Schooners are defined as having two or more masts with triangular sails rigged fore-and-aft, or along the length of the ship, as opposed to the square type sails across the hull that were typical, for example, of the famous clipper ships. Schooners were more maneuverable and were often the workhorses of the sea wherever they were found, and Newfoundland was no exception 100 years and more ago..