The bilander, also spelled billander or bélandre is a two-masted vessel, the foremast carrying square rigs on all of its yards and its taller mainmast having a long lateen mainsail yard with corresponding trapezoidal sail and rig inclined at about 45° with square rigs on the yards above that, the lowermost secured at the corners by a crossjack.A bilander was a small European merchant ship with two masts - used in the Netherlands for coast and canal traffic and occasionally seen in the North Sea but more frequently to be seen in the Mediterranean Sea.[1] In England, the use of the bilander can be dated back as far as the reign of Queen Elizabeth.However, the design was eventually replaced by more efficient sailing ship designs, leading it to be regarded as simply a precursor to the brig.This article about a type of ship or boat is a stub.