Ketch (It follows that a schooner does not have a mizzen mast.) If a vessel has two masts of approximately the same height, the rig with the larger sail forward is called a ketch, while the rig with the larger sail aft is a schooner. The American two-masted schooner is rare in Europe, where the ketch rig is preferred. In the year 1775, various ketches were utilized as warships by the Sultanate of Mysore during the rule of Hyder Ali. During the 17th and 18th centuries, ketches were commonly used as small warships, until superseded in this role by brigs during
Ketch Sir Francis Chichester's earlier "Gypsy Moth" ketches had five staysails (each of almost equal size), none of which were boomed. If a ketch has no jibs, it is called a "cat ketch" or a "periauger". On older, larger ketches the main mast may in addition carry one or more square rigged topsails. The square-rigged ketch was largely supplanted by the brig, which differs from the ketch by having a forward mast smaller (or occasionally similar in size) than the after mast, and by the hoy, which was fore-and-aft rigged. Other similar craft include the snow and the pink. Both the