Ketch Sailing Yachts for Sale

Ketch

On a ketch, the sails are set on two masts: the mainmast forward (noticeably taller) and the mizzenmast aft. The key difference from the "other" two-master, the yawl: the mizzenmast has to rise within the waterline, and the helmsman stands aft of the mizzenmast.

What is a ketch?

Two masts = twice the fun! Most ketch owners will happily agree with this old sailor's saying, a blissful smile on their lips. The advantages of two-masted yachts are so obvious, especially for bluewater cruisers, that you have to wonder why the ketch is now a rather dying breed of boat. In any case, ketch rigs are only rarely found in modern production boatbuilding. As "globetrotters", however, they remain very much in demand on the used boat market.

So the ketch has two masts: the mainmast forward and the mizzenmast aft. As the name suggests, the mainmast is always considerably taller than the mizzenmast and, as on other types of boat, carries the largest mainsail when sailing upwind.
The most common design feature of the ketch is the position of the mizzenmast: it must (unlike on the "other" two-master, the yawl) be stepped within the waterline. In addition, on most ketches the helmsman stands aft of the mizzenmast.

What are the advantages of a ketch?

A few reasons why the ketch is particularly well suited to bluewater cruisers:

• The sail plan is divided up more practically thanks to the second mast. The mainmast is lower than on a single-master of the same boat length, since the mizzenmast carries a corresponding sail area. That makes it easier to reduce sail area in strong winds. It is often simpler to take a sail down completely than to tie in reefs.
• A ketch, especially a classic with a long keel, is considered particularly course-stable. This is due, among other things, to the yaw axis (rotation about the vertical axis) being closer to the mainmast.
• In strong winds, a ketch sails extremely well under headsail and mizzen alone.
• Two disadvantages of a ketch rig that matter little to bluewater cruisers: 1. A ketch does not like sailing hard on the wind (close to the wind), because the mainsail then (usually) blankets the mizzen. 2. On a downwind course, the mizzen takes wind from parts of the mainsail.

Ketches can be bought in a wide range of boat lengths, and there is hardly any limit "at the top end". Not least the carbon fiber megayacht "Hetairos", with her waterline length of 67 meters, proves the point.