Sloops

A sloop (from Dutch sloep, in turn from French chaloupe) is a sail boat with a single mast and a fore-and-aft rig. In the USA a sloop may have one, two or three head-sails forward of the mast—the term cutter not generally being used for sailboats. In the rest of the English speaking world, a sloop has only one head-sail and if a vessel has two or more head-sails, she is termed a 'cutter' and its mast may be set further aft than on a sloop.