Editing Yawl (section)

=== Rig characteristics ===
[[File:Drascombe Lugger sailboat 3912.jpg|thumb|The Drascombe Lugger is rigged as a yawl with a gunter mainsail and a leg o'mutton mizzen, sheeted to an outrigger.]]
A  yawl is often considered a suitable rig for a short handed or single handed sailor. This is because the mainsail is not quite so big to handle and the [[mizzen]] (before the days of modern [[Self-steering gear|self steering gear]]) could allow the sails to be trimmed to keep a boat on the same course. Also, handing (taking down) the mizzen is a quick and easy way of reducing sail, often thought of as the equivalent of the first reef in a [[Cutter (boat)|cutter]] or [[sloop]]. Less well known are the advantages of setting a mizzen staysail when reaching, which can give a considerable amount of extra drive not available to a single-masted rig. [[Alec Rose]] (single handed circumnavigator) used a mizzen staysail on his yawl ''Lively Lady'' but did not set a mizzen, feeling it was of little value and would interfere with the Hasler self-steering gear.{{sfn|Rye|2017}}{{sfn|Leather|1970|pp=24{{en dash}}25, 155}}