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A xebec, also spelled xebeque, jabeque, sciabecco, zebec, chebec and chebeck, was a small, fast, three-masted (but originally two-masted) vessel of the 16th to 19th centuries used almost exclusively in the Mediterranean Sea, with a distinctive hull, which added a pronounced overhanging bow and stern, and rarely displacing more than 200 tons.
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, a large xebec carried a square rig on the foremast, lateen sails on the others, a bowsprit, and two headsails.
They were greatly favored by Mediterranean nations as corsairs, and for this purpose were built with a narrow floor to achieve a higher speed than their victims, but with a considerable beam in order to enable them to carry an extensive sail plan. When used as corsairs they carried a crew of 300 to 400 men and mounted up to twenty-four guns according to size.
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