jol

The Dutch word jol referred to a small, sturdy boat used in the shallow waters of the North Sea. Dutch and German fishermen used these vessels along the Frisian coast from at least the 1500s. The word may trace back even further to Middle Low German jolle, a small ship's boat. English borrowed it as yawl by the 1660s.

What makes a yawl a yawl — and not a ketch — is the position of the mizzen mast. On a yawl, the smaller rear mast sits behind the rudder post. On a ketch, it sits forward of the rudder post. This distinction drives sailing purists to distraction, because the visual difference can be a matter of inches. Joshua Slocum's famous Spray, which completed the first solo circumnavigation in 1898, was rigged as a yawl.

The rig had practical advantages for small crews. The mizzen sail on a yawl is small — more of a balancing aid than a driving force. A single-handed sailor could use it to keep the boat pointing into the wind while adjusting the mainsail. It was a solo sailor's trick: the little sail did the work of a second pair of hands.

Yawls declined in commercial use by the mid-twentieth century as engines replaced sail for working boats. But the rig persists in pleasure sailing, and the word persists in arguments. Ask a room of sailors whether a particular boat is a yawl or a ketch and prepare to lose an afternoon.