© Greg Harrington
The topmast is attached to the top of the lower mast on the forward side. Its shrouds run to the platform or crosstrees at the top of the lower mast, rather than to the side of the hull. In a square-rigged vessel the sails carried by the yards supported by the topmast are correspondingly called topsails.
The main topmast carries the upper end of the main-topmast-staysail. A mizzen-topmast may carry the equivalent. The fore-topmast will carry a staysail, but depending on where the lower end of the stay is attached it may be called a fore-topmast-staysail or an inner jib.
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