Yachts and sailing ships nomenclature is quite complicated. Basically, take any boat and add or remove a sail (i.e., change the way
the sails are rigged) and now the boats definition has changed. E.g., Adding a headsail changes a sloop into a cutter. I.e., It
becomes "Cutter rigged." Whether a sailboat is a cutter or a sloop depends on how it is rigged. Take a sloop and add a second
head sail and it becomes a cutter. Take a sloop, add a small mast abaft the sternpost and it becomes a yawl. Take a sloop and add
a small mast forward of the sternpost and it becomes a ketch.

Sloop-A single-masted fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel with a single headsail set from the forestay.

Cutter-A single-masted fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessel with two headsails.

Ketch-Two-masted boats, the after mast shorter, but with a ketch the after mast is forward of the sternpost

Yawl-A sailboat with two masts, the after mast shorter, and set abaft the sternpost.

Schooner-A sailing ship with at least 2 masts (foremast and mainmast) with the mainmast being the taller.

Topsail Schooner- A schooner with a square rigged sail on forward mast

Here are some pictures of different rigs:

http://www.givemeweb.com/bwmw/library/yachtrigs.html



"Jeanne" wrote in message ...

Hi Guys.......

Trying to find a true definition of a cutter as opposed to a sloop. As I
have always understood it, a sloop has its mast stepped at 2/5ths of the
distance from the waterline of the bow to the waterline of the stern -
waterline being the key. And a cutter has its mast halfway between the
waterline of the bow to the waterline of the stern. But the other
definition I find is that a sloop is 2/5ths of the overall length while a
cutter is 1/2 that distance including the usual bow sprint. Who's correct
here?
Thanks,
Bruce