Yawl sternpost, and could usually be raised to allow the boat to be beached. Yawl A yawl is a two-masted sailing craft whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast). Compared to a similar sized ketch, a yawl's mizzen mast is set further aft and its mizzen sail is smaller. Historically, the yawl was a commercial working vessel, but today, the yawl is a fore-and-aft rigged pleasure yacht. In Europe yawls are much less common than the more popular ketch. The yawl was originally developed as a rowboat with two small masts to assist the oarsmen. (When adding a
Ketch mizzen. To assist going to windward, a ketch will usually carry at least one foresail such as a jib or genoa. Although both the single-masted Bermuda sloop and cutter have simpler rigging and are more efficient, the sails on a ketch are smaller and more easily handled, and its mainmast is shorter. A modern ketch's sails may be any type of fore-and-aft sail, in any combination, and most are Bermuda rigged. The modern ketch is popular in northern Europe and among long distance cruisers. Both the ketch and the yawl rig have proved generally to be more suitable for motorsailers