Fore-and-Aft Schooner
F1. Maritime HistoryDefinition
New England trade rig prevailing through the nineteenth century coastal trade.
A fore-and-aft schooner is a schooner rigged entirely with fore-and-aft sails (gaff or Bermudan) on two or more masts, with no square topsails, the rig that dominated North American coastal trade through the 19th century. The fore-and-aft plan let a small crew work the sails and sail closer to the wind than a square-rigger, suiting the windward beating of coastwise voyages. New England builders pushed the type to two, three, and ultimately six- and seven-masted schooners for the bulk coal and lumber trades.
Source: Fore-and-aft schooner rig, North American coastal trade, 19th century; standard naval-architecture reference.