a very useful sailing layout because I often drop the main if the wind gets up and the boat will self steer if set up and trimmed properly withe wind on or fwd of the beam.

I have a 1981 Pacific Seacraft 37 Yawl. I look forward to trying the racing sail setup you described and which I have never seen. I agree with your points about the use and value of the mizzen sail and would add the following: - Mizzen sail does actively power boat when sailing single handed with only the foresail and mizzen sail, and both are easy to handle - Mizzen mast is a great place to hang electronics, etc - When standing and active at the wheel in active waterways like NYC, the mizzen mast is nice to lean back into especially if padded - Mizzen sail expands the ability to confidently sail into a tight slip or mooring without an engine

There is always one isn't there... So here I am ;) I have a Macwester Wight, just 27 feet long. I'm told its a Ketch. But when I check the Mizzen mast, its way aft of the rudder post. So its properly a Yawl. Thanks for the definitive note that if it has the Tri-attic rigging, then it most certainly is a Ketch. I've checked and I do indeed have the Tri-attic steel rigging between both mast heads. So it definitely is a Ketch. Another 'give away' between the Yawl and Ketch is that a Yawl rig is completely independent of the main mast rigging. If it were a Ketch the back stay would be the Tri-attic stay and then down the back stays of the Mizzen. So I've checked and both masts have their own back stays - not one each, but one pair each !. So its definitely a Yawl. I rush off to find the nearest brick wall and bang my head several times against it. There, that feels better now. I think its a Yawl, All the literature on the Internet says its a Ketch rig, Oh I must add that your commentary on the necessity of 'clean air' for Cutter rigs misses the point. I'd always thought the Cutter rig was better to windward than one Jib or Genoa. The reason is the Slot Effect between the two sails, as indeed the Slot Effect is important between the Jib and Main Sail. Therefore the Cutter rig has two Slot Effect area's, that between the two fore sails, and the second between the rear most Jib and the Main Sail. The Slot further accelerates the air between the sails thus improving the low pressure side [if I remember right] of the main sail.

Very interesting; The boat I grew up with had a mast aft of the rudder post. so maybe it was a yawl instead of a ketch. It did have a boom at the stern but we did not have a name for it. It was designed to be a single handed around the world sailor. It was made of Pacific Coast gray fir in the 1930's. The deck was less that 2 feet above the waterline so there wer splash boards continuing back from the cabin to aft of the cockpit. My father the carpenter altered it later for a day sailor by removing the splash boards and doubling the size of the cockpit. A great innovation was available at that time, plastic plumbing, so he replaced the 1/2 inch copper cockpit drains with sink drains. P. S. The deck and cabin roof were painted canvas.

Loved this video, got all the information I needed. Clear, engaging and enjoyable! Cheers mate

I to love schooner's Because it's a schooner. I learned the difference between ketches and yawls from old sail magazines and books. Your the first person I've HEARD explain the difference. Thanx

Y'all did a good job 'splaining the Yawl sorry, someone had to do it...

perfect video for getting right to the topic with nice attractive relevant setting.

Thanks for an excellent piece on Ketches and Yawls. Yawls are beautiful. I sailed a ketch rigged Nautical Development 56 from Connecticut to St Lucia many years ago. We got caught in a gale northeast of Bermuda and had to heave to. We backed a reefed foresail using the roller furling (it looked like the hood on a sweatshirt when we rolled it back out!) and flew a reefed mizzen to keep her stabilized just off the wind, just the way you described for stable anchoring in a yawl. The mizzen ripped at one point. It was much easier to bring everything back under control with the mizzen boom over the deck then it would have been with a yawl. We also flew a mizzen staysail on that trip. Wow!

The classic yawl sail, regardless of its name, does contribute to boat speed a little, and mostly because it takes the strain off of the rudder, and allows the rudder to not be cutting such a wide path thru the water, thus reducing the underwater resistance of the rudder... So it reduces ‘weather helm’ .... And I have often considered fitting/ using the entire mast boom and sail from a “laser” dingy as a yawl mast and sail......

This might have been mentioned already, but an important feature of a yawl mizzen sail is that it not only keeps a boat head to wind at anchor, but also when no anchor is deployed. One can heave to with just the mizzen set, and there will just be a small drift straight downwind. Very useful for the old fishermen to do their thing with nets and catches (in fact, I always thought that was why mizzens were "invented" in the first place?). A further use is you can actually use the drift and reverse a sailboat under mizzen only. Steering is quite effective on the rudder in that mode, just that it's reversed (port = starboard and vice versa)..

On small boats like Drascombe Luggers the mizzen actually helps balance the boat and does contribute to drive in strong breezes when you are just under jib and mizzen - adds a lot of versatility for reducing sail when reefing the main isn't enough. I imagine the same might apply to some larger boats?

The reason why we have a ketch is because there are no production schooners in sizes between the Lazy Jack 32 and around 58 feet or so. I commissioned a custom schooner design from a noted designer, but he passed away before finishing the commission. (And if I ever do wind up with another schooner -- we had a small one that I built for some years -- I solemnly swear never to complain about her upwind performance. :-) )

My 31 ft ketch has both a triatic stay and another backstay on the main in case we lose the mizzen. There is a single line that comes from the top of the main, then about a 1/3 of the way down splits and goes down to chainplates on either side of the cockpit. Also the stays on the mizzen are far enough forward it will freestand without the triatic. The triatic actually controls mizzen rake more than anything.

Just discovered this brilliant channel! Really good to see correct definitions of rigs with enjoyable and clear explanations. I’ve been sailing on and off for over half a century but have only sailed a yawl (not on my own) a couple of times. We tried steering with the mizzen. Disaster! Might have been easier if the rudder had actually fallen off. Incidentally, I was told that yawl rig was developed in certain types of fishing craft, principally drifters, as it provided a steadying force whilst the mast was out of the way of the working area.

Thx for doing these Herb !! they have illuminated the grey areas for me for sure , I am a big fan of double enders

The definition Phil Bolger had for a yawl is that it has a mizzen that is intended for control reasons rather than propulsion ones. With my habit of trying to design mini ocean voyagers, I usually end up with a yawl. This is because I don't want a mast intruding into the cramped living area, which is in the middle of the boat, so I need some sort of mizzen to get decent balance. A large mizzen, such as for a ketch, would intrude into the aft end of the living space. So the yawl rig is chosen by default.

Best explanation I've seen yet. Great job!

Agreed. Yawls like the one you showed are gorgeous looking. You are very young to have such good taste in boats. It would be interesting to see a video on what the stereo-typical well designed pretty boats look like vs just functional (ugly/modern)production boats. I think there are so many newbies to sailing, they have no idea what to look for.

Thanks. I'm researching what I want to get and was interested in a Ketch. This helped me understand what it entails exactly.

I've been sailing for 62 years, and it's always been 'boomkin'. Ketch Yawl later.

Awesome guys ..... you have just made my explanation to the mrs. easier now that she has accepted sailing as part of our life . Keep up the good work fair winds always .

It was really fun to hear your description of schooner vs yawl. Here in Scandinavia there used to be schooners with two or three equally high masts. These were called eleven or one hundred and eleven schooners. These boats were gaff-rigged and somewhat jokingly called lean or oblique sailers because these boats leaned into the wind, where larger full-rigged ones sailed proudly upright in the wind.

Check out the Gulfstar 50' Ketch, I have one and there is no Triadic. I thought your explanations were great. I enjoyed the video and thought it pretty darn educational.

U r an informative & articulate genious. Prais u !!!! Now i know about yawl & ketch & benefits & detriments without question. Coincidentally in a few says im about to inspect a ketch for purchase !😂❤👏👏👍👍👍👍

I have an old ketch and I think it's the bees knees. With Miz, main, stay, job and reefing I have seven gears to choose from which means plenty of opportunity to tweek. On most points Journeyman will steer herself. My masts are heavily raked which is fun going aloft but to go up wind I was go fore and aft as this worked better than main and jib as the main is forward of where it probably would be if it was a sloop so fore and aft gives me clean air on both jib and Miz and I can point to within 5deg but not at speed but in a blow I can't point high and in control. Fore and aft are also very good with light airs because of the clean air. Bean to aft quarter is all up. The heavy rake helps here as it will spill air when hit with gusts but the brown side is she want to round up so I can loose a lot of speed with the rudder trying to act as a trim tab as I hold course. Down wind is jib and stay which slightly lifts the bow when running. Ketches were a thing because back in the day masts were timber and they could only handle so much canvass so an extra stick means shorter masts but still good sail area which made for a better sea and foul weather boat "and no winches. Journeyman has a triatic to hold the mizzen up because there is no room for a jib stay because of the boom on the main and running stays to hold it back but my main still has a backstay, and running stays so lots of strings and things.

Nice series on sail plans of boats. But as for identifying a ketch over a yawl, the fiji ketch in 40 to 50 ft range have no triatic as do most Alden designed ketches. And that is just off the top of my head. I know there are a lot more

I've got a gaff ketch, no triatic as the gaff would run foul of it. Best thing about the mizzen, is it's a pole to hang the mizzen staysail on. What a sail that is, pulls like nothing else. Will out perform the main sail. Enjoyable watch, thank you.

Wow, you really lived up to your name with this video!

One of the best channels on KZfaq! Thanks for all you do! 😎👌

Well done. I've been sailing for a while now. When I think of a fast ketch, I think of Sir Peter on his amazing SteinLager2. Extremely fast and versatile. Although it didn't have the triatic stay, they knew how to pile on the sail area. When I think yawl, I think of my US Navy days when I got to sail on a Luder's 44' yawl. Splendid video. Thanks.

I worked on finishing a superyacht which was ketch rigged with no triatic stay. Unfortunately, the boatbuilders' standard response to my "why is it like that" questions, was to mock me, so I never found out the reasoning. She's still going strong 23 years later though, so it seems to be working.

One explanation for a yawl mizzen was to counter balance a large genoa. Your explanation makes a lot of sense though.

Y'all enlightened me on yawls!

This series of videos have been the most instructional sailing videos I've seen on KZfaq. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd be able to tell the difference between Sloops, Cutters, Ketches & Yawls, etc. Thanks a bunch.

Yawl mizzen is also good for 'mounting a radar' :-)

Great video!!Thank you!Love it!

Here's a conundrum we sail Cornish Pilot Gigs two masts main and much smaller mizzen, Lug rigged the only stay is on the main and changes sides with the lug. Mizzen mast is through the cox'n s seat stern hung rudder. Not considered a yawl.

Have you ever sailed on a tall ship, the one I was on had only three masts all F/A with Squares on the foremast. We used the mizzen to help us tack by bringing the mizzen into the wind which this helps to bring the stern around. You can do this on a ketch and a yawl. I think a yawl would work better and tack fast as it has the sail out the back more watch would give it more pressure on the back of the yacht .

Dude that's crazy how much knowledge you got and understanding about this old boats ..I'm into simple and practice when it comes to boats. I'm learning this old technology I have a ketch..It's very interesting ...Can't have enough of it ..Thank you I'm learning the rigs and all..I can't otjt cuz of covid bit reading as much as I can..Thank you for the very well done clips..tc

I wish I could either remember or figure out what style my parents’ 42’ boat was. They’ve since passed. Going off photos, there is no triadic stay, so I’m going with yawl. They cruised from Virginia to Florida and then from Florida down to the Caribbean and lived off various islands for 5 years. They sailed as far as Venezuela and back. What an adventure.

I was watching Following the Boat & they prefer a Ketch for “Blue Water” sailing, especially the setup “Jib & Jigger”

Thank you Herbie!!

I think I need a "steering mizzen" for each end of my (yet to be built) pacific proa! ..that plus a small "positionable steering oar" should work much better than just a rather too large steering oar. Thanks bunches guys! Mahalo nui! :) 🤙

Schooners are beautiful one day soon I am building a 50 foot wooden schooner two dipping lug sails. If you break up your sails you can have a bigger boat and unstayed masts. I like skipjack masts the first Americas cup boat America was a schooner by the way and gorgeous. A boat with both mast the same height also qualifies as a schooner. Take a look at Micheal Kasten's design Redpath, nice boat.

Thanks for good explanations in this video😀

Super definition, and clear out all the questions.

I'm just learning this stuff and I was under the impression that ketch rigging was now preferred and was best. Now I am learning more about the different rigs (thanks to good tutorials like yours) and I am now happily confused!

Ya I agree with you, the only way to call a yawl vs a ketch is by the rudder post. Somethings time will never change the definition of.... I feel. We have a yawl, a Crealock 37, and to top it off, she's a tiller too!! :) Thanks for the vid! Peace

Thanks it yawl make sense now, ketche you next time..... Just couldn't help myself. Great video,,,

The Core Sounds are cat-ketches with no stays and no jib. They're self tacking only requiring the helm to be pulled. Beautiful modern implementation of a classic East Coast style working boat, and fast too.

The actual definition: The aft sail on a yawl is a balancing sail, the aft sail on a ketch is a driving sail that may also provides some balancing.

I guess reinstalling even a small mizzen is really expensive...sail, sheets mast, spar, stays etc. all adds up. But I do love the look of the racing yawls from 80 years ago.

Also helps with weather helm off wind. A bumpkin is from Nebraska.

Unfortunately not all ketches under 60' have a triatic stay. Until this year my Allied 36 ketch did not have a triatic. This year I rigged a dyneema triatic, but this is the first time since the boat was launched in '73 that is has had a triatic. My main has an independent split back stay, so until I rigged the triatic, I could have lost the mizzen with zero effect on the main. I have also sailed on a Hinckley 49 ketch where the spars were independently stayed (no triatic). In fact every ketch I have seen has a back stay on the main coming down to a triangle plate then split to pass the mizzen. Alternatively there are two backs. The triatic does not replace the back stay because mizzen masts seldom have a back stay. In my experience a triatic is more common on boats that sail off shore or stay in the water year round. The advantage of the triatic is that it greatly reduces pumping of the mizzen, which can be significant when beating into head seas. Here in Maine the vast majority of boats come out for the winter and the rig is taken down. In that case the triatic is much less common since properly rigging it requires that someone go up a mast to connect it = more expesive. Note: I rigged mine from a hard attachment at the top of the main, through a turning block at the top of the mizzen to an attachment point low on the mizzen. The reason to do it that way is that it can be rigged without going up a mast. The extra weight aloft is trivial since the stay dyneema. As far as sailing a split rig goes, there are several advantages to a split rig. As you mentioned, the individual sails are smaller. That is particularly true because the main is moved forward for the ketch and may also be for a yawl depending on mizzen placement. That makes the head sails smaller. The smaller head sails are often compensated for by increasing the overlap. For example, on my Allied I carry a 150% genoa. Yes that makes the boat harder to tack, but the drive is worth it. The big advantage is in heavier air where the main can be very deeply reefed or dropped and the boat can carry on under jib and mizzen. In fact, on my boat I can achieve hull speed without the main in anything over 12 knots or so. Raising the main does give some extra pointing effect (slot effect that is absent with the main down), but other than that the main is a superfluous sail in 12+ knots on my boat. The same is true to a lesser extent with a yawl. Finally, mizzen stay sails are light air sails. You don't want a big sail forward of a mizzen in heavier air because of the generally minimal back stay on most mizzens which relay on the mizzen sheet for a lot of their back staying. The only time that isn't the case is if the mizzen boom is short enough to allow a back stay, or the boat has a significant boomkin where a mizzen back stay can be attached without shortening the mizzen boom. On my ketch the mizzen boom actually overhangs the stern by about a foot so I would need about a 3+ foot boomkin to have a back stay. Yawls almost never have a back stay because the boom overhangs the stern significantly.

My Tahiti Ketch did not have a stay between the main mast and the mizzenmast. It was, however, a gaff rigged main. On the other hand, my Choey Lee Offshore 40 was a yawl. Of the two rigs, the ketch is far more practical in blue water. Drop the main and the boat balances perfectly with jib and mizzen when the weather gets snotty. But the yawl sure was pretty at the dock.

Good Lecture !!!!!

I love ketches despite having to deal with an extra sail. Also typically ketches have lower mast heights that are more compatible with going under high bridges on the ICW. I have always heard the definition sounding like bum kin.

Yawls are great. You can steer with mizzen. You have an emergency mast in case of loosing the main mast. It easy to hang a hammock. They look pretty.

Thank-you! That was a lot of fun.

I have a ketch that has two sets of stays , the main to mizzen does have the triatic backstay but also has a backstay like a sloop from the mast head and is split midway down and goes to the chain plates of the mizzen

For you, I have a Westerly Pentland ketch without a triatic stay

I have never heard the triatic stay argument before. My ketch doesn't have a triatic stay, or any other stays for that matter. It doesn't have a head sail either. The Sea Pearl 21 features an unstayed cat-ketch rig and I've never heard anyone suggest it might be a yawl! I've long thought the difference was a question of whether the mizzen sail's purpose was to provide power (ketch) or just to assist with control (yawl). In any case, a mizzen sale is a very handy device.. The cat-ketch rig is not as efficient as a rig with a head sail when going to weather, but it is much easier to handle, especially for single handing. Downwind, it can easily be sailed "wing and wing," with the main and mizzen sails on opposite sides of the boat so both are in undisturbed air.

Pronounced "Boom Kin" in New England. Great job, nice video.

Thank you immensely !!!!

Another way of looking at it is yawl = predominantly balancing sail and a ketch= predominantly driving sail.

Great info.

Sailing lore! Always a fun subject....seems I read somewhere that the Yawl rig was something designed to beat some sort of racing rule....who knows. I think the mizzen on a Ketch does more to reduce the sail size on the main that a yawl would....one man can handle 400 sq feet well enough, keeping the main under that number is a good thing. My three mast Herreshoff schooner did just that, we only had the two of us on our passages and I had no trouble single-handing on short trips. Most epic trip, one week in the Westerlies in the Gulf of Alaska.....over 8 kts going to 8.5.....very nearly made my 200mile day. -Veteran '66-68

Well done, thank you ....

Good job clearly explaining the differences... 2 thumbs up...

Thanks! I didn't know there was a new definition; although, I'd say a "small" vs "large" mizzen, leaves quite some room for ambiguity. Anyways, Cheers!

Le mât de pavillon, is what we call the mast used to hang national flag in France, if I got your question right. Nice video. I'll have a look at your channel then.

From Australia don’t know how other Aussie pronounce it but iv always called in a boom Kin

Methinks. That if the boat has a significant stern overhang, then the rudder post could be a ways forward of the transom. No need for a boomkin

Good explanation on identifying a Catch vs Yawl. However, from having sailed boats with mizzen masts, they do drastically change the handling the boat. They are useful actually.

The Ketch "Aquarius" by Royal Huisman doesn't have a triatic stay. You can find lots of footage of her on KZfaq. Oh wait, is that the "superyacht" you were referring to?

Many thanks for these videos...I'm learning masses of stuff....great.

SUPER cool ass video dude

Hi m8, just found and subscribed to your chanel 💪 your explanations are great ⚔️ I don't wanna sound smart 🤓 but,just let you know I have a Ketch" which doesn't Not" have a stay between masts, it's a Wauquiez Amphitrite 43 ⛵😍❤️ Hope u guys are well, and hope to meet some day some where 🙏 all the best m8

Thank you. Great video.

This is helpful thank you!

That bird looks like someone I knew in dental school

"Yawl the way back." Slocum rigged his Yawl to self steer, and was not believed that that was possible.

Camper and Nicholson 39 is a ketch rig with mizzenmast independent rigging...no triatic. They call it ketch and mizzen if in front of skeg hung rudder

Love your parrot buddy....

🤔 … and to think that all this time I always thought that Yawls was just what southerners called a Ketches. 🤣

Great video.

Interestingly, one of the more famous ketch's, Eilean, the 80'ish ketch designed by William Fife and made famous in the video "Rio" by Duran Duran, does not have a triatic stay in the classic definition. i.e. it does not have a stay running to the head of the mizzen. It does have one running fractionally though. It clearly is a ketch because the rudder post is aft of the mizzen. Personally I would say anybody calling a yawl a ketch or a ketch a yawl because of the size of the mizzen is just incorrect. I mean certainly there are grey areas as you point out (transom-hung rudders etc) but the definition has always been pretty clear. Not that it really matters, these names are just things we use to describe a certain type of boat in conversation. I would be impressed personally if a normal person off the street (who was not a kind of hardcore boat enthusiast) said "hey, look at that beautiful yawl" when it was really a ketch. I would think "Hey, this guy knows roughly what a yawl is! Cool!"

On the plans for my boat, a ketch; The Tristay is optional. Bruce Roberts Mauritius 43

Wow, I didn't know your boat was a former Whitbread racer, that's pretty cool. I think a discussion on safety factor could be a cool idea, not many people actually know how it relates to boat design.

Hard to tell, but I think that is a green-cheeked conure. Might be a maroon-bellied, but I didn't get a good look. I have a 30-year-old Senegal, and she likes to hang around on my shoulders, too. As the helmsman of a Privateer 26 (heavy full-keel 26-foot ketch with a 6-foot bowsprit) for the past 25 years on a lake in central TX, I LOVE ketches! Not a hero upwind, but can hold her own with her handicap. Beam or broad reach, she's a real warrior, especially with the mizzen staysail pulling hard. In higher winds, with jib-and-mizzen (which you didn't mention), she can do her best while other boats are heading for the dock. With storm jib, double-reefed main, and mizzen, we've happily sailed her in 30+ mph winds. Now that my sailing buddy is firmly into older age, we're looking for a Core Sound 17 or 15 cat ketch, hopefully with a mizzen staysail. Your mast size and rudderpost definitions are good, but a ketch has a driving sail for a mizzen, while the mizzen on a yawl is most a trim tab or riding sail.

Can you do vid about schooners? Especially smaller ones up to 45ft (my license allows me to sail up to 59ft or 18m) they look gorgeous and I'm thinking about my future retirement-boat

I wonder if you could have a cutter rig on the main, then the cheat rig on the yawl mizzen. That's a lot of sail area.

Great job!!!!