Nautical Words and Definitions

Word
Abaft
Abeam
Aboard
Admirals Cup
Aft
Aground
Ahoy
A-lee, Hard
Aloft
America's Cup
Amidship
Anchor
Anchor crown
Anchor fluke
Anchor light
Anchor shank
Anchor sheet
Anchor stock
Anchor watch
Anchor well
Anchor, bower
Antifouling paint
Apeak
Apparent Wind
Around Alone Race
Aspect ratio
Athwart
Athwartship
Avast
Awash
Backstay
Baggy Wrinkle
Bale (bail)
Ballast
Bare poles
Barnacle
Batten
Batten
Batten Down
Beam
Beam
Beam ends
Beams
Bear away

Definition
A
Towards the stern.
At the side of the vessel or at right angles to it.
Within or on the vessel.
Unofficial Grand Prix of yachting, sailed every other year.
Towards the stern, a contraction of abaft.
When the vessel is touching the bottom.
used in hailing a person or boat.
Tiller pushed leeward, to "come about."
Overhead or above the deck.
Historic yacht race held every three or four years since the 19th century.
In the center of the vessel, in length or breadth
Metal implement, which digs into the ocean bottom, for mooring
part of the anchor where the arms join the shank
The wide triangular plate at the end of the arm.
A white all-around light, for vessel at anchor
The part connecting the arms to the anchor ring
The vessel's largest anchor
The horizontal rod at the top of the shank, at right angles to the arms
Person responsible to see if anchor is dragging.
The well in the boat that houses the anchor.
large anchor stowed at the bow, ready for use.
Paint to inhibit marine growth.
When bow is directly over the anchor, before weighing it.
The wind direction felt on the boat as it moves, a combination of the true wind angle, and
the change in wind angle created by the boat's movement.
Formerly the BOC Challenge, runs every four years.
Ratio of mainsail's luff to it's foot.
At right angles to the length of the vessel.
From side to side, across the vessel.
Stop or hold fast, from Italian "basta"-enough
Almost submerged or just exposed out of the water.
B
A mast support that runs from the top of the mast to the stern. Can be tightened to make
the mast bend more, or to tighten the forestay.
Rope fastened to stays to prevent sail chafing.
To remove water from a boat by a baler.
Weight in the keel of a boat, to add stability (righting moment). The ballast on an Open 60
may include water which can be pumped into tanks on each side of the boat.
Sailing ship in storm, with all canvas down.
Marine crustacean, which attaches to hull's bottom
Thin strips of composite material inserted into a pocket in a sail, to support the curved
leech of the sail.
Thin slat, put in sockets at right angles to the leech of a sail to flatten it.
To secure, make water tight.
A boat's greatest width.
The greatest breath of a vessel.
Vessel listed so much the deck beams are vertical.
Timbers running athwartship to support the deck.
Turn the bow away from the wind direction.

Bearing
Beating
Beaufort Scale
Bell buoy
Below
Bent
Berth
Berth, forepeak
Berth, pilot
Berth, settee
Bilge
Bilge
Bilge
Bilge water
Binnacle
Bitt
Bitter end
Blanketing
Block
Boatswain (Bosun)
Bobstay
Bollard
Boltrope
Boom
Boom
Boom Gallows
Boom Vang
Boom Vang or Kicking Strap
Boomkin
Boot-topping
Bosun's Chair
Bottom paint
Bow
Bow
Bowline
Bowsprit
Brass Monkey
Bridge
Bridge deck
Bright work
Broach
Broaching
Bulb
Bulkheads

Angle between the true north and the object

Sailing towards the direction of the wind
A wind scale, 0-12. Force 12=hurricane (>64).
A buoy with a bell, rung by the motion of the sea.
Beneath the deck (into the cabin).
Made fast or secured (sail to boom, or rope to rope).
A bed or place to sleep, aboard.
The berth at the bow.
An elevated berth, usually above the settee.
Berth made up on the saloon seats.
The lowest part inside a boat's hull.
The deepest part of the hull inside, next to the keel.
The turn of a boat's hull, just below the water line.
The water, settling in the bilge.
The receptacle housing the compass , near the helm.
Strong, vertical post to make fast lines of all types.
The last in anchor chain or rope end.
A tactical maneuver in which one boat slows a competitor by using her sails to obstruct
the competitor's wind.
A frame containing one or more sheaves, (a pulley)
Ship's officer in charge of the rigging.
Chain or rope from end of bowsprit to stem.
heavy short post on dock to secure mooring lines.
Rope sewn to the edge of a sail to strengthen it.
Spar to which a sail's lower edge or foot is attached. The boom is attached to the mast at
the gooseneck.
The spar to which the foot of the sail is fastened to.
A frame, amidship, to support the boom.
An attachment to the boom, to prevent it from rising.
Tackle running between the boom and the deck which holds the boom down.
A short spar projecting from the stern, with a sheet block secured, for an overhanging
boom.
A band of paint at the water line.
A board or canvas seat for hoisting one aloft.
Paint applied to the hull below the waterline.
The most forward part of the vessel
The front of the boat.
A frequently used knot that won't slip or jam. It is the king of knots as it retains 80% of
the strength of the rope. Other knots retain only 65%.
A strong spar, projected forward from the bow.
A pyramid shaped stack of brass cannon balls. The expression "It's cold enough to freeze
the balls off a brass monkey" comes from the times when expanding ice would topple the
top cannon ball off the monkey
Area amidship, from which the vessel is commanded.
A narrow deck, between cockpit and cabin.
Varnished wood and polished brass or chrome.
In a downwind situation, the boat turns uncontrollably and is pushed by the wind on to her
side, lying with the mast parallel to the water. As a rule, the boat will right herself.
Vessel thrown broadside to the waves and the wind.
The torpedo shape weight on the bottom of the keel.
Strong vertical partitions in a boat (sometimes water tight).

Bulwarks
Burgee
Bustle
Buttock
By the lee
Cabin sole
Canvas
Capsize
Capstan
Car
Careen
Carlines
Carvel
Cast off
Cat boat
Catamaran
Catenary
Cat's-paw
Ceiling
Centerboard
Centerboard Trunk
Chain plate
Charley Noble
Chart
Chart Datum
Chocks
Chop
Chute or Shute
Claw off
Cleat
Cleat
Cleat, Cam
Clew
Clew
Clinker (lapstrake)
Closed-hauled
Coamings
Cockpit
Cockpit
Companion
Companion Way
Compass

Compass Rose

Extensions of the topsides carried above the decks.

A pointed flag with a yacht club's insignia and colours.
A bulge in the buttocks of the hull.
The rounded part of the boats stern section.
Running with the mainsail on the windward side.
C
The floor of the cabin.
This encompasses all sails in general.
To turn over.
A machine for hoisting the anchor.
Mainsheet or jib sheet block that runs on a track.
To heel a vessel over on one side (for bottom work).
Timbers running fore and aft between the deck beams.
Hull planks placed edge to edge to give a smooth hull.
To let go the lines securing a vessel.
Sailboat with single mast without shrouds or stays and one sail.
A twin-hulled boat.
Curve of the anchor line between anchor and vessel.
Ripple on the water from a light wind.
The inside lining of the hull up to the deck beams.
A central plate, lowered to prevent leeway.
The box housing the centerboard
Strips of metal for the attachment of shrouds.
The galley smoke pipe.
A map showing the sea and coast line details.
The level from which depth on charts are measured.
metal rail-fittings through which mooring lines are lead.
Short irregular waves caused by currents.
See spinnaker
To tack away from a lee shore.
A horned fitting to which lines are made fast.
A fitting which holds a rope against the tension from the sails or rigging.
Two cogs, between which a rope runs one direction.
The aft lower corner of a sail.
The after lower corner of a mainsail or jib and either lower corner of a spinnaker
Hull plank edges overlapping each other.
Sailing as close to the wind as possible.
Raised sides around the cockpit or hatches to prevent water from the neck running over.
The well in a sailboat, outside the cabin, where the helm is situated.
A recessed area in the deck in which the crew work.
A ladder on a boat or ship.
Stairway leading below the deck.
A navigation instrument that uses the earth's magnetic field to point to the North pole.
From this one can deduce all other directions or orient a map to your destination.
A circle printed on a map showing 360 degrees and the major or cardinal points of
direction. It is usually printed on the chart where no items of interest exist. While the
map is printed oriented to the geographic north pole, the compass rose, printed on the map,
is oriented to the magnetic North pole.
History - Originally the compass rose was called the wind rose. It denoted the direction
that the 32 winds; 8 major winds, 8 half winds, 16 quarter winds. When drawn as a circle
on a map the 32 points resembled a 32 petal rose bloom. The rose was always associated
with Christ and the later the Roman Catholic church. The major winds (pointers) of the
wind rose are called Cardinal points. The prime pointer at the top is the Fleur-de-Liz since

Counter
Cradle
Cringle
Cutter
Dagger board
Davits
Dead ahead
Dead Reckoning
Dead reckoning (DR)
Deadhead
Deck
Deck Beams
Delamination
Dinghy
Displacement
Dodger
Dog watch
Dolphin
Dorade
Double-ender
Down haul
Downwind
Draft
Drogue
Earing
Ease
Ebb
Eddy
Elapsed Time
Elbow
Electrolysis
Embark
Ensign
Even Keel
Eye Splice
Fairlead
Fend Off
Fende
Fiddles
Figure-Head

the rose line went through Paris, France. Switch the points from winds to magnetic
bearings and you have the compass rose we use today.
The overhanging part of the stern, transom to water.
A frame to hold a vessel upright when hauled out.
A ring sewn into a sail for a line to pass through.
A sloop with two foresails that has the mast stepped almost amidship.
D
Center board that lowers vertically in a trunk.
Hoists for lifting boats from the water.
Directly forward.
Position calculated by direction and distance sailed.
The calculation of a boat's position based on course and direction run.
Barely floating, heavy water-logged log.
Flooring of a vessel, supported by the deck beams.
Timbers running athwartship the top of the hull, supporting the deck.
Failure of the bond between either of the hull's outer and inner skins, and the 'sandwich'
spacing material in between -- allowing either of the two outer layers to become unstuck
from the foam centre.
Small boat towed by a pleasure craft.
The weight of water displaced by a vessel.
Canvas screen or similar protection for the cockpit.
The two hour periods of duty between 1600 and 2000.
Several piles banded together in a harbour.
Deck vent that prevents water from coming below.
Vessel with a rounded stern and bow.
The line used to haul down a sail (or tighten the luff).
The direction a balloon would blow in the wind, if you let it go.
Depth of water necessary to float a vessel.
A sea anchor, usually made of canvas.
E
A line used to secure the corner of a sail to a spar.
To take pressure off (as in easing the sheet).
The receding tide. To run out or run low.
A small local current, often flowing in a different direction to the main current around
piers or points of land. Eight Bells Struck at the beginning and end of each four hour
watch, i.e. at 04:00, 08:00, and 12:00 and 24:00.
The yacht's elapsed time in days, hours and minutes from the start of the leg to her finish
of that leg.
An alternative name for a knee. A timber or steel member that units two structural
members. Sometimes called a hook.
Corrosion of metal by galvanic action.
To put on board or go on board.
The national flag worn by ships of a nation. Also a naval rank.
A vessel is said to be on even keel when it does not heel to either side, or for and aft.
A loop or eye made in the end of a rope or wire by turning the end back and splicing it
through the standing part, usually around a thimble.
F
A metal channel for a rope; used to reduce friction.
The operation of bearing a vessel off by a spar, boat hook, or fender in order to prevent
violent contact when coming alongside.
A side bumper, to protect the boat from docks or boats.
rails on tables or stoves that prevent spillage.
Carved head or figure at the bow of a sail boat.

Finish Time
Fisherman's Reef
Flake
Flare
Flotsam
Foot
Foot
Foresail
Forestay
Forestay
Founder
Fractional Rig
Frame
Frames
Freeboard
Furl
Gaff-rigged
Galley
Gear
Genniker (Gennaker)
Genoa
Genoa (Genny)
Gimbals
Gooseneck
Grab rails
Granny bars
Grapple grommet
Gudgeons
Gumboots
Gunkhole
Gunwale (gun'l)
Guys
Gybe
Halyard
Halyard
Handrail
Harden Sheets
Hatch
Hawse pipe

Head

The GMT date and time the yacht finished the leg.
Dropping the gaff peak, to reduce sail.
Coiling a rope; each complete turn is a flake.
Inclination outwards of the topsides (as at the bow). Also an incendiary device used as an
attractant in an emergency.
Floating debris.
The lower edge of a sail.
The bottom edge of a sail.
Any sail used between the mast and the forestay.
Forward item of standing rigging that supports the mast.
A mast support that runs from the top of the mast to the bow. Can be tightened to make the
mast bend more, or to tighten the backstay.
To sink by filling with water.
The forestay is attached a 'fraction' below the top of the mast -- usually 7/8th or 5/6th of
the height of the rig.
The skeleton of the hull.
The ribs or timbers of the hull frame.
The height of the deck from the waterline
To roll up the sail and secure it to the boom
G
A boat with the head of it's mainsail bent to a spar (called a gaff).
The cooking area of the ship.
Includes equipment, fittings, spars, ropes and canvas.
Cross between a genoa and a spinnaker, a foresail used for reaching.
A large foresail used for sailing upwind, it overlaps the mainsail.
A large jib that overlaps the mainsail.
Devices that allow gear such as the compass or stove to swing and stay horizontal when
the boat heels.
The fitting attaching the boom to the mast.
Handrails, inside the cabin, to steady oneself on.
Rail supports on either side of the mast.
The piece into which the grapple fits.
Metal rings that engage the pintles of the rudder.
Rubber footwear used to keep feet dry. Also called deck boots
A small area of Coal Harbour at low tide.
The top plank of the top sides.
Ropes or wires used to steady a spar or boat.
Turning the boat so that the stern passes through the wind, and the boat changes from port
tack to starboard, or vice versa.
H
Lines by which sails are hoisted.
Line that holds a sail up.
Rail on the cabin deck one grabs to steady oneself.
Pull in the sails.
An opening in the deck, for passage up and down.
A pipe through the bow for the anchor chain (also called a Navel pipe).
The boat's toilet. It was named the head, because in the days of Captain George
Vancouver, it was located at the bow or the head of the ship, directly over the water! This
was a convenient location for the drainage tube to discharge directly into the water. It was
self cleaning when under way out in the open ocean, due to the action of the bow wave,
but in port it was a stinking mess. Hence the reason for approaching a vessel at the stern.
The Captain generally used a bucket in his cabin for performing his duties while in
harbour.

Headboard
Headstay
Heave-to
Heel
Helm
Helm, lee
Helm, weather
Helmsman
Hoist
Hook
Hounds
Hull
Hull Speed
In irons
Inboard
IOR
Irish pennant
Iron
Iron mike
Iron topsail
Iron wind
IYRU
Jacklines
Jackstay
Jenny
Jerrald
Jib
Jigger
Joinery
Jury rig
Jury-rig
Kedge (anchor)
Kedging
Keel
Keelson
Ketch
Kevlar
King spoke
Knees
Knot

Fitting at the head of a sail to receive the halyard.

The stay from the masthead forward.
Pointing into the wind, with a backwinded shortened foresail and the tiller lashed to
leeward.
To careen or list to one side.
Relates to the tiller or the steerage.
When tiller must be to leeward to stay on course.
When tiller must be to windward to stay on course.
The person steering.
To raise aloft
Slang for anchor.
The point where the shrouds attach to the top of the mast.
The body of the boat, excluding the cabin and interior.
A boat's theoretical maximum speed determined by multiplying the square root of her
waterline length by 1.34.
I
Pointing directly into the wind, with no way on and unable to tack to either side.
Towards midship, away from the hull side.
The International Offshore Rule, used as a means measuring sailboats competing in
offshore races.
A loose end hanging anywhere aloft.
Tool used in caulking deck and hull seams in wooden boats.
An old term for an autopilot. Named after the design of the first autopilots which were
cast in an iron case and considered best installed under the cockpit.
Old term for an engine.
Present term for an engine.
The International Yacht Racing Union, which monitors world sailboat racing.
J
The lines that run the length of the boat to which you attach your harness.
A wire stretched tight between two ships to permit transferring stores and personnel. On
square riggers, it is the iron bar on the top yard to which sailors are lashed.
Slang for a Genoa sail (usually spelled "Genny").
The joint used to bring lapstrake planking from overlapping to flush at the stern and the
stem.
A triangular sail set as the forward headsail used for upwind work.
A small sail set aft on a yawl or ketch.
The carpentry or woodwork aboard a boat
A makeshift, temporary rig.
Emergency rigging with available gear, usually involves a broken mast.
K
A light or small anchor.
Using a kedge anchor to warp off a shoal or lee shore
Central bottom of the hull running fore and aft. Usually a ballasted appendage projecting
below the boat that keeps it from capsizing, and also supplies the hydrodynamic lateral
force that enables the boat to sail upwind.
Timber lying fore and aft, above the main keel.
Two masted sailboat, with mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post.
Manmade fibre which is used to make sails and hulls. In sails it retains it shape better and
is lighter than Dacron, but is more expensive.
Uppermost wheel spoke, when rudder is amidship.
Pieces attaching the beams to the timbers or ribs (elbow or hook).
A measure of speed, 1 nautical mile (6080 ft) per hour. (One minute of arc of the equator,

i.e. 1/60 of a degree of longitude, 6068.4 feet.)

Knot
Lanyard
Lapstrake (Clinker)
Lay
Lazarette
Lee
Lee cloth
Lee helm
Lee shore
Leech
Leech
Leeward
Lifelines
Lifelines
Lift
Limber holes
Lines
List
Locker
Locker, hanging
Log
Log-book

Longitude & the prime meridian

Loose-footed
Lubber
Lubberline
Luff
Luff, to
Luffing

A minute of latitude = 1 degree of latitude.

1 second of latitude = 1/60 of a minute of latitude.

- Speed through the water is sometimes expressed in knots (i.e.: knots/hour). 1 nautical
mile per hour = 1 knot.
1 nautical mile per hour.
L
A rope tied to anything to secure it, e.g. knife.
Overlapping plank edges on the hull.
To sail a course that will clear an object or marker such as a body of land.
A small compartment at the stern of the cockpit for used for stowage.
The side of the boat from which the wind does not blow.
Heavy cloth fixed to berth, to prevent falling out.
When tiller must be to leeward to stay on course.
The shore upon which the wind is blowing.
The after border of a sail.
Trailing edge of a sail. Also, the curve of a sail.
The downwind side of an object.
The lines stretched between the stanchions.
Cables which are held in place by stanchions, and go around the boat to prevent people
falling overboard.
A wind shift allowing the helmsman to head up, or alter course to windward or the crew to
ease sheets.
Small holes in the lowest part of the ribs (frames), to allow bilge water to flow through.
A nautical term for ropes.
The inclination of a vessel to one side.
A box or closet, aboard a boat, to stow things.
A tall closet, aboard a boat, to stow things
Device for measuring a vessel's speed through the water
A record of events on board, e.g. navigation.
On a globe a rose line, also called a meridian or longitude, is an imaginary line drawn
from pole to pole and divides the globe East to West in 360 increments called degrees.
The Rose Line, 00 Longitude, is the reference line from which all other lines are
measured. Today it is called the Prime Meridian and goes through Greenwich,
England, hence the term "Greenwich Mean Time" (GMT). The line was established in
1888.
History - The world's first 0 longitude passed through Paris, France and the church of
Saint Sulpice. The church is built with a brass line in the floor as a memorial to the
world's first prime meridian. The brass line terminates in an obelisk at the North end
of the church.
The "shadow of the Sun" travels across the Earth's surface at the equator at a rate
of one line of longitude per 4 minutes. At 49o N latitude the speed is 121 kilometers per
minute .
A sail without its foot secured to a boom.
A greenhorn or clumsy sailor aboard a boat.
The fore and aft line of a compass. (generally used as the direction of travel)
The forward edge of a mainsail or jib and the windward edge of a spinnaker.
Bubbling or flapping of a sail when it is not trimmed enough or is being backwinded by
another sail or when the course sailed is too close to the wind.
Shaking of the luff of a sail, due to pointing too high.

Mainsheet
Make fast
Mark
Mast
Mast butt
Mast Heel
Mast partners
Mast rake
Mast step
Mast tangs
Mast truck
Masthead
Masthead Rig
Masthole
Matthew Walker
MAYDAY!
Mizzen
Moon
Moo
Mooring
Nautical Almanac
Nautical Mile
Naval Architect
Navel Pipe

Navigate, Chart

Navigate, Latitude

M
The line that is used to adjust the mainsail's angle to the wind.
To secure or tie up.
A buoy used in a race course.
The stick on a sail boat trying to drive itself through the hull.
Slang for the lower end of the mast.
The foot of the mast.
Fittings at the mast hole for mast support.
The angle of the mast from the vertical.
Where the mast heel fits, on the keel or deck.
Metal plates attached to the mast to which rigging is made fast.
Flat circular piece at the mast head.
The top of the mast.
The shrouds are attached to the 'masthead' -- the top of the mast.
Hole in the deck, through which the mast goes.
A stopper knot. One of the few knots named after its creator.
A distress call on the marine radio.
The after most mast of a ketch or yawl.
The moon revolves around the earth once every 28 days; altering the gravitaional force
and creating tides.
When a vessel is made fast by mooring lines.
A site for a vessel to moor (a buoy or dock).
N
An annual publication listing information needed for celestial navigation. Nautical Mile
One minute of arc of the equator, i.e. 1/60 of a degree of longitude, 6068.4 feet.
The unit of geographical distance used on salt-water charts where 1 nautical mile = 6076
feet or 1.15 statute miles. Therefore 1 statute mile = 0.87 nautical mile.
One who designs and assesses all aspects of all types of vessels.
Conduit for the anchor chain to go below deck (often mistakenly called the "hawse" pipe
aboard pleasure boats, which is an all together different hole in some decks).
The vertical scale on nautical charts is shown in knots (including metric charts). The major
divisions are minutes of latitude and the subdivisions are seconds of latitude or knots. The vertical scale is used to measure distance on a chart, which can also be used to
calculate time and speed. Simply set the points of the divider on the 2 locations in
question. Then transfer this length to the right scale to determine distance or to the log
scale to determine speed.
Lines of latitude go east and west around the globe and divide the northern hemisphere in
900 . Another 900 for the southern hemisphere.
-

The North pole is 90o north latitude.

The Arctic Circle is 66.5o north latitude.

The Canadian/American border is 49o north latitude.

The Tropic of Cancer is 23.5o north latitude.

The Equator is 0o latitude.

The Tropic of Capricorn is 23.5o south latitude.

The Antarctic Circle is 66.5o south latitude.

- South pole is 90o south latitude.

The lines of longitude are also grouped into 24 time zones, (i.e.: 24 hours per rotation of
the Earth). A time zone is defined as the number of degrees that the sun travels across the
Earth in one hour.

Navigate, Time

Navigation
Neaped
Necklace
Nock
Off the wind
Peeling
Pitch
Plane

Polars or Polar Table

Port
Port tack

There are 15o of longitude per time zone.

The time reference is at 0o Longitude, the Prime Meridian, and is called GMT or
ZULU time.

The time in another zone, e.g.: Mountain Standard, is also referred to as + 12 hours
GMT or 12 hours Zulu time.

The International Date line is located at 180o longitude. This is the line of longitude
that was chosen where a "new day" begins on earth. 180o longitude line creates the
least interruption with people's daily routines simply because nobody lives along it..

- Daylight Saving time was introduced to save energy by altering man's clock closer to
the Sun's time... Generally the clock is advanced 1 hour in Spring and retarded 1 hour
in Fall. Sometimes the difference is 2 hours. Other zones find it convenient not to
change. Viva La difference
Piloting a vessel from one place to another, at sea.
When the tide is not high enough to float a boat.
A retaining device on a gaff rig that keeps the gaff or boom jaws in place around he mast.
Also known as a parrel.
The vertical luff laced to the mast on the staysail of a brigantine or a barque.
O
Sailing away from the wind, also downwind, reaching or running.
P
Changing from one spinnaker to another.
A boat pitches when the front and back move up and down about the transverse centre.
A boat planes when she sails over her own bow wave, so that only a small section of the
hull is in the water. This in turn allows the boat to go faster than the theoretical maximum
hull speed.
The name for the database which holds all the information on what speed the boat will sail
at, at different angles to the wind. Crucial for maintaining performance when there are no
other boats in sight, and for making good navigational decisions.
The left half of the boat when facing forward.
Sailing with the wind blowing onto the port side, and the mainsail on the starboard side.
Q

Q
Rail
Reaching
Reef, to
Rhumb line
Rigging
Rod
Roller furling
Rolling
Running Backstay

R
Same as the gunwale, the edge between the hull and the deck.
Sailing with the apparent wind between 45 degrees and 135 degrees to the boat.
To decrease a sail's size.
The most direct course between two points.
The gear used to adjust and support the sails.
Solid steel wire that replaces cables in the rigging of large boats.
A device to mechanically furl a sail, usually used for foresails.
The hull's sideways movement, about the fore-and-aft axis.
Two adjustable stays that support the mast, one on the port side and one on the starboard.

Running Rigging
Sched/Sked
Sheet
Shroud
Slatting
Spar
Speed Made Good (SMG)
Spinnaker
Spinnaker
Spinnaker
Stanchions
Standing Rigging
Starboard
Starboard tack
Stern

Tack
Tacking
Toe Rail
Transom
Traveller
Trim
Trip
True Wind
U
Upwind

Running from the hounds, to the rear of the boat. The stay will have to be eased on the
leeward side to let the mainsail out.
All moving rods and lines that support and control the mast and sails.
S
Each boat's scheduled position report. From schedule, when the boats would have to radio
in to compile the daily schedule.
A line that controls sails.
Cable or rod that supports the mast, from the chain plates at deck level on the port and
starboard side, to the hounds just below the top of the mast.
Lying becalmed with the sails flapping uselessly.
A basic term for a mast, boom or yard.
A boat's speed as measured by her progress relative to land, factoring in her speed through
the water and current.
A large half spherical shaped nylon sail flown from the mast head in front of the forestay
and generally used for downwind sailing. Pulls like a horse.
Also known as a kite.
Large light ballooning sails, that are only attached to the spars at the corners. They are
used when running or reaching, sailing downwind.
Vertical supports that hold the lifelines in place around the boat.
The non-moving rods and lines that support the mast and sails.
The right half of the boat when facing forward.
Sailing with the wind blowing onto the starboard side, and the mainsail on the port side.
The rear of the boat.
T
To pass or turn the bow of a sail boat through the eye of the wind. The wind then blows
over the other bow. A vessel is said to be on a starboard tack when the wind is blowing
over the starboard bow.
Turning the boat so that the bow passes through the wind while upwind of the stern, and
the boat changes from port tack to starboard, or vice versa.
Aluminum extrusion bolted along the gunnels of a fiberglass sailboat. It is used as part of
the hull to deck joint and doubles as a place to attach running rigging to, i.e.: snatch blocks
or fenders.
The flat rear end of a boat, the upper part of which tends to lean forward on modern racers.
Track or bar on which the bottom part of the mainsheet runs across the boat.
To adjust the sail to make it the right shape and angle to the wind.
To break loose.
The actual direction of the wind. Can only be directly measured on board when the boat is
stationary. Otherwise, it is calculated by the instrument system.
U
Toward the direction from which the wind blows.
V

V
Velocity Made Good (VMG)

Watch
Watch Leader/Captain
Way
Weather

The average speed of a yacht since the start of the Race, if the yacht had sailed the shortest
route.
W
The working teams into which the crew are divided. To be on watch means to be working.
Free time is referred to as the free watch, or off-watch.
The person in charge of a watch.
Speed.
MOON - The moon revolves around the earth approximately once every 28 days; altering
the earths gravitational force and creating tides.

WEATHER - The Tropic of Cancer is located along 23.5o North latitude and the Tropic of
Capricorn is along 23.5o South latitude. They are located at the Northern and Southern
limits of the suns travel where the rays strike the earth's surface at 90o; creating
permanent tropical weather.
- The Arctic Circle is at 23.5o North latitude and the Tropic of Capricorn is at 23.5o South
latitude. They are located at the Northern and Southern limits of travel of the sun where
the rays strike the earths surface at 0o; creating 24 hour daylight in Summer and 24 hour
darkness in Winter above 23.5o.
- The equinox occurs when the Sun is directly over the equator. On this day there are 12
hours of light and 12 hours of darkness for the Earth.
- Spring starts on May 23, the day after the equinox.
Fall starts on September 23, the day after the equinox.
- Daylight saving time starts on April 27 stops on Oct. 27.
- A high pressure weather area and the water in a toilet bowl both rotate clockwise in the
Northern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the Southern hemisphere. This is
important to know since you can use this information to tell if a storm is coming or
going, judging from the direction of the wind. You may therefore set an appropriate
course for safety.

Winch

Winch Handle

Windlass
Winch Pedestal

- The leading edge of a storm is generally more severe than the trailing edge. The eye is
generally quieter than either edge.
A stationary motor-driven or hand-powered machine used for hoisting or hauling, having a
drum around which is wound a rope or chain attached to the load being moved.

A handle used in rotating winch drum

A device for raising or hauling objects, usually consisting of a horizontal cylinder or barrel
turned by a crank, lever, motor, or the like, upon which a cable, rope, or chain winds, the
outer end of the cable being attached directly or indirectly to the weight to be raised or the
thing to be hauled or pulled; winch.
Upright winch drive mechanism with two handles -- increases purchasing power.
X

X
Yard arm
Yaw

Zulu-time

Y
A cross brace used to support a square sail as on a clipper ship or barque.
To sail a wildly erratic course.
Z
Also called The mean solar time for the meridian at Greenwich, England, used as a basis
for calculating time throughout most of the world. Greenwich time, Greenwich Mean
Time, Zulu time.