Used sloops, British Virgin Islands

The sloop is a sailing vessel which has one very high mast located towards the bow and two sails: a mainsail and a headsail. The headsail is hung on the forestay and, depending on the size and shape of the sail may be a headsail or genoa sail. The position of the mast is the most important thing which differentiates a sloop from any other sailing boat. Normally sloops are built with wooden planks nailed on top of each other.

The sloops are usually very fast vessels due to the surface area of the sail being very large in proportion to the size of the boat, and they are easy to handle, as their rigging is simple. They can reach a remarkable speed with a tailwind, but are also designed to optimise sailing against the wind. Because of its shallow depth and agility that enabled it to navigate the cays and inland waters, the sloop was widely used in the past by smugglers to reach other ships with greater ease.