Boats normally do better where they are designed because they take advantage of conditions that predominate.
Boats on the Thames may go aground at low tide and may have keels to stand on. Junks reach out to the
fishing grounds and reach back having little use for windward or leeward
work.
Dhows have one sail that fills best on one tack for going in one direction say down a river. The sail would have to be rerigged on the other side of the
mast to be as efficient going up the river.
Cat boats were nice because they were very easy to sail.
True sloops like the Friendships were great because they would heave-to so well.
Gaff rigs were replaced by
jib headed mains or "Marconi" mains at first, because with the same amount of sail, you had more luff, which gave a boat more efficiency or drive to windward. Gaff Rigs were always faster off the
wind but boats made their all-around reputation by going faster to windward and gaff rigs are more complex.
Schooners surpassed square rigs for the same reason and were in turn surpassed by ketches because the larger mast forward, made standing
backstays possible and the larger forward mast allowed larger headsails, including spinnakers.
It goes on and on. Then there were Genoas.
By the way what ever made you think that
ketch rigs evolved to Gaff Rigs. Ketches can have either
Jib headed main and mizzen, Gaff headed main and mizzen or any combination. Today they are mostly jib headed, again because of a better ability to sail to windward, and being easier to manage than a gaff rig. They are popular among cruisers because they split a given sail area into more manageable sizes and make shortening sail easier and quicker.
Have fun & keep studying
Joe S