Whip mast (sailing)

Whip mast on a 30 m² skerry cruiser

A whip mast is a rigid (not flexible) ship mast of a rigged sailing yacht that is bent aft (rear) in the upper part .

The mast form was created in 1920 with the introduction of the high rigging, the gaff-rigged replaced. The upper course of the mast, curved aft, follows the course of a steep gaff . In the 1930s, yachts of the national 45 m² cruiser class , 30 m² skerry cruisers , vertical cruisers as well as boats of the 15 m² inland sailing dinghy class and the 20 m² inland sailing dinghy cruiser class were equipped with a whip mast .

Whip masted yachts usually had a small headsail . With the introduction of the top rigging (around 1945) and the use of larger headsails, the whip mast was no longer built and is hardly to be found today.