Posted by Jon on June 13, 2001 at 11:48:52 from 199.159.244.6:
In Reply to: Re: types of bat - americanism ? posted by mike stevens on June 12, 2001 at 21:05:19:
No - Cat and sloop are types of rig. A cat boat has a single (mainsail) fore-and-aft sail on one mast. A sloop has a (fore-and-aft)mainsail and a jib. Cutters have mainsail, jib, and staysail (bowsprit is optional). Traditionally, catboats have been beamy, but this is not an absolute. Our Woodpussy (13'6" with 6' beam) was a catboat with enough room for me to fit before the mast (on deck; woodpussies are partially decked) up until I was 10 or so. The only rigs I can think of where mast position determines which rig it's called are yawls (mizzen is aft of the rudderpost) and ketches (mizzen forward of the rudderpost), and I wouldn't be surprised to see a boat with small mizzensail on a mast forward of the rudderpost called a yawl.