Copy of `Go Sail - Sailing terms`

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Go Sail - Sailing terms Category: Sport and Leisure > Sailing Date & country: 25/11/2007, UK Words: 176

Leeboards
Alternative to a keel for preventing a boat moving sideways through the water. They are arranged on each side of the hull, but only one on the leeside is lowered.

Leech
The aft edge of the triangular sail - the one that's not attached to anything.

Leeward
The direction to which the wind is blowing.

Lifejacket
Buoyant garment. In Britain the name is reserved for one that will turn a person the rightway up. Otherwise its called a buoyancy aid.

Luff
The fore edge of a sail.

Luff up
To luff up means to bring the boat's bow so close to the wind, that the leech of the sail begins to flap.

Lug
Four sided sail that goes forward as well as aft of the mast.

Mainsail
The largest sail. (Except for the spinnaker.)

Mainsheet
The line used to pull the mainsail in or let it out.

Mast
The pole attached to the deck at the right angle, holding up the sails.

Masthead
The top of the mast.

Mizzen
The sail set on the second (aftermost, or rear) mast - as on a ketch.

Mooring
Permanent anchorage. It consists of a heavy weight (or an anchor), a chain of a certain length, and a buoy. Mooring is also often used for piers, instead of pilings.

Nautical almanac
A book containing all current data: navigational, tidal, astronomical and so on. It is published annually.

Neap Tide
when the tide range is the least - rising less and dropping less than the other tides during the four week cycle

Outhaul
A device located on the aft part of the boom, used to secure the clew, so that the foot is kept tense.

Painter
A rope used for a mooring, particularly on a dinghy.

Pay off
Allow the boat turn to leeward.

Piling
A thick post supporting or mooring a dock or pier. It is deep inside the seabed, and it projects above the water level.

Pintle
Part of a rudder hinge that fits into a gudgeon.

Port side
The left side of the boat.

Port Tack
Sailing with the wind coming over the port bow.

Pram
Dinghy without a stem, but the planks met at a point at gunwhale level or on a bow board like a transom. A Mirror dinghy is a pram type boat.

Pulpit
Metal tubular guard rail at the bow.

Quarter
Direction between directly astern and abeam is 'on the quarter'. The corner between the gunwhale and the transom on each side.

Rake
Slope, particularly of a mast.

Reach
Sail with the wind abeam, or almost so.

Reef
Reduce the area of a sail.

Rigging
The assembly of the boat.

Roach
Area between the curved leech of a mailsail and a straight line between the head and the clew.

Roller Reefing
Reefing by rolling some of the mailsail around the boom or the jib around the foresay.

Rowlocks
Used as guides for oars.

Rudder
The underwater, movable plate used for steering, and for providing resistance to sideways motion caused by waves and wind. It is being controlled by the helmsman (helmsperson?) with a help of a tiller or a steering wheel.

Shackle
Part of the indispensable equipment on the boat. It is a small device used for attaching lines to other things, like sails.

Sheave
Pulley wheel over which a rope passes.

Sheet
A line used to trim sails.

Shround
The wires holding the mast at the sides.

Sloop
A single masted craft with a mainsail and one sail forward of the mast.

Spar
A general name for all masts, booms, gaffs, and bowsprits.

Spinnaker
Light parachute shaped head sail.

Spreaders
The wooden or metal struts that are attached horizontally to the upper section of the mast, on both sides. They widen the angle of the shrouds, and thus provide a better support for the mast.

Spring Tide
Tide that has the greatest range in a four week cycle.

Stand-on vessel
A boat that has the right-of-way over the give-way vessel. It must maintain its course and speed.

Starboard Side
The right side of the boat.

Starboard Tack
Sailing with the wind coming over the starboard bow.

Stays
Wires supporting the mast - fore and aft.

Stern
The back of the boat.

Tack
Sail a zig-zag course towards the wind. Also means the lower part of a sail.

Tackle
A system of ropes and blocks used to obtain a mechanical advantage or purchase.

Telltales
Short pieces of yarn attached to the shrouds, or the sails. At the shrouds they indicate the direction of the wind (the apparent wind), and at the sails they help to check the air flow over the sail, so that proper trimming is easier.

Thwart
Crosswise member to provide hull stiffness and form a seat in a boat.

Tiller
A spar attached to the rudder by the rudder head, used to control the direction of the boat. Another possibility for steering mechanism is a steering wheel.

Topping Lift
Rope used to support the boom when it is not held by the fully hoisted sail.

Topsides
The part of the hull above the water.

Trampoline
The space on a catamaran, usually made of some kind of mesh, located between the two hulls. It's a place for the crew (like a cockpit on dinghies and cruisers).

Transit
Two or more objects observed in line. Used for navigation.

Transom
Board forming the flat aft end of a hull.

Trapeze
Belt/seat arrangement slung from the mast to support a person outboard with his feet on the gunwhale. Give greater leverage when using body weight to balance the boat.

Traveler
A track (usually metal) with a fixture sliding on it. The fixture holds the main sheet (usually), and the sliding allows for changing angles of the sail.

Trim
How a boat floats, its attitude.

Trimaran
A three hulled boat.

True Wind
The strength and direction of the actual wind blowing. While sailing, the true wind is never felt - it is always a combination of the true wind, and the boat's speed (called the apparent wind), and it is always a little forward to the true wind.

Trysail
A very small sail, used in a very heavy weather instead of a mainsail.

Turnbuckle
Tensioning device using right handed and left handed threads for adjustment. Also called a rigging screw when used on shrouds.

Una Rig
Boat rigged with a single sail.

Up wind
Object nearer the direction the wind is coming from than the observer.

Vang
Steadying rope.

Veer
Turn away from the wind. A wind change clockwise. To veer a cable is to let it out more.

Wake
Disturbed water left astern

Warp
Strong rope used for anchoring.

Wear
Sailing in a circle to change direction downwind to aviod a gybe. May also mean turning away from the wind, as in veer.

Winch
A mechanical device used to assist in pulling on lines. It is a reel-like part of the hardware.

Windlass
Type of winch particularly used in raising an anchor.

Windward
Towards the direction form which the wind is blowing.

Yard
Spar supporting the top of a four sided sail, like a gaff but with part of the spar passing across the mast.

Yaw
Swinging from side to side of the intended course unintentionally..