Just like every other craft in life, sailing has its own unique words and jargon that you need to know and understand so you can be good at the job. It does not exactly matter what you sail. Whether you sail a pram, a boat, a dinghy, or a yacht; these terms are primary to your sailing. There are some terminologies that will come in handy, that you will get to know as you sail. There are however others that you may not know now or remember because they are rarely used, ancient and archaic but having them at the back of your mind is necessary also. Below is a glossary of some terminologies used in sailing.
- Aback: A sail is aback when the wind fills it from the opposite side to the one normally used to move the vessel forward. On a square rigged ship, any of the square sails can be braced round to be aback. The purpose may be to reduce speed (such as when a ship of the line is keeping station with others), to heave to or to assist moving the ship’s head through the eye of the wind when tacking. A sudden wind shift can cause a square rigged vessel to be “caught aback” with all sails aback. This is a dangerous situation that risks serious damage. In a fore and aft rigged vessel, a headsail is backed either by hauling it across with the weather sheet or by tacking without releasing the sheet. It is used to heave to or to assist with tacking
- Abandon ship: this is an imperative to leave the vessel immediately, usually in the face of some imminent overwhelming danger. It is an order issued by the Master or a delegated person in command. (It must be a verbal order). It is usually the last resort after all other mitigating actions have failed or become impossible, and destruction or loss of the ship is imminent; and customarily followed by a command to “man the lifeboats” or life rafts.
- Accommodation ship (or accommodation hulk): A ship or hulk used as housing, generally when there is a lack of quarters available ashore. An operational ship can be used, but more commonly a hulk modified for accommodation is used.
- Adrift: Afloat and unattached in any way to the shore or seabed, but not under way. When this is referring to a vessel, it means that the vessel is not under control. It therefore goes where the wind and current take her (loose from moorings or out of place).
- Aft: This refers to the back of a ship. If you hear that something is located aft, that means it is at the back of the sailboat. The aft is also sometimes called the stern or any portion of a vessel behind the centerline
- After castle: This refers to a stern structure behind the mizzenmast and above the transom on large sailing ships. It is much larger but less common than a forecastle. The aftercastle houses the captain′s cabin and sometimes other cabins. It is topped by the poop deck This is also called a stern castle
- Anchor: An object designed to prevent or slow the drift of a ship, attached to the ship by a line or chain; usually a metal, hook or plough-like object designed to grip the bottom under the body of water
- Anchor sentinel: a separate weight on a separate line that is loosely attached to the anchor rode so that it can slide down it easily. It is made fast at a distance slightly longer than the draft of the boat. It is used to prevent the anchor rode from becoming fouled on the keel or other underwater structures when the boat is resting at anchor and moving randomly during slack tide.
- Answer: The expected response of a vessel to control mechanisms, such as a turn answering to the wheel and rudder. “She won’t answer” might be the report from a helmsman when turning the wheel under a pilot’s order fails to produce the expected change of direction
- Ashore: this is a common regular term. It means to be on land
- Auto-Bailer: A device that uses the suction created from forward momentum to drain water from the inside of a boat.
- Back and fill: a method of keeping a square-rigged vessel under control while drifting with the tide along a narrow channel. The ship lies broadside to the current, with the main topsail backed and the fore and mizzen topsail full: essentially a heaved to position. Selective backing and filling of these sails moves the ship ahead or astern, so allowing it to be kept in the best part of the channel. A jib and the spanker are used to help balance the sail plan. This method cannot be used if the wind is going in the same direction at the same speed as the tide.
- Bar: Mass of sand or mud formed by the movement of water which creates an area of shallow water.
- Barber hauler: A technique of temporarily rigging sailboat lazy sheet allowing the boat to sail closer to the wind. i.e. using the lazy jib sheet to pull the jib closer to the mid line, allowing a point of sail that would otherwise not be achievable
- Bar Haven: large mass of sand or earth, formed by the surge of the sea. They are mostly found at the entrances of great rivers or havens, and often render navigation extremely dangerous, but confer tranquility once inside.
- Beaching: deliberately running a vessel aground to load and unload (as with landing craft), or sometimes to prevent a damaged vessel sinking
- Beam: The width of a vessel at the widest point, or a point alongside the ship at the midpoint of its length
- Beam ends: The sides of a ship. “On her beam ends” may mean the vessel is literally on her side and possibly about to capsize; more often, the phrase means the vessel is listing 45 degrees or more.
- Beam reach: Sailing with the wind coming across the vessel’s beam. This is normally the fastest point of sail for a fore-and-aft rigged vessel.
- Before the mast: Literally, the area of a ship before the foremast (the forecastle). Most often used to refer to men whose living quarters are located here, officers being quartered in the stern-most areas of the ship (near the quarterdeck).
- Boat hook: A pole with a hook on one end, designed to grab anything that might be outside the vessel. (generally dock lines, moorings, etc.)
- Boom : The boom is the horizontal pole which extends from the bottom of the mast. Adjusting the boom towards the direction of the wind is how the sailboat is able to harness wind power in order to move forward or backwards
- Bow: This is the front of the ship. Knowing the location of the bow is important for defining two of the other most common sailing terms: port (left of the bow) and starboard (right of the bow).
- Bulkhead: A load bearing wall inside of a vessel. May or may not be watertight, depending on how old your vessel is.
- Captain: This refers to the person lawfully in command of a vessel. “Captain” is an informal title of respect given to the commander of a naval vessel regardless of his or her formal rank; aboard a merchant ship, the ship’s master is her “captain.”
- Canvas: A design for the stern of a yacht—pointed, like a bow, rather than squared off as a transom
- Camels: loaded vessels lashed tightly, one on each side of another vessel, and then emptied to provide additional buoyancy that reduces the draught of the ship in the middle
- Capsize: When a ship or boat lists too far and rolls over, exposing the keel. On large vessels, this often results in the sinking of the ship.
- Centerboard: A board which pivots downward into the water in order to stop sideways slippage, and generate forward momentum by working in conjunction with the sails to create lift.
- Clutch: this refers to a set of jaws, similar to a cleat. They are designed to hold a rope fast under high loads.
- Coaming: A raised lip or edge to prevent water intrusion near a hatch or porthole.
- Coastal: this is basic common language. It is no only used in sailing but it is essential that you know what it means. When you hear coastal, they are referring to anything of or referring to the coast.
- Cockpit: The seating area of a small vessel toward which most of the controls are run.
- Dagger board: This refers to a board pushed directly downward through the hull into the water. It works together with the sails to provide forward momentum. It does this by creating lift, and minimizing sideways slippage.
- Forestay: A line or cable attached from the bow to the mast, in order to provide structural support to the mast.
- Galley: The kitchen of the vessel.
- Hail: A common greeting designed to catch the attention of someone, often in reference to radio communication.
- Head: The toilet of a vessel
- Jackstay: This refers to a rope, bar or batten, running along a ship’s yard, to which is attached the head of a square sail. A stay for racing or cruising vessels used to steady the mast against the strain of the gaff. A cable between two ships or from a ship to a fixed point that supports a load during transfer of personnel or materiel along the cable. A deck lifeline of rope or flat tape may be called a jackstay especially a yacht. This though is a misnomer for a jackline as it is a line rather than a stay.
- Jacob’s ladder (or Jacobs ladder): A flexible hanging ladder consisting of vertical ropes or chains supporting horizontal rungs, used to allow access over the side of a ship, either to transfer between the ship and another vessel alongside or to perform maintenance tasks along the side of the ship. Sometimes mistakenly referred to as a “pilot ladder” ,but a pilot ladder differs from a Jacob′s ladder in its use of spreaders and in terms of specific regulations governing step size, step spacing, and the use of spreaders in a pilot ladder.
- Jacklines: On a yacht, a deck lifeline of rope or (preferably) flat tape running fore and aft to which the crew can clip their harnesses for safety. Sometimes called a jackstay (this is a misnomer for a jackline as it is a line rather than a stay). The line must be very strong to take the weight of all crew clipped to it.
- Jibe: This means to change direction through the wind.
- Jibing : The opposite of tacking, this basic sailing maneuver refers to turning the stern of the boat through the wind so that the wind changes from one side of the boat to the other side. The boom of a boat will always shift from one side to the other when performing a tack or a jibe. Jibing is a less common technique than tacking, since it involves turning a boat directly into the wind
- Leeward : Also known as lee, leeward is the direction opposite to the way the wind is currently blowing (windward).
- Offshore: This a geographical term used in sailing. It refers to the area of water away from the coast.
- Port : the port is always the left-hand side of the boat when you are facing the bow. Because “right” and “left” can become confusing sailing terms when used out in the open waters, port is used to define the left-hand side of the boat as it relates to the bow, or front.
- Rudder : Located beneath the boat, the rudder is a flat piece of wood, fiberglass, or metal that is used to steer the ship. Larger sailboats control the rudder via a wheel, while smaller sailboats will have a steering mechanism directly aft.
- Starboard : the starboard is always the right-hand side of the boat when you are facing the bow. This is because “right” and “left” can become confusing sailing terms when used out in the open waters hence starboard is used to define the right-hand side of the boat as it relates to the bow, or front.
- Skipper: this is another word for the captain of a ship.
- Slip: this is a designated space for a boat to dock in.
- Splice: A method of joining two lines together, or creating an eye at the end of a line, by unraveling the braid and recombining into one continuous piece.
- Tacking : The opposite of jibing, this basic sailing maneuver refers to turning the bow of the boat through the wind so that the wind changes from one side of the boat to the other side. The boom of a boat will always shift from one side to the other when performing a tack or a jibe
- Tacking duels: A series of complex maneuvers between two boats tacking to windward, with the end goal of gaining an aerodynamic advantage over a competitor.
- Traveler: A fitting that slides from side to side on a line or track. Commonly used as an attachment point for the mainsheet.
- Turnbuckle: Two threaded bolts encased within a frame, used to put tension onto a vessels standing rigging.
- Waterline: this is the exact place where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water.
- Waypoint: An intermediate point defined by a set of navigational coordinates.
- Wheel: An alternative steering device to a tiller, usually found on larger vessels.
- Windward : This refers to the direction in which the wind is currently blowing. Windward is the opposite of leeward which is the opposite direction of the wind. Sailboats tend to move with the wind, making the windward direction an important sailing term to know.
- Yacht: A recreational vessel, usually of intermediate to large size.
- Yawl: A two masted sailing vessel, specifically with the aft mast behind the helm
The sailing glossary is a complex one but a careful study and understanding of the terms above will help your sailing. And also, one last tip: a simple way to know all these terms is to use them, even when you have alternative vernacular language. Always use the right terminologies and you will know them quick.