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The mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical pole which supports the Sail s. Larger ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship. Until the 20th century, a ship's masts would be wooden Spar s, originally constructed from a single straight tree trunk. As ship sizes increased, taller masts were constructed by lashing up to three spars together. A Ship's masts are named from bow to stern (front to back):
Mast names for other vessels generally follow this naming. Many ships would also have a Bowsprit at an angle closer to the horizontal extending forward of the Prow . '']] Most types of ships with two masts would have a main-mast and a smaller mizzen-mast, although both Brig s and two masted Schooner s instead carry a fore-mast and main-mast. On a two-masted vessel with the mainmast forward and a much smaller second mast, such as a Ketch , or particularly a Yawl , the terms ''mizzen'' and ''jigger'' are synonymous. Some two-masted schooners have masts of identical size, but the aftmost is still referred to as the main-mast, and normally has the larger Course . Schooners have been built with up to seven masts in all, with several six-masted examples. On Square Rig ged vessels, each mast carries several horizontal Yard s from which the individual Sail s are hung, see also Rigging . MODERN MASTS Although sailing ships had been superseded by engine powered ships in the 19th Century , recreational sailing ships and yachts continue to be designed and constructed. In the 1930s aluminium masts were introduced on large J-class Yacht s. Aluminium has considerable advantages over wooden masts, being lighter, stronger and impervious to rot. Also aluminium mast could be extruded as a single piece for the entire height as the mast. After the Second World War , extruded aluminium masts became common on all Dinghies and smaller yachts. Higher performance yachts would use tapered aluminium masts, constructed by removing a triangular strip of aluminium along the length of the mast and then closing and welding the gap. From the mid 1990s racing yachts introduced the use of Carbon Fibre and other Composite Material s to construct masts with even better strength to weight ratios. Carbon fibre masts could also be constructed with more precisely engineered aerodynamic profiles. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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