What type of sailboats are there

They can be sloop, cutter, ketch, yawl or schooner-rigged and vary in length from feet. Larger sailboats tend to fall into the crewed superyacht category. Racing sailboats: Most offshore racers are larger boats crewed by multiple individuals while smaller racers can be single or double-handed. Racing boats are usually built lighter, have fin keels and laminate performance sails. Some people will argue that these boats are a compromise for owners who want to primarily cruise but also race. These sailboats may rely on the engine to sail in light wind conditions, especially due to their excessive weight.

They may be built of wood and have classic yawl rigs. These sailboats are often showcased in special events. Sailboats occupy multiple segments and experienced sailors learn the finer points of design and use. Then, they never see two sailboats the same way again. Skip to content. Types of Sailboats, Activities and Uses. Explore Sailboat Brands Sailboat Hull Types Sailboats ride on different hulls, which differ in the total number of hulls and their shape.

Catamarans Catamarans often nicknamed "cats" have two hulls with a deck or trampoline in between. Trimarans Trimarans have three hulls: a main hull and two amas side hulls used for stability. The aft mast is called a mizzenmast. Most ketches are gaff-rigged, so they have a spar at the top of the sail. They sometimes carry gaff topsails. They are harder to sail than sloops. Common places to spot a yawl: they are not as popular as sloops, and most yawls are vintage sailboat models. You'll find most being used as daysailers on lakes and in bays.

Dutch Barges are very traditional cargo ships for inland waters. My hometown is literally littered with a very well-known type of barge, the Skutsje. This is a Frisian design with leeboards. Skutsjes don't have a keel but use leeboards for stability instead, which are the 'swords' or boards on the side of the hull.

The clipper is one of the latest sailboat designs before steam-powered vessels took over. The cutter has a large cargo area for transporting cargo. But they also needed to be fast to compete with steam vessels. It's a large, yet surprisingly fast sailboat model, and is known for its good handling.

Common places to spot a clipper: inland waters, used as houseboats, but coastal waters as well. The Chinese Junk is an ancient type of sailboat. The word junk supposedly comes from the Chinese word 'jung', meaning 'floating house'. The junk has a large sail area. The full-length battens make sure the sails stay flat. It's one of the flattest sails around, which makes it good for downwind courses.

This also comes at a cost: the junk doesn't sail as well upwind. Most sailing dinghies are cats, but there are also larger boats with this type of sail plan. The picture above is a great example. Cat-rigged refers to the rigging, not the mast configuration or sail type. So you can have cats with a Bermuda sail called a Bermuda Cat or gaff-rigged sail called a Gaff Cat , and so on.

There are also Cat Ketches and Cat Schooners, for example. These have two masts. The important thing to know is: cats have one sail per mast and no standing rigging. A brig was a very popular type of small warship of the U. They were used in the American Revolution and other wars with the United Kingdom.

They carry guns and are relatively fast and maneuverable. They required less crew than a square-rigged ship. Square-rigged ships, or tall ships, are what we think of when we think of pirate ships.

Now, most pirate ships weren't actually tall ships, but they come from around the same period. They used to be built from wood, but more modern tall ships are nearly always steel. Tall ships have three or four masts and square sails which are square-rigged. That means they are attached to the masts with yards. We have the tall ship races every four years, where dozens of tall ships meet and race just offshore.

This is a bonus type since it is not very common anymore. As far as I know, there's only one left. The Trabaccolo is a small cargo ship used in the Adriatic Sea. It has lug sails. A lug rig is a rectangular sail, but on a long pole or yard that runs fore-and-aft. It was a popular Venetian sailboat used for trade.

The name comes from the Italian word trabacca , which means tent, referring to the sails. Most common place to spot Trabaccolo's: the Marine Museum of Cesenatico has a fully restored Trabaccolo.

So, there you have it. Now you know what to look for, and how to recognize the most common sailboat types easily. Next time you encounter a magnificent sailboat, you'll know what it's called - or where to find out quickly. There are a lot of different sail rig types and it can be difficult to remember what's what.

So I've come up with a system. The boat keel is structurally relevant since it often has to carry the weight of the vessel. In the case of sailboats, the keel is often what the entire craft rests on during transport by road or rail. Thus, keels need to have integral strength and be able to withstand a variety of forces.

Similarly, while sailing, the keel is the lowermost point of the vessel at which resistive forces act. As a result, many modifications are often made to the keel so that hydrodynamic features can be incorporated to reduce drag.

Sailboats often sit high in the water owing to their design and shape. However, for competition and performance crafts, it is essential that they try to sit as close to the surface of the water as possible without capsizing. Thus, the keel often plays the role of a central ballast, by integrating heavy iron or steel components so that the vessel draft increases.

Based on the types of keel, there are several sailing boat variants found in the market. These generally have modified keels for the purpose of improving performance and speed by integrating hydrodynamic features such as hydrofoils. The types of keels commonly associated with sailboats are as follows: full-length keel, fin keel, centreboard keel, bilge keel, bulb keel and wing keel.

As the name suggests, full-length keels have keels that extend in the form of a long fin below the main structure of the ship. The fin runs along the length of the ship and often has an integrated rudder system attached at the stern. The advantage of this type of keel is that it is easy to manufacture, with little cost in terms of development.

Also, the ballast effect is provided by the extra weight of the full-length keel. Since it can be difficult to enter certain ports or quays owing to the large draft that comes with this type of keel, manufacturers attempt to reduce fin depth and instead increase its length. Fin keels , on the other hand, run only along certain regions of the sailboat.

Located on the underside of the craft, it sticks out similar to the fin of a fish giving rise to this nomenclature. Since this type of keel must perform the same functions as the full-length keel without having a large length, the fin is deeper.

Owing to this large draft, it may be difficult to dock at certain ports due to depth restrictions. A key feature of this type of keel is that the rudder and manoeuvring systems remain independent of the fin keel, and are located at the extreme aft of the vessel. Centreboard keels are a common feature on high-performance crafts that take part in competitions.

They are not restricted to monohull structures and are often found in catamarans and trimarans. The centreboard keel employs a type of fin that is pivoted about a point on the keel of the vessel. By having a pivot, the natural flow of the vessel and surrounding water varies the depth at which the keel sits below the vessel. Similar to the fin keel, it only runs along a certain length of the vessel. However, it is distinguished by being able to vary the angle of tilt with respect to the baseline of the craft.

In some variations, the crew are able to manually change the angle of tilt, to change performance features during certain events and competitions. Another variation of the centreboard keel is the daggerboard keel , that allows the fin to completely integrate into the underside of the vessel. By providing a bay at the underside, the fin can be raised or lowered from the slot.

In this type of keel, the raised configuration allows for higher speeds and reduced resistive forces. However, when lowered into the water, the vessel gains added stability and makes up for the loss in speed by improving hydrodynamic features. Bilge keels refer to protrusions on the sides of the hull of the vessel, commonly called the bilges.

These protrusions run along the length of the vessel while tapering into the hull panels at both ends. The primary purpose of bilge keels is to improve the rolling stability of the craft. The fins stick out perpendicular to the hull and can vary in length depending on the purpose. For instance, sailboats require larger anti-roll stability, and hence have long tapering bilge keels. The bilge keels must be symmetrically placed on both the port and starboard sides, so as to ensure even hydrodynamic characters.

A bulb keel is a protrusion sticking vertically below the craft and terminating in an oblong-shaped hydrodynamic device called the bulb. The bulb acts as a 3D hydrofoil that improves stability and handling of the vessel. Due to the increased wetted surface area, there is a slight drop in the speed, but it can be made up through the superior handling capabilities. For smaller crafts, longer bulb keels are required, and as this length increases, a chance of accidental grounding of the vessel increases.

The last commonly found type of keel is the wing keel. The wing keel is similar to the bulb keel, except that instead of a bulb terminating a vertical protrusion, there are horizontal hydrofoils extending from the central shaft. The primary purpose of the wings underneath the ship is to improve handling and stability.

In addition, they slightly lift the craft above the surface of the water. As a result, the total wetted surface area remains constant and may even decrease. Thus, speed remains constant and may improve as the craft picks up velocity.