A xebec (/ ˈ z iː b ɛ k / or / z ɪ ˈ b ɛ k /), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast.

Jun 30, 2019 · The most common form of xebec produced was the traditional lateen-rigged xebec. It had three lateen-rigged masts, the fore sail sometimes being bigger than the main. The foremast was raked well to the bow while the mizzen was raked to the stern.

The types of sails used depended on the period of use. While traditionally the ships used lateen sails, later xebec designs included square sails on the foremast and lateen sails on the other, also known as a polacre-xebec.

Feb 15, 2013 · The xebec (French chébec/chébeck) was a lightly-constructed vessel of the Mediterranean Sea that featured lateen sails as well as oars. Developed from the long, narrow oar-powered galleys of ancient times, xebecs were fast vessels able to sail close to the wind because of their triangular sails.

Xebecs were ships similar to galleys primarily used by Barbary pirates, which have both lateen sails and oars for propulsion. Early xebecs had two masts while later ships had three.

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a large polacre-xebec carried a square rig on the foremast, lateen sails on the other masts, a bowsprit, and two headsails. The square sail distinguished this form of a xebec from that of a felucca which is equipped solely with lateen sails.

Oct 28, 2012 · A few of the western nations tried square sails on the xebec’s mainmast and sometimes even the mizzenmast. The square-rigged mainmast would have topsails and even topgallants, and the mizzen would have a square topsail (while …

Xebec, a small three-masted vessel, navigate in the Mediterranean sea, and on the coasts of Spain, Portugal, and Barbary. See fig. 8. plate XII. The sails of the xebec are in general similar to those of the polacre, but the hull is extremely different from that and almost every other vessel.

Dec 22, 2021 · By the 18th and early-19th centuries, a large xebec would have a square rig on the foremast, but lateen sails on the others. Xebecs were infamously used by corsairs (pirates) in the Mediterranean. Some xebecs could accommodate crews up to 400 and as many as 24 guns.

“XEBEC”, the name is derived from small three-mast Mediterranean vessel with lateen and usually some square sails of 16th Century which was used as a passenger as well as merchandise liner.