Glossary

To most beginning sailors, the lingo of sailing is strange and unusual, knowing this language won't help you when it comes to sailing your boat. (Your boat doesn't understand the language, either, and the publisher won't print the words many sailors use when "talking" to their boats.) However, in knowing it, you won't sound like a landlubber when speaking to your fellow boatmen.

For those who are not familiar with the vocabulary of boating, the following glossary of sailor's terms may help you:
 
Aback. Said of a sail when its sheet is to windward and it drives the craft astern.

Abaft. Toward the stern; behind.

Abeam. Directly at right angles to the fore-and-aft centerline of the boat.

Aboard. On or in a boat.

Aft. In the neighborhood or direction of the stem. Aground. Touching the bottom.

Amidships. In the center of the boat; with reference either to its length or its breadth.
 
Anchor. A device so shaped as to grip the sea bottom.

From it a line is fastened to a craft so as to hold it in a desired position.

Anchorage. A sheltered place or area where boats can anchor or moor without interfering with harbor traffic. Astern. Backwards, behind the boat.

Athwart. Across.

Back. To back a sail is to throw it aback. To back and fill is to alternately back and fill the sails.

Backstay. A wire brace from masthead to stern.
Backwind. When the wind that has passed over one sail hits the back (leeward side, away from the wind) of another sail.

Bail. To bail a boat is to throw water out of it. Ballast. Weight inside or outside a hull to counterbalance the weight of the gear aloft in a sailboat or to make a boat sit lower in the water.

Barepoles. The condition of a boat when it has no sail set.

Batten. A thin wooden strip placed in a pocket in the leach of a sail to help hold its form. Batten down. To secure.

Beam. The greatest breadth of a boat, usually amidship. Beat. To sail close-hauled, first on one tack and then on the other, thereby working up in the direction from which the wind is blowing.

Becalm. To intercept the wind. A boat to windward is said to becalm another. So one sail becalms another. Also, a boat is becalmed if there is no wind.

Before the wind. Sailing in the same direction toward which the wind is blowing (with the wind from astern). Bend. To fasten a sail to the boom and mast.

Bilge. That part of the inside hull above and around the keel where water will collect.

Bitts. Perpendicular pieces of timber going through the deck, to secure anchor or mooring lines.

Boathook. Staff or pole with metal hook at one end. Block. Pulley consisting of a frame in which is set one or more sheaves (shivs) or rollers. Lines are run over these rollers.

Bolt rope. The rope surrounding a sail and to which the material is sewed.

Boom. Spar at the foot of the mainsail. Boom crotch. The prop that lifts the boom off the deck and secures it when not in use.

Bow. The forward part of a boat.

Bring to. The act of stopping a boat by bringing it head up into the wind.

Broad reach. Sailing free, with the wind abaft the beam. Centerboard. A keel-like device that can be hoisted or lowered in a well or trunk to act as a keel in shoal draft boats.
Chock. A metal fitting which serves as a lead for lines that go over the side.

Cleat. A fitting of wood or metal with two horns around which lines are made fast.

Clew. The aftermost corner of the sail.

Close-hauled. Sailing as close to the wind as possible. Close reach. Sailing free, with the wind forward of the beam.

Coaming. The raised protection around a cockpit.

Cockpit. The space at a lower level from the deck in which the tiller is located.

Coil. To lay down a line in circular turns.

Coming about. Bring the boat from one tack to the other when sailing into the wind.

Cringle. A ring sewn into the sail through which a line can be passed.

Cuddy. A small cabin or protective cover over the fore part of the cockpit.
 
Dinghy. A small rowing boat.

Downhaul. A tackle or single line by which a sail is hauled down.

Fast. Secured.

Fender. Made in various shapes of rope, canvas, and rubber to keep anything alongside a boat from scarring the sides and topsides.

Foot. The lower edge of a sail.

Fore. In or toward the bow of a boat.

Fore-and-aft. In the direction of the keel; from front to back.

Freeboard. The distance from the top of the hull to the water.

Furl. To roll up and secure sails on a boom.

Gear. A general term embracing all rigging or boat equipment.
Gooseneck. A metal device that secures the boom to the mast.
Grommet. A metal ring sewed into a sail.

Gunwale. Boat's rail or upper edge of boat's side. (Pronounced "gun'l.")

Halyard. A line for hoisting sails.

Head. The upper corner of a triangular sail.

Headboard. The fitting at the head of a sail with holes to receive the shackle of the halyard.

Headstay. Wire from the bow supporting the mast.

Heel. To tip to one side; list or inclination.

Helm. The tiller by which the rudder is controlled.

Helmsman. The person who steers.

Hike. To climb to windward in a sailboat to prevent excessive heeling.

Hull. The main body of the boat.

In irons. A boat is in irons when it is in the wind's eye and, having lost all headway, will not go off on either tack.

In stays. When a boat is in the wind's eye while going from one tack to another.

Jib. A triangular sail set forward of the mast.

Jibe. When running, to bring the wind on the other quarter, so that boom swings over.

Jib sheet. The line that leads from the lower aft end of the jib to the cockpit. It controls the angle at which the sail is set.

Jibstay. Forward stay on which the jib is hoisted.

Keel. The backbone of a boat. The fin extending below the hull.

Lash. To secure by binding with a thin line.

Leach. The after edge of a sail.
Leeward. Direction away from the wind.

Line. Nautical term for rope used for riggings, anchoring, tying up, etc.

Locker. A chest or cabinet for storing gear.

Luff. The leading edge of sail. Also to turn the boat's head into the wind, causing the luff of the sail to flutter.

Mainsail. The large sail set abaft the mast.

Mainsheet. The line that controls the angle of the mainsail in its relation to the wind.

Mast. The vertical pole or spar supporting the booms, sails, etc.

Midships. The broadest part of the boat.

Mooring. A heavy anchor and chain permanently in position. One end of the chain is made to float by a mooring buoy.

Off the wind. Sailing downwind or before the wind.

One-design class. A number of sailboats, usually for racing, that are built exactly alike.

Outhaul. A line used to haul the clew of a sail out to the end of the boom.

Painter. Bow line by which a small boat is towed or made fast to a mooring.

Pennant. A length of line.

Point. To sail as close as possible to the wind.

Port. The left side of a boat, looking toward the bow.

Quarter. The after part of a boat's side; that part of a craft which lies within 45 degrees from the stern, known as the port quarter or starboard quarter.

Reach. To sail from points between running and close-hauled.

Reef. To reduce sail area by partly lowering sail and securing the surplus material to the boom.
Rigging. A general term applying to all lines, shrouds, and stays necessary to spars and sails.

Rode. Anchor line.

Roller reefing. A method of reducing the area of a sail by winding it up on a revolving boom or stay.

Rudder. A flat member attached to the stern of a boat which controls the course of the boat.

Rules of the road. The international regulations for preventing collisions at sea.

Running. Sailing before the wind.

Running rigging. The lines, such as halyards and sheets, that are used in the setting and trimming of sails.

Sea. Refers in this book to all boating waters.

Secure. To make fast; to make safe.

Shackle. A U-shaped piece of metal with a pin across the open end.

Sheet. A line used to trim a sail.

Shroud. Standing rigging, usually of wire, running from the mast to the sides of a boat to support the mast.

Spar. A mast, a boom, etc.

Spill. To shake the wind out of a sail.

Spinnaker. A large, light sail used when a boat is sailing before the wind or on a reach.

Splice. To join line by tucking the strands together such as short, long, eye and back splice, etc.

Spreader. A light device, fastened athwartships to the upper portion of a mast, over which shrouds pass.

Squall. A sudden and violent gust of wind often accompanied by rain. Standing rigging. The shrouds and stays as well as other rigging which are not moved in working a boat. Starboard. The right side of a boat, looking toward the bow.

Stay. A piece of rigging (usually of wire) used to support a spar.
Step. To step a mast is to set it in position.

Stern. The after part of a boat.

Stop. A narrow band of canvas or piece of line used in furling a sail.

Stow. To put away as to stow gear.

Tack. The lower forward corner of a sail. Also, to proceed to windward by sailing on alternate courses so that the wind is first on one side of the boat and then the other.

Tackle. A system of blocks and lines arranged for hauling.

Tell-tale. A short piece of ribbon or string tied to a shroud to indicate the direction of the wind.

Tiller. A bar connected with the rudder head. By this bar the rudder is moved as desired.

Topping lift. A line by which the outer end of a boom is supported.

Topside. Line between the waterline and the boat's gunwale.

Transom. The stern facing of the hull.

Traveler. The wire or rod along which travels a block running athwartship.

Trim. To trim sails, to put them in correct relation to the wind by means of sheets. Also the way a boat floats on the water on an even keel, heeled over, or down by the bow or stern.

Trunk. The vertical shaft in which a centerboard lifts and lowers.

Turnbuckle. A device used to maintain correct tension on standing rigging.

Vang. A line to steady the boom when off the wind.

Way. Movement through the water.

Weather. Windward side of a sailboat.

Whip. To whip a line is to bind the strands of its end with yarn or cord.

Whisker-pole. A light pole or stick extending from the mast and used to hold the jib out when off the wind.
Windward. Toward the wind.

Wing and wing. Sailing before the wind with the jib on one side and the mainsail on the other.