From workboat to cruiser
The ketch began as a working rig, used for cargo and other utility tasks, and that earlier history is a separate story. Its modern reputation is different. Since roughly the middle of the twentieth century, the ketch has been strongly associated with private cruising, especially long passages and voyages around the world. This article follows that later phase.
A ketch has two masts. The taller mainmast stands forward, and a shorter mizzenmast stands behind it, forward of the rudder post. The mizzen is bigger, relatively, than the one on a yawl, which is the usual way to tell the two rigs apart.
Why the rig appealed to offshore sailors
Cruising sailors have always been interested in dividing their sail plan into smaller pieces. A ketch splits its area between a mainsail, a mizzen, and one or more headsails. The arguments usually offered for this are practical, and are partly a matter of opinion.
- Smaller sails. Each sail is lower and lighter than a single large mainsail on a boat of the same size. For a small crew, perhaps just a couple or a single sailor, this can make sail handling less physically demanding.
- Many combinations. In rising wind, a crew can drop the mainsail and keep the mizzen and a small headsail, giving a balanced and moderate rig. Some skippers also like to sail under mizzen and headsail alone in strong conditions.
- Heaving to. A mizzen can help a boat to lie more or less steadily to the wind and waves, which many cruising sailors regard as useful for resting or waiting out bad weather.
- Mizzen staysail. On a reach, a staysail can be set between the masts, adding area in moderate winds.
- Lower centre of effort. Shorter masts mean less weight aloft, which is sometimes cited as an advantage in a seaway.
The costs of two masts
Equally, the ketch has well-known disadvantages, which explain why the sloop became dominant among modern production boats.
- Two masts mean more rigging, more fittings, more cost and more maintenance.
- The mizzen sits in the wind shadow of the mainsail, so its contribution upwind is often modest. Many ketches sail upwind less well than an equivalent sloop.
- The extra mast can interfere with the deck layout and the cockpit.
- On a boat of a given length, the combination of a taller mainmast and a mizzen can be heavier than a well-designed single mast.
Because of these points, the ketch rig is generally chosen for convenience and flexibility rather than for outright speed. Preferences differ, and experienced sailors disagree about whether the extra complexity pays off.
Notable examples
A few famous voyages involved ketches, which helped to cement the rig’s association with offshore adventure. The yacht Suhaili, sailed by Robin Knox-Johnston in the 1968-69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, was a ketch, and he was the only competitor to complete the non-stop solo circumnavigation. The French sailor Bernard Moitessier’s Joshua, also a ketch, took part in the same race, and he abandoned the idea of finishing in first place and sailed on beyond the finish. Their voyages are often remembered as demonstrations of the strength of sturdy, conservatively rigged cruising yachts.
Many designs for sturdy offshore cruising in the second half of the twentieth century drew on the shape of traditional working boats, with deep keels, full bodies and substantial rigs. Designers sometimes looked to Scandinavian pilot and rescue craft for ideas. The ketch rig was a natural fit for this style of boat.
The rise of the sloop and the ketch’s place today
From the 1960s onwards, fibreglass construction and the efficient Bermuda sloop spread widely. Mass-produced sloops were cheaper and sailed better upwind, so most new cruising boats took that form. Even so, the ketch rig did not disappear. Some builders continued to offer it on larger cruising yachts, where the mainsail of a sloop would be very large, and where owners valued having several moderate-sized sails.
New equipment changed the argument slightly. Roller-furling headsails and in-mast or in-boom furling mainsails made it easier to shorten sail on a single-masted yacht, which removed one of the main reasons for choosing a ketch. At the same time, modern materials and winches made large sails much easier to handle. The decision now rests more on personal taste than on necessity.
Large sailing ships and charter vessels
On a larger scale, the ketch rig, along with the yawl and schooner, is sometimes used on charter yachts, training vessels and expedition ships, where it allows a modest crew to handle a lot of sail area. In these cases, the logic is similar to that of the private cruiser: break the sail plan into manageable parts.
A balanced view
It would be wrong to claim that the ketch was ever the single best rig for ocean sailing; the evidence is that many different boats have crossed oceans safely, including sloops, cutters, yawls and schooners. What the ketch offers is a particular compromise, and it has had a loyal following among sailors who value forgiving handling over pure speed. Those who choose one often say that the ability to reduce sail in stages, and to heave to under a small mizzen, is worth the extra gear.