SAILING TERMINOLOGY
| Sailors use traditional nautical terms: |
| ABEAM - directly to the side of the boat |
| ABOUT - on the opposite tack |
| AFT - at or near the stern |
| ALEE - to the leeward side |
| ALOFT - above the deck |
| APPARENT WIND - the direction and speed of the wind felt by the crew - a combination of the true wind and that created by the motion of the boat |
| ASTERN - behind the boat |
| BACKSTAY - any single wire supporting the mast from the stern |
| BATTEN - thin wooden strips fitted into pockets for stiffening the leech of a sail |
| BEAM - measurement of the width of a boat |
| BEAM REACH - sailing with the wind coming across the boat's beam |
| BEAM WIND - a wind at right angles to a boat's course |
| BEAR AWAY - to steer the boat away from the wind |
| BEAT - sailing against the wind by tacking (sailing a zigzag course towards the wind) |
| BEATING TO WINDWARD - sailing to windward close-hauled, tacking as you go, to reach an objective to windward |
| BEND - to connect two ropes with a knot |
| BLOCK - a pulley |
| BOLLARD - a short heavy post on a pier, or boat, used for fastening docking lines |
| BOOM - spar that takes the foot of a sail |
| BOW - the forward part of a boat |
| BROACH - turn sideways to wind and the surf |
| BROAD REACH - the point of sailing between a beam reach and a run, when the wind blows over the quarter |
| BUOY - floating navigational marker |
| CAPSIZE - to overturn |
| CENTER OF EFFORT (COE) - the point at which all the forces acting on the sails are concentrated |
| CENTRE OF LATERAL RESISTANCE (CLR) - the underwater centre of pressure about which a boat pivots when changing course |
| CENTERBOARD - retractable keel to stop a boat's leeward drift |
| CHAIN PLATE - metal fitting bolted to the side of a boat to hold the ends of stays and shrouds |
| CLEAT - fitting to which a line is secured, without knotting |
| CLEW - aft bottom corner of a sail, where the foot and leech meet |
| CLOSE-HAULED - sailing close to the wind with sails pulled in |
| CLOSE REACH - the point of sailing between close-hauled and a beam reach, when the wind blows forward of the beam |
| COME ABOUT - to change course so as to be sailing at the same angle but with the wind on the other side |
| COURSE - the direction in which a vessel is steered, usually given in degrees |
| CUTTER - single-masted fore-and-aft boat having an inner staysail and outer jib |
| DAGGERBOARD - centreboard that does not pivot |
| DINGHY - a small boat used to ferry people to a yacht; also used for sailing or rowing; also called a tender |
| DOWNHAUL - rope used to set up downward tension or haul down a sail or spar |
| EYE OF THE WIND - direction from which the true wind is blowing |
| FALLING OFF - turn away from the direction of the wind |
| FOOT - a sail's lower edge |
| FORE - at or toward the boat's bow |
| FORE-AND-AFT - lengthwise, in the direction of the keel |
| FOREMAST - mast nearest to the bow |
| FORESTAY - the foremost stay, running from the masthead to the bow |
| FURL - tightly roll up a sail |
| GAFF - spar that secures the head of a fore-and-aft sail |
| GALLEY - a kitchen on a boat |
| GENOA - large headsail, which overlaps the mainsail |
| GROMMET - rope or brass ring in a sail or piece of canvas |
| GUNWALES - upper edges of a boat's sides |
| GUY - adjustable steadying rope of a boat's rig |
| GYBING - changing direction with the wind aft; to change from one tack to another by turning the stern through the wind; also spelled jibing |
| HALYARD - line used for hoisting sails |
| HANK - fitting used to attach the luff of a sail to a stay |
| HARD-A-LEE - to put the tiller all the way down toward the leeward side of the boat |
| HEAD - a sail's top corner; also a boat's toilet |
| HEADSAIL - sail forward of the foremast |
| HEADSTAY - a forward stay |
| HEADWAY - moving forward |
| HEEL - a boat's angle to horizontal, to lean over to one side |
| HELM - tiller or wheel |
| HOIST - the length of the luff of a fore-and-aft sail |
| HULL - the body of boat |
| IN IRONS - to head into the wind and refuse to fall off |
| JIB - a triangular headsail set on a stay forward of the foremast |
| JIBSHEET - line that controls the jib |
| KEEL - centreline backbone at the bottom of a boat |
| LASHING - a rope used for securing any movable object in place |
| LATEEN - rig with a triangular sail secured to a yard hoisted to a low mast. |
| LEE - the side opposite that from which the wind blows; the opposite of weather |
| LEECH - outside edge of a sail |
| LEE HELM - the tendency of a boat to swing leeward unless held on course |
| LEEWARD - away from the wind; the direction to which the wind blows, down wind |
| LINE - any length of rope that has a specified use |
| LUFF - to get so close to the wind that the sail flaps; also the forward edge of a sail |
| LUFF UP - to turn the boat's head right into the wind |
| MAINMAST - principal mast on a boat |
| MAINSAIL - boomed sail projecting aft from the mainmast |
| MAINSHEET - line that controls the main boom |
| MAKE FAST - secure a line |
| MAST - vertical spar to which the sails and rigging are attached |
| MASTHEAD - top of the mast |
| MIZZEN - the shorter, after-mast on a ketch or yawl |
| ON THE WIND - close-hauled |
| PAINTER - the bow line by which a dinghy, or tender is towed or made fast |
| POINT - to head close to the wind |
| POINT OF SAIL - the different angles from the wind on which a boat may sail; the boat's course relative to the direction of the wind |
| PORT - the left-hand side of a boat, looking forward towards the bow (opposite of starboard) |
| PORT TACK - when a boat sails with the main boom to starboard and wind hits the port side first |
| PRIVILEGED VESSEL - a boat that has the right-of-way (ROW) |
| REACH - sailing on a tack with the wind roughly abeam, all sailing points between running and close- hauled |
| READY ABOUT - order to prepare for coming about |
| REEF - reduce the sail area by folding or rolling surplus material on the boom or forestay |
| RIG - arrangements of masts and sails |
| RIGGING - ropes and wire stays of a boat; securing masts and sails |
| RUDDER - vertical metal or wooden plate attached to the stern, whose movements steer the boat |
| RULES OF THE ROAD - right-of-way (ROW) regulations to prevent collisions between boats |
| RUN - to sail with the wind aft and the sheets eased out |
| RUNNING RIGGING - all of the moving lines, such as sheets and halyards, used in the setting and trimming of sails |
| SET - to hoist a sail |
| SHACKLE - a U-shaped piece of iron or steel with eyes in the ends, closed by a shackle pin |
| SHEAVE - a grooved wheel in a block or spar for a rope to run on |
| SHEET - line that controls a sail or the movement of a boom |
| SHIP SHAPE - neat, seamanlike |
| SHROUDS - transverse wires or ropes that support the mast laterally |
| SPAR - pole, mast, or boom, that supports a sail |
| SPINNAKER - a large, light, balloon-shaped sail set forward of the mainsail when running before the wind |
| SPLICE - to join ropes or wires by un-laying the strands and interweaving them |
| SPREADERS - horizontal spar attached to the mast, which extend the shrouds and stays and help to support the mast |
| STANDING RIGGING - the shrouds and stays which are permanently set up and support the masts |
| STARBOARD - right-hand side of a boat looking forward towards the bow (opposite of port) |
| STARBOARD TACK - tack on which the wind strikes the starboard side first and the boom is out to port |
| STAY - wire or rope which supports the mast in a fore-and-aft direction; part of the standing rigging |
| STAYSAIL - sail set on a stay inboard of the foremost sail |
| STEP - a recess into which the fell of the mast is placed |
| STERN - aft end of a boat |
| STRINGER - a fore-and-aft member, fitted to strengthen the frames |
| TACK - the lower forward corner of the sail, where the luff and the foot meet; also the diagonal made with the wind by a sailboat when close-hauled, (to change from one tack to another by coming about) |
| TACKING - working to windward by sailing close-hauled on alternate courses so that the wind is first on one side of the boat, then on the other |
| TELL-TALES - small lengths of wood sewn through a sail near the luff and leech to allow the air flow over the sail to be checked |
| TENDER - see dinghy |
| TILLER - short piece of wood by which the rudder is turned |
| TOPSIDES - the part of a boat's hull which is above the waterline |
| TRANSOM - a flat surface at the back of the hull to which the rudder is attached |
| TRAVELLER - a slide which travels on a track and is used for altering sheet angles |
| TRIM - to adjust the angle of the sails |
| TRUE WIND - the direction and speed of the wind felt when stationary, at anchor or on land |
| WAKE - a boat's track, behind |
| WATERLINE - the line along the hull at which a boat floats |
| WEATHER - windward, opposite of leeward |
| WEATHER HELM - boat with a tendency to swing into the wind unless held on course |
| WEATHER SIDE - the side of a boat on which the wind is blowing |
| WHISKER POLE - a light pole used to hold out the clew of a headsail when running |
| WINCH - a mechanical device, consisting usually of a metal drum turned by a handle, around which a line is wound to give the crew more "help" when tightening a line |
| WINDWARD - the direction from which the wind blows, towards the wind (opposite of leeward |
ROPE AND LINES
In most cases, rope is the term used only for raw material. Once a section of rope is designated for a particular purpose on a vessel, it is generally called a line, as in outhaul line or dock line. A very thick line is considered a cable. Lines that are attached to sails to control their shapes are called sheets, as in mainsheet. If a rope is made of wire, it maintains its rope name as in 'wire rope' halyard.
Lines (generally steel cables) that support masts are stationary and are collectively known as a vessel's standing rigging, and individually as shrouds or stays. The stay running forward from a mast to the bow is called the forestay or headstay.
Moveable lines that control sails or other equipment are known collectively as a vessel's running rigging. Lines that raise sails are called halyards while those that strike them are called downhauls or cunninghams. Lines that adjust (trim) the sails are called sheets. These are often referred to using the name of the sail they control (such as main sheet, or jib sheet). Sail trim may also be controlled with smaller lines attached to the forward section of a boom; such a line is called a vang, or a kicker in the United Kingdom.
Lines used to tie a boat up when alongside a dock are called docklines, docking cables or mooring warps. In dinghies the single line from the bow is referred to as the painter.
| Some lines are referred to as ropes: | |
 |
a bell rope (to ring the bell) |
|
a bolt rope (attached to the edge of a sail for extra strength) |
|
a foot rope (on old square riggers for the sailors to stand on while reefing or furling the sails) |
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a tiller rope (to temporarily hold the tiller and keep the boat on course). A rode is what keeps an anchor attached to the boat when the anchor is in use. It may be chain, rope, or a combination of the two. |
