I love the old style schooner, for me, the schooner was a two mast vessel with the aft mast larger than the fore mast. Whilst initially defined as two mast vessels; three mast vessels were introduced around 1800 with multi mast vessels introduced soon after and these vessels remained as schooners.
Whilst maybe not being entirely correct, the gaff rig, topsail, hull shape and bowspit with stay sails define the schooner. Of course, many vessels of the era featured bowsprits, so such a feature alone can not define the vessel, for many, the shorter fore mast is the defining feature of the two mast schooner.
Cutter rigs predominately feature a centrally located mast and a bowspit with multiple fly jibs. There was three and more mast schooner types, the two and three mast schooners were the sleekest with all the sails working together in a complementary fashion optimising airflow and forward drive through the water.
The immense sail area of the schooner with gaff rigs extending the main sail length, topsails filling void between the gaff upper boom and mast and multiple fore stays secured to the bowspit. The schooner is an elegant vessel from a bygone era eventually replaced by bermuda rigs and then later the ketch rig. I love the multiple masts with the foremast smaller than the aft mast, the topsails completing the gaff booms is fantastic. The old style schooner on the water is a sight to behold, they are fantastic working upwind with the full sail compliment hoisted, hard work to get the sails up, but when they are up, the schooner is a beautiful vessel.
Observations in an undemocratic world 