Nav wrote:
OED:

The rig characteristic of a schooner has been defined as consisting
essentially of two gaff sails, the after sail not being smaller than the
fore, and a head sail set on a bowsprit.

Webster:

Fore and aft rigged vessel with a smaller sail on the foremast and the
main mast stepped _nearly_ amidships.

Ah, yes, well... going to the definitive maritime reference, eh? How
come neither mentions such a possibility as a 3 masted schooner? ANd
yet, in the annals of sea lore there very definitely are such things...
and more!

http://www.schoonerman.com/tw_lawsn.shtml

Oddly enough, it happens to be a coincidence that many schooners do have
*a* mast stepped "nearly amidships," 1- it's not necessarily the main
mast and 2- it's really not a definitive requirement for the vessel to
be a schooner.

Finally, if the Titanic's registry documentation lists her as a
schooner, why do you think it's worth arguing about?



The size of the mast doesn't really matter, it's the sail distribution..
That also dictates mast placement -hence the Webster observation on this
point. Do you think the masts were gaff rigged as well?

Does a schooner have to be gaf rigged? Do you think you could be
bothered to look for yourself? I'm not here to do your homework for you.
Is this how you got through school?

DSK