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 than the Bermuda rig. In strong winds a ketch's mainsail can be dropped altogether (rather being reefed), thereby reducing sail and leaving a balanced sail-plan with just jib and mizzen set. When sailing with just mizzen and jib set, there is no excessive lee helm, and some claim that the additional sail allows a better balance; and in an emergency the ketch may be steered without use of the rudder. When running before the wind or reaching across the wind, a ketch may set extra sails such as a spinnaker or mizzen staysail on the mizzen mast, as well as