Editing Sloop (section)

{{short description|Sail boat with a single mast and a fore-and-aft rig}}
{{About|the type of sailing boat|the warship|Sloop-of-war}}
[[File:C55 Kiel2007.jpg|thumb|A Bermuda sloop, the most common version of the sloop in modern sailing vessels{{r|Bennett 2005|p=52}}]][[File:Niagara (1895 sloop) big (cropped).png|thumb|300px|[[Gaff rigged]] sloop, 1899]]
In modern usage, a '''sloop''' is a [[sailboat]] with a single [[mast (sailing)|mast]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sloop|title=SLOOP {{!}} meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary|website=dictionary.cambridge.org|language=en|access-date=2019-05-12}}</ref> generally having only one headsail in front of the mast and one [[mainsail]] abaft (behind) the mast. It is a type of [[fore-and-aft rig]]. The mainsail may be of any type, most often [[Bermuda rig]], but also others, such as [[Gaff rig|gaff]] or [[Gunter rig|gunter]].

In naval terminology, "[[sloop-of-war]]" refers to the purpose of the craft, rather than to the specific size or [[sail-plan]], and thus a sloop should not be confused with a sloop-of-war. As with many rig definitions, it was some time before the term sloop referred to the type of rig.

Regionally, the definition also takes into account the position of the mast. A forward mast placement and a fixed (as opposed to {{nautical term|running (adjective)|running}}) bowsprit, but with two headsails may give categorisation as a sloop. An example is the [[Friendship Sloop]].{{r|Bennett 2005|p=48-53}}