The Schooner Its Design and Development from 1600 to the Present

The schooner rig has always been associated with speed and elegance, and with the romance of privateers and illicit trade; but is has also been employed in just about every conceivable seafaring role over four centuries around the coastlines of the world and across its oceans. This book is a comprehensive history of the rigs' development from its emergence in Holland in the early years of the seventeenth century right up to the present when it is experiencing a renaissance in the world of luxury charter. In Britain, America and Canada cargo-carrying was the main use to which schooners were put, and they ranged from the most humble coastal craft to the smartest ocean clippers, but the rig was also adopted by a whole range of other types, most notably the famous Grand Banks schooners, but also pilot boats, Baltimore clippers, colonial schooners, naval schooners and yachts. In this survey David MacGregor describes the development of this beautiful rig and gives examples of all the varied types.